1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...

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BLACK MUSIC MAY 1974

SINGLES REVIEW:
by Carl Gayle:-

THE MAYTALS: Fever (Drangon DRA 1021)
More aggressive than `Funky Kingston`. A lively danceable skank rhythm working well with the driving brass. Another scorcher!

ERIC DONALDSON: Watch What You Are Doing To Me / You Must Believe Me (Dragon DRA 1020)
He`s back on top form. The simple rhythms hark back to his earlier material, his vocals are as emotional and melodic as ever and his lyrics are dynamite.

KEN BOOTHE: That`s The Way Nature Planned It / Part Two (Trojan TR 7910)
A foretaster to Ken`s upcoming LP "Let`s Get It On". If the tracks are all as good as this then the LP is a big Winner.

GEORGE DEKKER: Pardon / Rub It Up (Trojan TR 7908)
From time to time the best songwriter in the Pioneers makes a solo single. "Time Hard" was his best. This song about what you have to do to be forgiven for your sins isn`t as good as the latter, but it will do.

JIMMY LONDON: No Letter Today / The Road Is Rough (Dragon DRA 1019)
Slow, dreamy love song. Jimmy`s got a real fine voice but the arrangement is lacklustre.

HAPPY JUNIOR: Sugar Dandy / Version (Ashanti ASH 408)
A very good young singer (hopefully the new Pioneer). Construced like a late fifties pop song, complete with adolescent charm.

THE ETHIOPIANS: Buy You A Ring / Pray Moma (Harry J HJ 6663)
Slow sentimental number with a wonderful repetitive bass line, a lovely organ break in the middle, and a catchy chorus. When are people gonna start noticing this group?

THE PIONEERS: I`m Gonna Knock On Your Door / Some Livin Some Dyin (Trojan TR 7913)
Sydney, George and Jackie actually sing together instead of against each other this time and come up with their best in ages. It beats Jimmy Osmond`s version!

JOHNNY CLARKE: None Shall Escape The Judgement / Every Rasta Is A Star (Explosion EX 2089)
The best rhythm of the new releases behind a peculiar-sounding voice. Excellent bass playing.

DELROY WILSON: What Happen To The Youth Of Today / Baby Don`t Do It (Harry J HJ 6667)
Delroy has a naturally relaxed vocal style which always manages to hold attention regardless of the song`s quality. Not a bad song, but the B side`s better.

Carl Gayle:-
BLACK MUSIC MAY 1974

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC MAY 1974

UK REGGAE CHARTS MAY 1974:

REGGAE SINGLES:
1. Here I Am Baby (Come And Take Me) - Al Brown & Skin Flesh And Bones (Trojan TR 7915).
2. No Letter Today - Jimmy London (Dragon DRA 1019).
3. Emergency Call - Judy Mowatt (Trojan TR 7912).
4. None Shall Escape The Judgement - Johnny Clarke (Explosion EX 2089).
5. I`m Gonna Knock On Your Door - The Pioneers (Trojan TR 7913).
6. Sugar Dandy - Happy Junior (Ashanti ASH 418).
7. I Wanna Make It With You - Bobby Houston (Action ACT 4622).
8. That`s The Way Nature Planned It - Ken Boothe (Trojan TR 7910).
9. Let`s Get It On - Ken Boothe (Trojan TR 7907).
10. No Work No Pay - The Tellers (Pyramid PYR 7011).
11. Please Don`t Make Me Cry - Winston Groovy (Explosion EX 2088).
12. Splish Splash - The Ethiopians (Harry J HJ 6665).
13. What Happened To The Youth Of Today - Delroy Wilson (Harry J HJ 6667).
14. Pardon - George Dekker (Trojan TR 7908).
15. I`m Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More - Lloyd Charmers (Harry J HJ 6662).
16. Buy You A Ring - Ethiopians (Harry J HJ 6663).
17. Phoenix City - Roland Alphonso (TRM 9010).
18. Mellow Mood - Judy Mowatt (Horse HOSS 40).
19. I`m Ready To Go - Monty Morris (Ackee ACK 527).
20. I Miss You - The Heptones (Ashanti ASH 407).
21. What A Festival - Eric Donaldson (Dragon DRA 1017).
22. The Lord`s Prayer - Annetta Jackson And Bobby Stephen (Trojan TR 7914).
23. Brighter Days Will Be Coming - Clancy Eccles (Harry J HJ 6664).
24. Watch What You`re Doing To Me - Eric Donaldson (Dragon DRA 1020).
25. Musical Splendour - Neville Hinds (Harry J HJ 6657).
26. In The Dark - The Maytals (Dragon DRA 1016).
27. Have Some Mercy - Delroy Wilson (CT 22).
28. Girl You Cry - Errol Dunkley (Count Shelly CS 44).
29. The Way You Do The Things You Do - Eric Donaldson (Dragon DRA 1018).
30. Tonight I`m Staying Here With You - Romey And The Tennors (Technique TE 932).

