“The Slackers are part of an imaginary universe. It wasn't their fault, well not completely. The caterpillar told them not to eat the mushroom on the right. But they did and for 15 yrs now they've had to play Imaginary-Jamaican-Rock-and-Roll, and try to explain that to everyone who passes. One asks,"Are you a reggae band?...where are your dreadlocks then?" Another says,"YOU DONT SOUND LIKE PUNK-ROCK WITH HORNS AT ALL!!" One elderly gent says,"Why it sounds like a lot of music I used to like, but I don't think any of you boys look addicted to HEROIN!" Doomed to try and explain themselves to a world full of hungry club-promoters, style-police, genre-slaves and the generally confused, they wrote bio upon bio, hoping to snag someone...ANYONE!...who might understand...here is attempt #6,364…”
- Vic Ruggiero, The Slackers
The Slackers are a classic American band that is equal parts grit and grace. Their slow rise against the odds is a story of perseverance and a belief in their musical vision, what Vic likes to call, "Jamaican Rock N Roll." While they have been influenced, and even personally taught by Jamaican Ska/Reggae originators, like the Skatalites and the Upsetters (Original backing band for the Wailers), th...e band sees its music as an extension of the traditions of the United States. This band is equally appreciative of old Blues, Country, 60s Soul, Rock, and Rn'B as it is of Reggae, Rocksteady, Dub, and Ska. It is as if the Rolling Stones or the Yardbirds had grown up on Bob Marley as well as Muddy Waters.Their focus on the live show is not surprising because the Slackers have a good part of their existence on the road. Since 1997, the band has been doing around 110 shows a year. This includes some 20 major North American tours, 14 European tours, 3 Japanese tours and 2 Brazilian tours. They have played in 42 different US states, 6 Canadian provinces, 22 European countries, 5 Latin American nations, Turkey, Japan, and South Korea. They have appeared on the stages of the Warped Tour (1998), the Lowlands Festival (1999), Pukkelpop (1999, 2004), CMJ (2000), Montreal Jazz Festival (2000), the Bourges Festival (2001), the Dour Festival (2002, 2007), Deconstruction Tour (2004), Augustboller (2005), Streetbeat Festival (2005), Popkomm (1999,2006), Summerjam (2007), Mighty Sounds (2007), Ilosaarirock (2007) and Glastonbury (2008).
The Pioneers were formed in 1962 by brothersSydney and Derrick Crooks, and their friend Winston Hewitt.[1] Their early recordings "Good Nanny" and "I'll Never Come Running Back to You" were self-produced at the Treasure Isle studio using money lent to the Crooks brothers by their mother and appeared on Ken Lack's Caltone label.[2][3]Several other singles followed, none of them hits, before Hewitt emigrated to Canada in 1966. Hewitt was replaced for around a year by former HeptoneGlen Adams.[2]The Pioneers' early singles were not successful, and Sydney began promoting concerts, while Derrick took up a job with the Alcoa bauxite company.[2] The group broke up in mid-1967.
The Pioneers revived: 1967-1968
Sydney began working at Joe Gibbs' record shop, and through Gibbs, returned to recording. At his first session (to record "Give Me Little Loving"), with the other members of The Pioneers gone, Crooks recruited Jackie Robinson, who he found outside the studio just before recording began.[2] Crooks later said of the encounter:
"When I was about to voice the song I looked outside the studio and I saw a little boy sitting on a stone. I said 'Hey, come here man, you can sing?' He sung the harmony for 'Give Me Little Loving' and his name was Jackie Robinson. After that I said to him 'You are one of the Pioneers from today' and he became the lead singer of the Pioneers".[3]
The new version of The Pioneers enjoyed success with singles such as "Longshot" (a track written and produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry on Gibbs' behalf about a long-lived but unsuccessful racehorse),[4] "Jackpot", "Catch the Beat", and "Pan Yu Machete" (an attack on Perry, who left Gibbs in 1968 to start woking on his own productions).[2] Crooks and Robinson also recorded as The Soul Mates in 1967.[4] The group parted ways with Gibbs after an argument and moved on to work with Leslie Kong, the first recording for Kong being "Samfie Man", a song about a confidence trickster, which topped the Jamaican singles chart.[2]
The classic trio, and the move to the UK: 1969-1977
After a few further singles with Kong, the group recruited Desmond Dekker's half-brother George Agard to become a trio again.[2] Sydney Crooks and his former Pioneer brother Derrick, along with Winston Bailey also recorded as The Slickers,[5] recording "Nana" for producer Neremiah Reid. The Pioneers scored again with a sequel to "Long Shot", "Long Shot (Kick De Bucket)".[1] When Kong heard that the horse had died (during its 203rd race),[6] he insisted that the group write a song about it; The song was written and recorded quickly and became an instant hit.[2]
The band was popular in the United Kingdom, particularly among skinheads. "Long Shot Kick de Bucket" was a big hit in 1969, and led to a tour of the UK, during which they resolved to relocate there.[2] Their cover of Jimmy Cliff's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" made #5 as a single in 1971.[1][7]The band did indeed move to the UK in 1970. Their third UK hit was "Give and Take", which reached #35 in January 1972.[7] In 1975 they were the first reggae band to tour in Japan.
Soul Years: 1976-1979
In 1976 the Pioneers teamed up with Eddie Grant for an album for Mercury records called 'Feel The Rhythm'. Grant preferred to produce them as a soul group and they released a number of singles of that idiom including 'Broken Man', 'Feel The Rhythm' and 'My Good Friend James' The change of style was a critical but not a commercial success and the band split up for a time in the late 1970s, with Crooks concentrating on production work and continuing with his brother in The Slickers, while Agard and Robinson continued to record, together on the album George & Jackie Sing, and separately.