REGGAE ALBUMS:
1. 1,000 Volts Of Holt - John Holt (Trojan TRLS 75).
2. Fabulous Five Inc. - The Fabulous Five (Ashanti ASH 104).
3. Blackbirds Singing - Roslyn Sweat And The Paragons (Horse HRLP 703).
4. U. Roy - U. Roy (Attack ATLP 1006).
5. The Further You Look - John Holt (Trojan TRLS 55).
6. Jimmy Brown - Ken Parker (Trojan TRLS 80).
7. 20 Explosive Hits - Various Artists (Trojan TRLS 81).
8. Darling Who - Errol Dunkley (Attack ATLP 1003).
9. Belch It Off - Dennis Alcapone (Attack ATLP 1005).
10. Build It Up - Brent Dowe (Trojan TRLS 67).
11. Just Tito Simon - Tito Simon (Horse HRLP 702).
12. Freedom Feeling - The Pioneers (Trojan TRLS 64).
13. Black Gold And Green - Ken Boothe (Trojan TRLS 58).
14. 20 Dragon Hits - Various Artists (Dragon DRLS 5003).
15. Funky Knigston - The Maytals (Dragon DRLS 5002).
16. Reggae Round The World - Byron Lee And The Dragonaires (Dragon DRLS 5001).
17. The Marvels - The Marvels (Trojan TRLS 67).
18. It May Sound Silly - Gladstone Anderson (Ashanti SHAN 103).
19. Grounation - Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari (Ashanti NTI 301).
20. Alton Ellis Greatest Hits - Alton Ellis (Count Shelly SSLP 02).

BLACK MUSIC MAY 1974

peace

[stepping razor]

The next lot are interviews with Reggae artists, groups, singers, producers, studios, sound systems, DJs, Reggae industry and articles.

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1973: Vol. 1 / Issue 1

I ROY WAS HERE

AT 28 Roy Reid ia a most self-assured person. Physically, his appearance is immediately striking. He is handsome and well built, if a little paunchy. He has the worldly air and wisdom usually associated with men three-times his age. He says he is a messenger and he is serious about it.

Roy Reid, better known as I. Roy amoung Reggae fans, started operating a sound System at the age of 22. When like so many other Sound System operators, I. Roy started making records, his unique style singled him out. Unlike those of his contemporaries, I. Roy`s shouted phrases--which are dubbed onto a background tune--are always sensible, often philosophical, and sometimes even prophetic.

There`s no mistaking Roy`s tunes. His piercing voice and use of echo effects gives his sounds a contagious appeal. He speaks eloquently when he talks about his trade.

"I used to operate a Sound System mostly around Kingston and Spanish Town for a Chinese cat, a System called Sounds Junior, and used to move the people with my jive talk. Folks used to gather round at nights just to hear me because I always have a message on the microphone. They started encouraging me to make recordings because I was different.

"Then I met this cat called Harry Moodie and did some records for him. The first one was called "Musical Pleasure" around `70 to`71, then I recorded `The Drifter` and `Let Me Tell You Baby` which was by myself and Nora Dean and it was a big JA seller."

It may surprise you to learn that I. Roy worked as an accountant before becoming a DJ.

"But music was always in me. I come from a musical family, my old man is a guitarist. Not a recording guitarist, but he has played at a lot of places."

Roy does his `voicing` at King Tubby`s studio and operates King Tubby`s Hi-Fi--the biggest System in JA.

"I started operating it about a year ago. U Roy used to do it but since he came to England last year he hasn`t been interested in playing a System anymore but he`s still recording.

"You see when I`m DJ-ing I get ideas from the people on the dance floor. You might see people getting uptight and you can jive talk them, you can pick up your microphone and tell them to leave their troubles at home and they respond. You always learn things when you play a Sound System in JA because Reggae is the foundation of Jamaican people, it`s their life and they dig it."

Is the competition between the Systems still very keen?

"No not really. You have a whole heap of small Sound Systems but the trouble is that you get `kicksters` coming into the dances with guns, firing off a few shots just to create a bit of excitement now and again. The violence is not as bad as it used to be in the early days though. They have lifted the ban on big dances which was imposed about two years ago."

I. Roy is totally involved with Reggae music and the way of life that many Jamaicans are forced to lead. The two for him are inseparable. His inspirations are a product of that life, a way of life which to many Jamaicans in England would seem alien.

"My inspirations are deep down within me, it`s something that I see in everyday life. I see segregation, I see sufferation, I see annihilation, I see people loving each other, people hating each other, I see the margin between black and white and it goes on and on. When I go into the studio it all comes out I don`t even have to write out lyrics beforehand.

"Right now I`m trying to project my thoughts to a more mature crowd. You see, the lyrics come and go but reality lives for ever it`s like practical history it never fades out. I`m catering for the kids but at the same time I`m trying to get the mature crowd to listen because it`s a message, whether I sing it or talk. I`m trying to reach out and touch the people who are so far away and who live in a world of fantasy, they can`t even take the time off to see what they`re made of you know!"

Why do you think Jamaica produces so much good music for such a small Island?

"Should I say it is a God-blessed country. It has been cast away by the whole world but they never can seem to forget it because everybody today is trying to get a piece of Jamaica. You and I, we Jamaicans are talented people, our music is a phenomenon, it turns you on. Where any kind of music is concerned the black man is always the most outstanding."

What opportunities are there for young guys who want to make it as musicians in JA?

"Young musicians should put more effort into rehearsals because you never stop learning. There are no dimensions, a man can do anything if he really puts his mind to it. In JA you have many auditions set up by producers like Bunnie Lee, Randy, and Winston Blake. They take you into the studio with a guitarist to see what you can do. If you are any good they will set up sessions for you to lay down some tracks."

"Black Man Time" is one of my own favourite DJ tunes.

"It`s really working on the minds of the people because it`s black man time whether you want to believe it or not. We`ve been through 400 years of slavery and annihilation and black people, but we`re way ahead now."

Do you project your music purposely through any personal philosophy?

"Well Rastafarianism is one way of seeing it. Another way osf seeing it is that I am a man who deals With Black equality, Black I-nity, togetherness. To me, I`m like a messenger. I`d like to see people unite and forget this bombardment. And it is Black Man Time, you can smell it even in the air you breathe."

What do you think of the British Reggae scene?

"I noticed that in London you only have one black disc jockey Steve Barnard, and I appreciate him. People should give him more encouragement.

"And at the clubs like Q club they should play a little more Reggae because it was Reggae that made them. There`s too much funk, everybody wants to be American.

"Change it! We can`t kill Reggae, it`s our scene it`s our foundation. Why ride on the Americans` back why do we want to look like Americans or talk like Americans? Americans aren`t really the most progressive people in the world, it`s what you think you are that you are. All I can say is Right On to Reggae!"
Carl Gayle:-

Black Music December 1973

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1973: Vol. 1 / Issue 1

RASTA REVELATION - COUNT OSSIE And His Band
[cover=4007,2455][cover=2087,2455]
"GROUNATION" is the title of a new album on the Ashanti label by the magnificently-named Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari.