First Reformation: 1979-1989
The group reformed in the late 1970s and continued until 1989, when they split again to concentrate on separate careers. "Long Shot Kick de Bucket" was a minor UK chart hit again in 1980 upon re-issue.[7] At the same time, "Long Shot Kick de Bucket" was covered by The Specials on their The Special AKA Live!EP, which was a UK #1 hit in 1980.[8]The Pioneers song "Starvation" was also covered on the "Starvation/Tam Tam Pour L'Ethiopie" charity single released in 1985, which peaked at UK #33. The Pioneers shared lead vocal duties on the single with members of UB40, with backing vocals by General Public.
Celebrated reggae producer Winston Riley has died, months after he was shot in the head in his native Jamaica. Riley fell into a coma after he was shot in Kingston on Nov. 1, and he died Thursday. He was 65. Widely recognized as one of the most successful reggae producers of all time, Riley began his career as a singer at the age of 16, when he formed his band the Techniques. They recorded with producers Byron Lee and Duke Reid before Riley quit the group and moved behind the soundboard to try his hand at beatmaking.
He went on to work with reggae acts including Boris Gardiner and Johnny Osbourne and scored international success in 1971 with Dave and Ansell Collins' hit "Double Barrel." Riley became known for creating the popular Stalag beat and later helped launch the careers of Buju Banton, Lone Ranger and Frankie Paul. Riley's Stalag rhythm is estimated to have provided the music foundation for an estimated 400 songs.
Riley had been targeted in a number of vicious attacks in the past year. He was shot in August and stabbed repeatedly in an incident in September. Police have struggled to establish a motive for any of the attacks. Riley's son, radio DJ Kurt Riley, remains equally baffled by the shocking wave of violence. He told the Jamaica Observer newspaper, "Unfortunately, Daddy didn't wake up so we could talk to him to find out if there was something he was not telling us. He was a straightforward man who was allergic to hypocrisy."
Winston Riley is survived by several children and grandchildren.
Formed in the working class suburbs of industrial Birmingham in England in 1978 The Beat arose at a time of high unemployment and social upheaval. From the outset the band offered messages of hope and peace with an insight into sociopolitical topics would later alongside The Specials see them heralded as forerunners of the whole 2-Tone Ska movement.
Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling led with vocal duties while Andy Cox and David Steele took guitar and bass duties with Everett Morton supplying the most distinctive of drumming styles. Added to this mix was the renowned saxophonist Saxa, adding the deliciously warm Jamaican ska instrumental flavour that is forever associated with the bands sound. Having played saxophone with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken and Desmond Dekker in the first wave of ska The Beat on formation seemed to immediately come of age.
The Beat's first single was the infectious cover of Smokey Robinson's 'Tears of A Clown' which on release went straight into the National Top 10 at No.6. The record, an effortless like fusion between a number of different musical styles such as Ska, Punk, Pop, Soul and Reggae, immediately saw the band finding themselves an overnight success.
Further hit singles from the first album included 'Mirror In The Bathroom', 'Can't Get Used to Losing You', 'Hands Off... She's Mine' and 'Best Friend', and with a catalogue such as this it was easy to see why the The Beat would become one of the most popular recording and live acts in the UK.
Huge radio airplay followed in the US which saw The Beat head stateside and then further with world tours alongside some of the biggest performing artists such as The Clash, The Police, REM, Talking Heads, The Pretenders and of course The Specials.
While The Beat could deliver with what almost seemed effortless ease songs of Love, Peace and Unity. Songs such as 'Stand Down Margaret' saw them spearhead a movement wanting real social change and multicutural inclusion. The thousands that sang along in unison with the band at nuclear disarmament marches bear testament to the uplifting feeling the band could evoke with their musical swagger and genuine care for humanity.
After 3 Gold and Platinum top selling albums worldwide with 'I Just Cant Stop It', 'Wh'appen', and 'Special Beat Service' - The Beat's musical fluidity and openess, delivered in their explosive all encompassing live shows allowed them to reach hundreds of thousands of fans across the world, communicating positivity and freedom through not only their music, but their actions and genuine commitment to causes.
Almost in reaction to the height of their fame The Beat to the disbelief of many disbanded with Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling forming General Public with Mickey Billingham of Dexys Midnight Runners and Andy Cox and David Steele putting together the Fine Young Cannibals. Though both enjoyed phenomenal success, no other artist has sounded like The Beat or indeed is ever likely too. Ranking Roger also briefly joined Mick Jones' post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite injecting his toasting and vocal style that to this day remains his trademark.
After numerous offers to return to the stage The Beat returned in 2003 for a sell out show at The Royal Festival Hall with the inclusion of Ranking Jnr taking vocal duties to an accolade of critical acclaim. With Dave Wakeling heading to the US Ranking Roger alongside Everett Morton, Ranking Jnr and Mickey Billingham returned to their roots with deeper rhythms, a wall of sound that transcends time and an unwavering dedication to real unity and love that leaves the future still to be written, there can be no question...
Son of a tailor and builder, Eccles spent his childhood in the countryside of the parish of Saint Mary. Eccles had an itinerant childhood due to his father's need to travel Jamaica seeking work.[2] He used to regularly attend church, and he became influenced by spiritual singing; In his words: "One of my uncles was a spiritual revivalist, who always did this heavy type of spiritual singing, and I got to love that".[3] Eccles's professional singing career began as a teenager, working the north-coast hotel circuit in the mid-1950s.[2] In his late teens, he moved to Ocho Rios, where he performed at night in various shows, with artists such as The Blues Busters, Higgs & Wilson and Buster Brown. He moved to Kingston in 1959, where he started his recording career. He first recorded for Coxsone Dodd, who had organized a talent show in which Eccles took part.[2][3][4]
Eccles had a Jamaican hit in 1961 with the early ska song "Freedom", which was recorded in 1959, and was featured on Dodd's sound system for two years before it was released.[5] It was one of the first Jamaican songs with socially-oriented lyrics. The song discussed the concept of repatriation to Africa, an idea developed by the growing Rastafari movement. The song became the first Jamaican hit to be used for political purposes; Alexander Bustamante, founder of the Jamaican Labour Party and at that time Chief Minister of Jamaica adopted it for his fight against the Federation of the West Indies in 1960. In the following years, Eccles had other successful songs, mixing boogie/rhythm and blues influences with ska rhythms, such as "River Jordan" and "Glory Hallelujah".
In 1962, he started promoting concerts and set up his Christmas Morning talent show; first with Dodd, then on his own.[6] He organized concerts for The Clarendonians in 1963, and for The Wailers in 1964 and 1965. He launched other talent search contests, with Battle of the Stars, Clancy Eccles Revue, Independent Revue and "Reggae Soul Revue,[6] from which emerged stars such as Barrington Levy and Culture.
Starting in 1963, he recorded with producers such as Charlie Moo (Leslie Kong's business partner) and the husband of Sonia Pottinger, Lyndon.[5] He couldn't make a living from his music, so he quit in 1965 to work as a tailor in Annotto Bay. During this period, he made stage outfits for musicians such as Kes Chin, The Mighty Vikings, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, Carlos Malcolm and The Blues Busters.[6]
He went back to music in 1967, producing his own recordings as well as those of other artists.[7] He scored a hit with Eric 'Monty' Morris' reggae song "Say What You're Saying", and with his own song "Feel The Rhythm", one of several records that were instrumental in the shift from rocksteady to reggae.[7] Eccles has also been credited with deriving the name 'reggae' from 'streggae', Kingston slang for a good-time girl.[8] Eccles' first hit, "What Will Your Mama Say" which was released by the recently-created United Kingdomlabel, Pama Records. In 1968, his song "Fattie Fattie" became a skinhead reggae classic, along with his productions of recordings by the toasting DJKing Stitt ("Fire Corner", "Van Cleef", "Herbman Shuffle"). Eccles recorded many organ-led instrumentals with his session band The Dynamites (same band has Derrick Harriott's Crystalites), featuring Winston Wright. In 1970, Eccles helped pave the way to the dub music genre by releasing an instrumental version of "Herbman Shuffle" called "Phantom", with a mix focusing on the bass line.
Eccles launched different record labels for his works: Clansone, New Beat and Clandisc (the latter also the name of a sub-label set up by Trojan Records for Eccles' UK releases).[9] He recorded artists such as Alton Ellis, Joe Higgs, the Trinidian Lord Creator ("Kingston Town"), Larry Marshall, Hemsley Morris, Earl Lawrence, The Beltones, Glen Ricks, Cynthia Richards, Buster Brown and Beres Hammond.[7][9] Appreciated by musicians for his fairness and sense of equity, he helped Lee Perry set up his Upsetter record label in 1968 after Perry left Dodd's employment, and helped Winston 'Niney' Holmes (later known as 'The Observer') record his first hit as a producer in 1971 ("Blood & Fire").[7][10]
A socialist militant, Eccles was appointed as an adviser on the music industry to Michael Manley's People's National Party (PNP) and took part in Jamaica's 1972 prime ministerial elections by organizing a "Bandwagon" featuring musicians such as Bob Marley & the Wailers, Dennis Brown, Max Romeo, Delroy Wilson and Inner Circle, performing around the island in support of Manley's campaign.[6] Throughout the 1970s, he remained close to Manley and wrote several songs in praise of the PNP program, including his hits "Power For The People", "Rod Of Correction" or "Generation Belly".
Eccles' political interests meant that he spent less time on music, although in the late 1970s, Eccles had further success as a producer with recordings by Tito Simon and Exuma the Obeah Man, as well as collaborations with King Tubby.[2] After the 1970s, new Eccles recordings were rare, and he concentrated on live concert promotion and re-issues of his back catalogue.[2] In the 1980s, Eccles slowed down his musical activities, and he never met success again, apart from a few political songs, such as "Dem Mash Up The Country" in 1985. Eccles died on June 30, 2005 in Spanish Town Hospital from complications of a heart attack.