This set is not just unique for the quantity and quality of the music, or for the fact that the liner notes are thorough in dealing with the music and its culture. It is unique because it makes available for the first time `rastafarian music` proper, a fact which is important because the music and its culture has for years played an integral part in the development of Jamaican music without being recognised as such. The music here is not typical of the music which Jamaica has produced since the early sixties, yet rastafarian music is as familiar to Jamaicans as reggae.

In the evolution of its music, Jamaica has never produced musicians who have regularly made rastafarian music--except perhaps for Count Ossie and his band who backed The Folkes Bros. on `Oh Carolina` back in `65, and perhaps a few others have done so when the idea was trendy.

But the existence of the Rastafarians in Jamaica has social, economic, and political consequences which focused attention on the sect and enabled their countrymen to become more aware of their historical and cultural roots, and the Rastafarian ideals. These have continually provided Jamaican musicians--rastafarians and non rastafarians alike--with sources of influence and inspiration.

Thus, over the years we have had songs such as `Marcus Junior` by Don Drummond, `A Place Called Africa` by Lee Perry & The Upsetters, `My Ancestors` by Jimmy Cliff, `400 years` by The Wailers, and `Rivers Of Babylon` by The Melodians which have reflected the rastafarian influence.

Count Ossie and his band represent a total embodiment of the rastafarian tradition. `Grounation` describes a way of life that identifies in every way possible with Africa--the rightful homeland of Rastafarians--and the music deals with this ideology. Moreover, the set, with its eloquent narrations and poems traces that part in the black man`s history which deals with his enslavement and colonization. And the music`s strong African feel helps in the digestion of the Revelations.

The complete text of `Narration` which lasts 13.15 is included in the liner notes. The method of production here--precussion and narrative--are simple yet stunningly effective. More so than The Last Poets for instance whose use of the same techniques is too crude to be enlightening. `Narration` tells it like it was and like it is, so does `400 years` which has a meandering tenor and flute accompaniment and is the most poignant of the four poems.

Percussion is the dominating aspect of all rastafarian music. In both `So Long` which is a chant, and in major parts of `Grounation` which lasts for over half an hour and features a type of communal singing praising the doctrine of Rastafarians, the drums, the bongos and the shouts are all tribal. They echo the sounds associated with Africa and they are angrier than the native war drums.

On two of the best numbers--`Bongo Man` and `Lumba` brass is prevalent. In the former, the baritone and tenor saxes interwineand the plodding bass and lazy trombone and baritone gives this number a very jazzy feel. In `Lumba` trombone and tenor duet and the baritone riffs effoertlessly. A flute solo along with intermittent vocal shrieks and vibrant percussion, combine to make this a tremendously haunting piece which conjures up images of toiling slaves under the painful persuasionof the slave driver`s whip.
It`s no coincidence that `Way Back Home` should follow as the next track. In this context it has much deeper meaning than the original by The Crusanders.

If you`re looking for musicians with `feel` well this is one very `hot` bunch of brothers.
Carl Gayle: -

BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1973

peace

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BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 2

THE NEW BOSSES

Carl Gayle: -
On The Men Behind The New-Wave Jamaican Music

WHEN Lee Perry started the Upsetter label in Jamaica in 1967, he was the first `outsider`--as a producer--to do so (remember Tighten Up?) and he met with a lot of opposition. At the time big boys at Federal Studios and Dynamic Studios, as well as the very earliest producers such as Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Prince Buster, and Leslie Kong had had the market sewn up between them. Since then the situation has changed. Nowadays it would seem that everybody in Music from Kingston to London is a producer of some knid with his own little label.

But this is where the bread is, and when the fact was realised the enthusiasts started investing whatever capital they could scrape together into a record label. And this is when a kind of `class struggle` within the JA music industry started although the people originally in control have grown stronger at the top.

But there was a definite acceleration in the rate of progression and development of Jamaican music caused by the newcomers, such producers as Lee Perry, Joel Gibson, Derrick Harriott, Harry Johnson, Clancy Eccles, A. Ranglin, Rupie Edwards, Niney, and Bunnie Lee who have been responsible for the variety of styles in Jamaican music which in turn has rendered the term "reggae" obsolete as a valid description of JA music.

The same trend has also been noticeable in England where artists like Lloyd Charmers, Dandy Livingstone, and Jimmy Cliff and producers like the Shrowder/SinclairBryan team have introduced their own musical styles in production work. And there are others who although they are still struggling to make a name for themselves, still contribute, as producers, further varird and interesting musical ideas.

FROM 1967 to the present time the most successful Jamaican producer has been Bunnie Lee, an ex sales manager who on hearing from musician friends about the kind of money that could be made, decided to spend some money in order to earn a lot more money.

Bunnie`s first hit was `Music Field` by Roy Shirley in `67 and in the same year he also made `Love Of The Common People` with Nicky Thomas and `Let Me Go Girl` with Slim Smith--the biggest seller of that year. By `68 he had enough cash to start Unity Records, teaming up with the Palmer brothers who later came to England and started Pama Records.

Bunnie recorded JA hits like `Last Flight To Reggae City` by Tommy McCook and Stranger Cole, `Bangerang` by Stranger Cole and Lester Sterling, `Everybody Needs Love` by Slim Smith, `Seven Letters` by Derrick Morgan, `Wet Dream` by Max Romeo, `How Long Will It Take` by Pat Kelly . . . all of them being very big sellers in England also. These records defined the new sound which at that time was really reggae music, and they ensured the quick rise of Pama Records who have obviously declined since Bunnie took his services elsewhere.

"We split because I wasn`t satisfied with the treatment and I stepped over to Trojan."

In 1969 Bunnie Lee joined Byron Lee`s Dynamic Records--the biggest Company in JA--and continued making hits. In a slow season a record can sell only 10,000 and be a hit but usually 20-25,000 sales are required. In 1970 Bunnie produced `Cherry Oh Baby` Eric Donaldson`s Song Festival winner which sold over 100,000--the biggest ever reggae seller in JA--a record which encouraged countless versions from othe Jamaican artists. And in 1971 and `72 he won the producer of the year award with the Caribbean hits `Stick By Me` by John Holt, `Better Must Come` and `Cool Operator` by Delroy Wilson, `In Paradise` by Jackie Edwards and `Mule Train` by Count Prince Miller.

"I couldn`t get on with some of the people at Dynamic Records, not Byron himself, so I left and they brought in Lee Perry and Warwick Lynn. But they haven`t had a hit in this country since I left. The relationship between producer and artist is getting better but some artists are never satisfied no matter what type of deal they get, they want the whole hog. When they decide to do everything themselves and it doesn`t work out they come running back to the producer who takes further advantage of them.

"In Jamaica and in England also a producer will keep a record out of the charts to limit the bread he has to pay out. They cam employ `underground` sellers. When they `pirate` a record they have to keep it out of the charts to limit the amount they pay out to the real owners of the record if they find out. And he might be able to get away with paying for only 5,000 when he has sold 50,000."

I asked Bunnie about the dj records (shouted phrases dubbed onto a background rhythm). The JA music industry, recognising the stagnating effect on the music as a whole, is trying now to wash its hands of them.

"The radio disc jockeys in JA got fed up with the dj tunes. Many of these records are just not any good, the djs started playing more soul music. Now that musicians have started making good music again the djs are playing it. I personally don`t go with the dj tunes. I would only recommend Dennis Al Capone, I. Roy, U. Roy and Big Youth.
Carl Gayle:-
Part 1

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 2

THE NEW BOSSES - PT. 2

Carl Gayle: -
On The Men Behind The New-Wave Jamaican Music

LORD KOOS, an English based producer with a 1500 watt Sound System agrees with Bunnie.
"The younger people want to hear the dj tunes, you have to play themto show that the Sound Systemis up to date but personally I go for the good singers. If I take my wife out to a nightclub I want to hear some sentimental tunes. The dj tunes are gradually dying out anyway because Jamaican singers are being influenced by soul singers like Marvin Gaye and Al Green."