Eccles' son, Clancy Eccles Jr., has followed his father into the music business, initially performing as simply "Clancy".[11][12]
Dennis Brown was born on 1 February 1957 at Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica.[4] His father Arthur was a scriptwriter, actor, and journalist, and he grew up in a large tenement yard between North Street and King Street in Kingston with his parents, three elder brothers and a sister, although his mother died in the 1960s.[4][5] He attended Central Branch Primary School and later St. Stephens College. He began his singing career at the age of nine, while still at junior school, with an end-of-term concert the first time he performed in public, although he had been keen on music from an even earlier age, and as a youngster was a keen fan of American balladeers such as Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin.[4] He cited Nat King Cole as one of his greatest early influences.[4] He regularly hung around JJ's record store on Orange Street in the rocksteady era and his relatives and neighbours would often throw Brown pennies to hear him sing in their yard.[4] Brown's first professional appearance came at the age of eleven, when he visited a local club where his brother Basil was performing a comedy routine, and where he made a guest appearance with the club's resident group, the Fabulous Falcons (a group which included Cynthia Richards, David "Scotty" Scott, and Noel Brown).[4] On the strength of this performance he was asked to join the group as a featured vocalist.[4] When the group performed at a JLP conference at the National Arena, Brown sang two songs - Desmond Dekker's "Unity" and Johnnie Taylor's "Ain't That Loving You" - and after the audience showered the stage with money, he was able to buy his first suit with the proceeds.[4] Bandleader Byron Lee performed on the same bill, and was sufficiently impressed with Brown to book him to perform on package shows featuring visiting US artists, where he was billed as the "Boy Wonder".[4] As a young singer he was influenced by older contemporaries such as Delroy Wilson (who he later cited as the single greatest influence on his style of singing),[6]Errol Dunkley, John Holt, Ken Boothe, and Bob Andy.[4] Brown's first recording was an original song called "Lips of Wine" for producer Derrick Harriott, but when this was not released, he recorded for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label, and his first session yielded the single "No Man is an Island", recorded when Brown was aged twelve and released in late 1969.[7] The single received steadily increasing airplay for almost a year before becoming a huge hit throughout Jamaica.[7] Brown recorded up to a dozen sessions for Dodd, amounting to around thirty songs, and also worked as a backing singer on sessions by other artists, including providing harmonies along with Horace Andy and Larry Marshall on Alton Ellis's Sunday Coming album.[7][8] Brown was advised by fellow Studio One artist Ellis to learn guitar to help with his songwriting, and after convincing Dodd to buy him an instrument, was taught the basics by Ellis.[7] These Studio One recordings were collected on two albums, No Man is an Island and If I Follow my Heart (the title track penned by Alton Ellis), although Brown had left Studio One before either was released.[9] He went on to record for several producers including Lloyd Daley ("Baby Don't Do It" and "Things in Life"), Prince Buster ("One Day Soon" and "If I Had the World"), and Phil Pratt ("Black Magic Woman", "Let Love In", and "What About the Half"), before returning to work with Derrick Harriott, recording a string of popular singles including "Silhouettes", "Concentration", "He Can't Spell", and "Musical Heatwave", with the pick of these tracks collected on the Super Reggae and Soul Hitsalbum in 1973.[10] Brown also recorded for Vincent "Randy" Chin ("Cheater"), Dennis Alcapone ("I Was Lonely"), and Herman Chin Loy ("It's Too Late" and "Song My Mother Used to Sing") among others, with Brown still at school at this stage of his career.[11]
International success
In 1972, Brown began an association that would result in his breakthrough as an internationally successful artist; He was asked by Joe Gibbs to record an album for him, and one of the tracks recorded as a result, "Money in my Pocket", was a hit with UK reggae audiences and quickly became a favourite of his live performances. This original version of "Money in my Pocket" was in fact produced by Winston "Niney" Holness on behalf of Gibbs, with musical backing from the Soul Syndicate.[12] In the same year, Brown performed as part of a Christmas morning showcase in Toronto, Canada, along with Delroy Wilson, Scotty, Errol Dunkley, and the Fabulous Flames, where he was billed as the "Boy Wonder of Jamaica" and was considered the star of the show in a local newspaper review.[12] The song's popularity in the UK was further cemented with the release a deejay version, "A-So We Stay (Money in Hand)", credited to Big Youth and Dennis Brown, which outsold the original single and topped the Jamaican singles chart.[12] Brown and Holness became close, even sharing a house in Pembroke Hall.[8] Brown followed this with another collaboration with Holness on "Westbound Train", which was the biggest Jamaican hit of summer 1973,[13] and Brown's star status was confirmed when he was voted Jamaica's top male vocalist in a poll by Swing magazine the same year.[13] Brown followed this success with "Cassandra" and "No More Will I Roam", and tracks such as "Africa" and "Love Jah", displaying Brown's Rastafari beliefs, became staples on London's sound system scene.[13] In 1973, Brown was hospitalized due to fatigue caused by overwork, although at the time rumours spread that he only had one lung and had only a week to live, or had contracted tuberculosis.[13] He was advised to take an extended break from performing and concentrated instead on his college studies.[13]