Lord Koos (an ex electrician whose real name is Eric Scott) was the first Sound System operator in England to start his own record label (Lord Koos). He started operating a System in the Harlesden area of London in 1964.

Koos started his label in 1967 with a record called `Koos In Full Swing` by Keith Hudson which was recorded in Jamaica while he was on holiday, but the business folded up soon after due to difficulties in distribution.

"I had a car and a van and my friend Danny Williams and myself drove around London and Birmingham distributing the records but it wasn`t successful. I restartedmy own label nine months ago and now I go as far as Manchester, Huddersfield, and Leeds."

And due to the relative success of `We Shall Have A Grand Time` by The Africans, and `Sincerely` by Owen Gray in particular, plus the good sales of `Take The Rod` by Max Romeo, `Festival Rock` by Dillinger, and `One And Only Lover` by Junior English, Koos` label is doing fine.

ANOTHER up and coming English based JA music producer is 27 year old Larrt Lawrence an ex lorry driver/compere/ Sound System operator who has been living here for nine years. He started the Ethnic label about a year ago after gaining some experience with Trojan who released the first tune Larry ever produced (`Rub It In A Cottage` by Junior English) on their Big Shot label five years ago.

"The next time I ever went into a recording studio I didn`t really know what to do but I had a little luck and it worked out ok. I used to hang around the big studios in JA fascinated by what was going on. There`s nothing in the world I`d rather do more than produce records. I like to see people grooving and swinging to my records and of course I personally prefer the more authentic reggae."

Larry visits Jamaica and the States regularly to tie up deals involving the release of records by producers in JA and America, and to supervise recordings of rhythm tracks to which vocals are added in England. "When I started I took a trip to JA and made `Rock Back` and `Jenny Jenny` with The Selectors, came back to England with the rhythm track of `Daddy`s Home` and put on Junior English`s vocals. As well as `Shock Attack` and `Keep On Trying` by Dave Barker those records have been my best sellers so far."

Dave Barker and Ansell Collins, plus the lesser known Sidney Rodgers and Jimmy Strathden are the only artists contracted to the Ehtnic label, but the first LP on the new label will include material by George Dekker, Cynthia Richards, Dennis Al Capone, and Larry himself.

THE Jamaican music business is monopolised by middle class Jamaicans--a fact which was revealed in the Jamaican movie `The Harder They Come` which also exposed a little of the exploitation and corruption that goes on in the business. Jamaican music under the complete control of the Jamaican elite became a perfect example, in the film, of an exploitative industry in which a class struggle took place even though Ivan (the film`s hero) was really a rebel with a private cause. But the repression of Jamaican musicians within Jamaican music itself continues, never mind the repression of that music by the music business as a whole.

If the music progressing too slowly it is not initially or primarily the fault of unimaginative or disinterest and lack of imagination results from the stifling effect which the few at the top from Kingston to London exert through their monopoly control of the market.

Sooner or later musicians realise that they have to stop depending on the big boys and start standing on their own two feet. Some come to England and fall into the same trap, but others like The Wailers get discovered and are given the treatment that their talents deserve.

Of late a wealth of musical enthusiasts--well known ex Sound System men for instance like Lord Koos or Count Shelley--have taken the plunge into the producing game and without thinking about it have become hot rivals to the controllers of the JA music Business.
Carl Gayle:-

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 2

DEKKERATION

by Carl Gayle:-

"NAT KING COLE was the one who really inspired me to try my hand at singing. I remember one sunday when I was very young my father sent me to buy some food and I heard Nat singing a song called `Looking Back` in a record shop and it really moved me. I just stood there and forgot about everything. I must have spent about two hours listening to the record over and over again. When I got home I got a good piece of spanking but I didn`t even feel it because I was still singing the song in my mind."

Desmond Dekker comes from a non-musical family of three brothers and four sisters. He was born in Kingston Jamaica but grew up in a little place called Danverspen, near Seaforth in St. Thomas where he went to school. But he had to leave in the fifth standard when he was thirteen.