Brown returned to music and toured the United Kingdom for the first time in late summer 1974 as part of a Jamaican showcase, along with Cynthia Richards, Al Brown, Sharon Forrester, and The Maytals, after which he was invited to stay on for further dates (where he was backed by The Cimarons, staying in the UK for another three months.[14] While in the UK, he recorded for the first time since his hospitalization, working with producer Sydney Crooks, and again backed by the Cimarons.[14] While Brown was in the UK, Gibbs released an album collecting recordings made earlier in Jamaica, released as The Best of Dennis Brown, and Brown's first single to get a proper UK release was issued on the Synda label - "No More Will I Roam".[15] He returned to Jamaica for Christmas, but six weeks later was back in the UK, now with Holness in tow as his business manager, to negotiate a record deal with Trojan Records, the first Brown album to be released as a result being Just Dennis, although the pair would be left out of pocket after Trojan's collapse and subsequent buyout by Saga Records.[16] On their return to Jamaica, Brown and Holness resumed recording in earnest with tracks for a new album, including "So Long Rastafari", "Boasting", and "Open the Gate".[17] During 1975, Brown also recorded one-off sessions for Sonia Pottinger ("If You leave Me") and Bunny Lee ("So Much Pain", a duet with Johnny Clarke), and the first recordings began to appear on Brown's new DEB Music label.[18] In the wake of the Trojan collapse, Brown and Holness arranged a deal with local independent label owners Castro Brown (who ran Morpheus Records) and Larry Lawrence (Ethnic Fight) to distribute their releases in the UK.[19] Brown saw the UK as the most important market to target and performed for five consecutive nights at the Georgian Club in Croydon to raise funds to start his new DEB Music label with Castro Brown.[20] In early 1976, Castro secured a deal with Radio Londondisc jockeyCharlie Gillett for Morpheus (and hence DEB) output to be issued through the latter's Oval Records, which had a distribution deal with Virgin Records, but after a dispute over Castro's separate supply of these records to London record shops, the deal was scrapped and the early DEB releases suffered from a lack of promotion.[21] Later that year, Brown voiced two tracks at Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark studio, "Take a Trip to Zion" and "Wolf and Leopard", the latter of which was a massive hit in Jamaica and would prove to be one of Brown's most popular songs, with a lyric criticizing those criminals who "rode the natty dread bandwagon".[22] Brown confirmed in an interview in Black Echoes that he had parted company with Holness, stating that "I was going along with one man's ideas for too long. Niney was trying to find a new beat at all times, which was disconcerting, so I hadn't been working with my true abilities. Now I know that I can produce myself".[23]
Brown began working again with Joe Gibbs, with an agreement that in return for studio time for his own productions, Brown would allow Gibbs use of any rhythm recorded in the process.[24] The first album from this arrangement, the 1977 release Visions of Dennis Brown, gave him his biggest success so far, blending conscious themes and love songs, and confirming Brown's transformation from child star to grown up artist.[25] The biblical-themed sleeve and portrait of Haile Selassie on the back complemented the roots reggae tracks on the album, including "Repatriation", "Jah Can Do it", and cover versions of Earl 16's "Malcolm X" and Clive Hunt's "Milk and Honey". The album immediately entered the Black Echoes chart and stayed there well into the following year, although it was only available in the UK as an expensive import.[26]Visions... was voted reggae album of the year by Melody Maker writers and was given the same award by readers of Black Echoes.[26] A reissued "Wolf and Leopard" single, and the eventual album release of the same name also sold well in the UK, both topping the Black Echoes chart.[27]
NME cover from 24 February 1979
Brown toured the UK in Autumn 1977 with Big Youth, and described the tour: "It's like I was appointed to deliver certain messages and now is the time to deliver them".[28] He had also begun producing recordings by his protege, Junior Delgado. In 1978, Brown moved to live in London, and set up premises in Battersea Rise, near Clapham Junction to relaunch the DEB Music label with Castro Brown, with artists featured on the label including Junior Delgado, 15.16.17, Bob Andy, Lennox Brown, and later, Gregory Isaacs.[29] Brown had further success himself with a discomix of "How Could I Leave You", a version of The Sharks' rocksteady standard "How Could I Live" with accompanying toast by Prince Mohamed. In March 1978, Brown flew to Jamaica, where he was booked at the last minute to perform at the One Love Peace Concert at the National Arena, backed by Lloyd Parks' We The People Band.[30]Visions of Dennis Brown was given a wider distribution via a deal between Lightning Records and WEA and topped the UK reggae album chart in September 1978, this chart run lasting for five months.[31] In August 1978, Brown returned to the UK, bringing Junior Delgado with him, and DEB Music released a series of singles, although they sold moderately compared to the label's earlier successes, but in the same month, Brown's breakthrough single was first released. Initially released as a discomix featuring a new version of "Money in my Pocket" and the deejay version "Cool Runnings" by Price Mohamed, which became unavailable for a time after quickly selling out its first pressing, this single gave Brown his first UK Top 40hit, reaching #14 the following year and becoming one of the biggest international hits in Jamaica's history,[32][33] after crossing over first into soul clubs and then rock clubs.[34] This success led to Brown featuring on the cover of the NME in February 1979.
Brown's next two albums were both released on DEB - So Long Rastafari and Joseph's Coat of Many Colours, although the label was closed down in 1979, after which Brown again did the rounds of Jamaica's top producers, as well as continuing self-productions with singles such as "The Little Village" and "Do I Worry?" in 1981.[35]
A&M and the dancehall era
With continuing commercial success, Brown signed an international deal with A&M Records in 1981, and now based permanently in the UK, his first album release for the label was the Gibbs-produced Foul Play, which while not wholly a success included the roots tracks "The Existence of Jah" and "The World is Troubled".[36] This was followed in 1982 by Love Has Found its Way, a Gibbs/Brown/Willie Lindo production which blended lovers rock with a more 'pop' sound, and again was not a great success.[36] His final album with the label, 1983's The Prophet Rides Again again mixed roots themes with commercial R&B style tracks, and proved to be his swansong with the label.[36] While his association with A&M had taken him in a more commercial pop direction, Kingston's music scene had shifted towards the new dancehall era, and Brown enthusiatically adapted to the new sound, recording for some of the genre's major producers including Prince Jammy and Gussie Clarke. In the early 1980s he also started a new label, Yvonne's Special, dedicated to his wife.[37] In 1984, he collaborated with Gregory Isaacs on the album Two Bad Superstars Meet and the hit single "Let aaf Sum'n", recorded with Sly & Robbie and Jammy, which was followed by a second album featuring the two stars, Judge Not, in 1985.[38] Brown released a huge amount of work through the 1980s, including the 1986 Jammy-produced album The Exit, but his biggest success of the decade came in 1989 with the Gussie Clarke-produced duet with Isaacs "Big All Round", and the album Unchallenged.[38] He continued to record prolifically in the 1990s, notably on the Three Against War album in 1995 with Beenie Man and Triston Palmer, and on albums produced by Mikey Bennett, and his profile in the United States was raised by a series of album releases on RAS Records.[38] In the late 1990s he was managed by Tommy Cowan, who contrasted Brown to Bob Marley, who he had also managed, stating "Bob Marley was a serious businessman, I don't think Dennis was as serious when it came to investment. Dennis was like a community person, he would earn money and in one hour he would give it away."[39] Brown said of his approach to songwriting in the late 1990s:
"When I write a song I try to follow Joseph's way - deliverance through vision from all - true vibration. I want to be a shepherd in my work, teaching and learning, really singing so much. I don't want to sing and not live it. I must live it. If I can sing songs that people can watch me living, then they can take my work"[40]
Brown's 1994 album Light My Fire was nominated for a Grammy Award, as was the last album recorded by Brown, Let Me Be the One (in 2001).[41][42]
Death
In the late 1990s, Brown's health began to deteriorate, with longstanding respiratory problems exacerbated by cocaine use leading to him being taken ill in May 1999, after touring in Brazil with other reggae singers, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.[41] After returning to Kingston, Jamaica, on the evening of June 30, 1999, he was rushed to Kingston's University Hospital, suffering from cardiac arrest.[43] Brown died the next day, and the official cause of his death was a collapsed lung,[43] although his cocaine habit was considered a contributing factor.[38][44][45][46] Sitting Jamaican Prime MinisterP. J. Patterson and former prime minister, serving at the time as opposition leader, Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party both spoke at Brown's funeral, which was held on July 17, 1999 in Kingston. The service, which lasted for three hours, also featured live performances by Maxi Priest, Shaggy, and five of Brown's sons. Brown was then buried at Kingston's National Heroes Park.[47] Brown was survived by his wife Yvonne and thirteen children.[3] Jamaica's Prime Minister P. J. Patterson paid tribute to Brown, saying "Over the years, Dennis Brown has distinguished himself as one of the finest and most talented musicians of our time. The Crown Prince of Reggae as he was commonly called. He has left us with a vast repertoire of songs which will continue to satisfy the hearts and minds of us all for generations to come."[48]
Cole was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1945 and nicknamed "Stranger" by his family, as they considered that he didn't resemble any member of his kin.[1] Cole was initially successful as a songwriter, writing "In and out the Window", which was a hit for Eric "Monty" Morris.[2] This success gave him the chance to make his recording debut in 1962, instantly finding success with singles such as "Rough and Tough" and "When You Call My Name" (a duet with Patsy Todd) for producer Arthur "Duke" Reid.[3] Further success followed with singles for Reid through to the mid-1960s, and he also worked with other producers at this time, including Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (a duet with Ken Boothe on "Worlds Fair"), and Prince Buster.[3] Further duets included recordings with Gladstone Anderson (on "Just Like a River")[4] and Hortense Ellis, the tendency to record duets apparently due to his shyness when it came to singing alone.[1] In the late 1960s and early 1970s he recorded with several producers, including Bunny Lee, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Sonia Pottinger.[5] These included further material with Todd as Stranger & Patsy. In 1971 he emigrated to England, where he toured extensively, and moved on again to Canada in 1973, settling in Toronto.[3] He worked as a machinist in the Tonka Toy factory in Toronto and later opened the first Caribbean record shop in Toronto His first album, "Foward" in the Land of Sunshine, was released in 1976, with a handful of further albums released over the next ten years, most on his own label.[3] In 2006, Cole released his first album in twenty years, Morning Train, a collaboration with Jah Shaka. Cole is featured in the 2009 documentary Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae, in which he and other stars of the rocksteady era reunited to record a new album of the same name, released in August 2009.[6]
Cole's son, Squiddly, followed him into a music career, working as a drummer for artists including Ziggy Marley and Mutabaruka.[5]
Mento music had its beginnings in Jamaica in the 19th century, and was uniquely Jamaican fusion of African and European musical traditions. In mento's recorded history pre-history, from the 1920s through the 1940s, a number of Jamaican songs were put to wax by Caribbean jazz artists. In the 1930 and 1940s, Slim and Sam, a mento group who performed in Kingston, gained renown and are recalled today. They're remembered for their originals, and sold "tracts" -- printed lyrics -- at their performances. (The book "Reggae Routes" by Kevin O'Brien Chang and Wayne Chen lists the names of some of these originals, and has additional information and even a picture of Slim and Sam.)
But it wasn't until the early 1950s that true mento recordings first began to appear on 78 RPM discs. This decade was mento’s golden age, as a variety of artists recorded mento songs in an assortment of rhythms and styles. It was the peak of mento's creativity and popularity in Jamaica and the birth of Jamaica's recording industry.
These recordings reveal mento to be a diverse musical genre, sometimes played with reckless abandon and other times with orderly precision. In addition to mento's African and European roots, by this time, it had also encompassed pan-Caribbean influences, as well as from American jazz. Although it was informed by a world of music, mento is clearly, uniquely Jamaican. And as Jamaica's original music, all other Jamaican music can trace its roots to mento.
Some styles of mento would evolve into ska and reggae. (As a matter of fact, some mento songs are still being recorded inna dancehall stylee today.) Other styles, while purely mento, seem to have done less to contribute to the development of later Jamaican music.
During this time, Trinidadian calypso was the Caribbean’s top musical export, and the term "Calypso" was used generically applied to Jamaican mento as well. Far more often than it was called by its proper name, mento was called "calypso", "kalypso" or "mento calypso". Adding to the confusion, Jamaica had its own calypso singers that did not record mento, such as Lord Creator. (The Trinidad-born Creator later became a ska singer for Studio 1.) And mento artists would oftenperform calypso songs in the mento style, or record a mento song with calypso influence. Some mento artists followed the calypsonian practice of adding a title such as "Count" or "Lord" to their name. But make no mistake, mento is a distinctly different sound from calypso, with its own instrumentation, rhythms, pacing, vocal styles, harmonies, and lyrical concerns.
The Classic Rural Sound
The classic mento sound is the acoustic, informal, folksy ruralstyle. Still sometimes referred to as country music in Jamaica, it's easy to imagine farmers and their families celebrating harvest with a mento dance. Typical instruments included banjo, acoustic guitar, a home-madesaxophone, clarinet or flute made from bamboo, a variety of hand percussion and a rumba box. Often, these songs had a proto-reggae beat, and sounded like an acoustic antediluvian form of reggae. (The mento proto-reggae beat was especially reminiscent of reggae where the dub echo doubles the guitar chop. Bob Marley's "Sun Is Shining" from "Kaya" is an example that leaps to mind.)
One thing mento banjo doesn't sound like is the banjo playing heard in bluegrass or other American musical traditions. Mento banjo had different approaches.
Although you can count on one hand the number of reggae songs that feature banjo, some guitar techniques heard in reggae, such as the picked rhythmic playing employed by many Jamaican guitarists sound as if they have their roots in the banjo playing of the island's past.
Acoustic guitar was typically a strummed rhythm instrument. Banjo or winds most typically handled any soloing.
The bamboo sax had a distinctive, organic sound. The Sugar Belly page has information, pictures and even video of this instrument in action.
The rumba box is a large thumb piano built from from a wooden box. A large circular sound hole is cut into the front, over which are a number of tuned metal tines. These are plucked to produce bass notes. One of reggae's hallmarks is a sparse, thunderous bass-line. The rumba box provided much the same for mento, albeit in a more rudimentary form. Depending on how the tines were plucked, the rumba box could also produce a rich and unusual percussive sound. The rumba box is typically sat on as it is played. Scaled-down souvenir rumba boxes were available to tourists in Jamaica during the 1950s and 1960s.
The type of percussion heard on these recordings is another important feature of mento's unique sound. A full drum set would have been impractical, too expensive and a poor fit for such a rural, acoustic and informal music. Instead, if drums were present on a rural recording, a single hand drum was typically used. But as is often the case in mento, less is more. The single drum could really open up the music, by playing a solo or by its playing throughout a song. Sometimes, a second percussion instrument would be added, such as maracas (which were typical) or wood blocks. Hand drumming developed further in later Jamaican music, as African-influenced Rastafarian nyabhinghi drumming became an important ingredient in reggae.
Additional instruments (such as harmonica, fiddle, fife or penny whistle, and others) were also part of rural mento and found their way into many recordings from this era. It seems to be a rule that if a mento song features harmonica, it would be a fantastically upbeat recording. Likewise, if it featured fiddle, it sounded very country to my ears.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the popularity of R&B in Jamaica would effectively filter out banjo, bamboo instruments, clarinet, rumba box, flute, fife and penny whistle from later Jamaican music.
The Urban Mento Style
With lineage back to the Caribbean-jazz bands of the 1920s, there was a second style of mento. This was the more urban, polished, jazzydance band style. (This term came from Dan Neely's liner notes in the compilation CD, "Boogu Yagga Gal") If you are looking at a mento label and the word "Orchestra" appears in the artist's name, it's most probably a dance band recording.
In dance band mento, home-made instruments were replaced by professional saxes and clarinets and basses. Often, banjo was left behind in favor of electric guitar. Along with clarinet, piano was often a featured instrument, as the music became overtly jazzy. Percussion was less rustic, and sometimes had a Latin feel. Almost all of the rural style's rough edges were smoothed out. In the 1960s, a calypso inflection was often heard in urban reggae, replacing the jazz sound. Dance band mento seems to have largely died out by the 70s, while the original rural style continued. However, the musicians of this style of mento contributed greatly to the jazz that was such an important element of ska.
The Lyrics
Though mento bands recorded a handful of quadrille and mento instrumentals, most mento songs had vocals. Mento's lyrics are typically a lot of fun. As a whole, they portray the issues, large and small, of life in Jamaica. Some songs are about Jamaica itself. Some described Jamaican foods and recipes -- just one way that mento gave you a real slice of Jamaican life in the 1950s. (There were so many songs about various fruits, it could be considered a sub-genre.) The trials and tribulations of Jamaicans migrating to England was a popular topic. All manner of relationships between people are explored, as is the problematic and comic relationship between man and animal. Though there a few serious or sad songs, the great majority were happy and positive.
Humor was integral to many mento songs. This sometimes includes ribald lyrics, filled with double entendres, which delighted Jamaicans and tourists alike. These songs were very popular, and can be seen as the beginning of what grew into the explicit slackness lyrics in reggae. Though, by today's standards, mento naughtiness is very mild. Yet, the popularity of these records led to a scare where the Jamaican government considered banning native 'calypso' records! There were also topical songs describing and commenting on the latest styles and news stories. This may be the earliest song writing tradition in mento, along with adapting Jamaican folk songs. Two mento lyricists stand out: Count Lasher and Everard Williams, who each wrote a bushel of classic songs. There are very few of what could be described as a traditional love song in mento. Also refreshingly absent are self aggrandizing lyrics. Mento artists had enough to say without singing about their own preeminence.
In addition to songs of Jamaican origin, many Trinidadian calypso songs made their way into the mento repertoire. For example, "Hold 'em Joe" was first recorded by Lord Executioner in the 1910s. But while a number of songs found their way to Jamaica's shores, the calypso practice of extemporaneously improvising lyrics did not. Mento songs aimed specifically at Jamaica's tourists, such as "Take Her To Jamaica (Where The Rum Comes From)" where also part of the mix.
Recording more than one vocal performance to the same musical backing is a quintessentially reggae practice. But it appears to have originated in mento, where this was not uncommon. Old folk and mento melodies would sometimes acquire altered, or an entirely new set of lyrics. (The melody from "Rucumbine" proved to be especially reusable.) Those who have acquired these recordings described on the Can I Buy Mento Music? page can compare "Naughty Little Flea" from Lord Flea’s "Swinging Calypsos" to "Nebuchadnezzar" from Laurel Aitken’s "The Pioneer of Jamaican Music". The lyrical content and vocal style couldn’t be more different, but the music is essentially the same. Or compare the two Lord Composer clips, Galag Gully; Matilda and Hill and Gully Ride; Mandeville Road. As in reggae, this practice does nothing to take away from the enjoyment of these recordings.
The Vocals
Mento's vocalists sang in a variety of styles and pitches. But if there is one style that sounds most mento of all, it's the nasal, rural sound that some mento singers possessed. It's a sound with strong echoes of African heritage. Listen to the intonation, phrasing and melodic approach that Harold Richardson displays in the opening line of, "Don't Fence Her In", or in, "Glamour Gal". That is a great mento voice. Then, listen to Alert Bedasse, the lead singer in Chin's Calypso Sexteton such songs as "Adam and Eve" and "Not Me Again". You will hear a very mento voice. (You will also hear bamboo sax, a very mento instrument.) Some reggae singers posses something of these vocal qualities, but (with the exception of the heavily mento influences Stanley Beckford) never really matched this sound.
The Venues and Festivals
Mento was everywhere in Jamaica, live and recorded, in the country and the city, uptown and downtown, at work, at dances, at funerals, at burlesque shows, at tourist resorts, as an added attraction at the movie theater, at bars, at the airport, at markets, at night clubs and at festivals and contests. Basically, any public gathering might include a mento band as entertainment. But it was at the festivals and competitions where one could have been treated to incredible multi-act bills.
For example, in 1953, the Ward Theatre hosted the First Annual All-Island Calypso Band Contest. Thirteen bands competed, including first place winner Lord Power, second place winner Lord Messam. There was a tie for third between Lord Food and His Firehouse Four and Clyde Hoyte and his Sunbeams . Sugar Belly won a consolation prize, as the controversial scoring was said to have penalized him. Power's raucous set was lauded, but Messam's set was said to be tame because he was too used to catering to the tastes of tourists. Hoyte's set was said to be suited for a nightclub and Lord Food (I wonder if this is Lord Foodoos) performed "Mother Love".
An even more impressive collection of talent was assembled at the 1955 Calypso Pepper Pot show, again a the Ward Theatre, as seen below left. Silver Seas, Lord Lebby, Lord Messam, Count Lasher, visiting Trinidadian calypsonians, renown Jamaican jazz band Eric Deans and His Orchestra and many more performed, including Lord Tanamo and Sir Horace, both of whom were not part of the advertisement. Judges included Louise Bennett, Mapletoft Poulle and Stanley Motta. The winner was Silver Seas for their song "Chinese Cricket". Second place was Count Barry featuring lead vocalist Lord Lebby. Third place was has by Count Lasher for his performance of "History of Jamaica" and "Calypso Cha Cha." Lord Messam won best costume and performed "If You're Not White, You're Considered Black".
Two advertisements from The Daily Gleaner appearing June 1, 1955 and June 10, 1956
Another original song, "It’s Rocking Time" would later be turned into the Alton Ellis' hit "Rocksteady". While these early recordings demonstrate Dillon's mastery of the rocksteady sound, a much slower, soulful, response to the sultry weather that made ska's upbeat rhythm and tempo undesirable even impracticable, it was no indication of her greatest performance, 1967’s "Perfidia". Popularized by the American surf rock band The Ventures, "Perfidia" is a 1940 song written by Alberto Domínguez and made popular by the Cubanbandleader, Xavier Cugat.
At the end of 1967, Dillon moved to New York.[1] The following five years, she spent living a double life. She had a family and career in the United States, flying frequently back to Kingston, Jamaica to continue recording for Reid.
After a number of singles and an album entitled Living in Love, Dillon ended her recording career in 1971. She was 23 years old.
In 1991, Michael Bonnet, the entertainment director for the Oceanea Hotel in Kingston approached Dillon inviting her to sing. Her refusal at first was later rescinded and sparked a revitalized interest in performing and recording. In the years following, Dillion would tour the UK, Germany and Japan.
In 1998 Phyllis Dillon returned to the recording studio with Lynn Taitt, marked by reinterest in ska music in the United States. She remained active until illness took hold.
Phyllis Dillon died on 15 April 2004 in New York, after a two year battle with cancer, at the age of 56.[1]