"My dad was ill so I had to help out. I really loved writing and drawing at school, my dad thought I would be an artist because I spent all of my free time just drawing. When I left school I wanted to learn Engineering welding. They didn`t have any vacancies in Morant Bay (a nearby town) so I decided to go to Kingston, and I got a job as a welder with Standard Engineering Works which lasted about three years."

Desmond`s workmates kept encouraging him to go and make a record since he seemed so fond of singing all the time. But the producers he went to--people like Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd, and Leslie Kong--kept telling him to come back another time and his boss was getting tired of the fact that Desmond always wanted half days off work, so Mr. D nearly gave it all up. But his workmates persisted.

"A friend and I went back down to Beverly`s (Leslie Kong`s studio) one Tuesday evening while Derrick Morgan and Jimmy Cliff were rehearsing. I asked to see Mr Kong and was told that he was busy so I went and told him that I was told to come and I couldn`t keep coming around so if he wanted to hear the song then fine, but if not then just say so and I wouldn`t come back because my boss was getting uptight. So they stopped the rehearsal and listened to me and I sang a song called `Honour Your Mother And Father.` They all liked it so I sang `Madgie` and Mr Kong told me to come back the next day for a session at Federal Studios."

The musicians were Drumbago`s All Stars (The Skatalites) and `Honour Your Mother And Father` was double D`s first (ska) hit.

"I couldn`t believe it, it sounded strange hearing my voice on record for the first time. It took me a long time to get over it but it encouraged me to do some more and made me take singing more seriously."

Later on Desmond was joined by The Aces and hit followed hit, songs like `Get Up Adinah`,`King Of The Ska`,`Jezebel`,`Rock Steady` . . . which were all penned by Desmond himself.

"I wrote over three hundred songs while I was with Leslie Kong and I never sang for anyone else. The Four Aces started recording for Beverly`s around `66 then their lead singer left to go to the Bahamas so they asked me to be their lead singer and Leslie said it was ok. `Get Up Adinah` was my first record with them but Carl--the high tenor--left for the States and now only James Samuels who lives in Jamaica and Barry Howard still records with me.

"I remember when I didn`t do any songs for about a year and I was beginning to be sorry that I had left my job but I stuck around since I could still live off the money I got from singing although it was not very much at that time. Leslie was recording some new artists but he didn`t get any hits with them so he came back to me and I sang `007`."

That was a hit in JA around `65 and Desmond just carried on where he had left off, his popularity growing all the time. "I worked every week with Byron Lee And The Dragonaires, and The Vikings too in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, and Kingston. Both bands wanted me so they worked out a deal and I sang with them alternately."
Carl Gayle:-
Part 1

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 2

DEKKERATION - PT. 2

by Carl Gayle:-

When `007` was released in England in `67 DD came over here for three months to help promote the record. When he returned to JA he decided to enter the 1968 Jamaican Song Festival.

"When myself, The Maytals, The Jamaicans, and Hopeton Lewis met and went on stage, man it was something else because we all wanted to win and the crowd was cheering everybody. In 1967 I came second with `Unity` but I really wanted that cup so I entered again in `68 and I went home with the cup." So DD got his revenge on The Maytals who had won in `67 with `Bam Bam` but who this time with `Bim Today Bam Tomorrow` could only finish runners up.

In 1969 Desmond returned to England because he didn`t want to spend all of his life in Jamaica without seeing what the rest of the world could offer. And it was in England with the help of the skinheads that he really achieved worldwide fame.

"There were a few songs that people couldn`t understand when I first came over here. They used to ask me what `It Mek` meant. And some thought that in `Israelites` I said `Get up in the morning baked beans for breakfast instead of `begging for bread sir.` But when they got to understand my lyrics they enjoyed the songs even more. A guy said to me once `I really love your songs but I can`t understand a word you`re saying`. Tony Cousins and Bruce White my agents decided then to put the lyrics of `Israelites` in the papers and it sold a little more.

"I don`t like sitting around a piano for a day or so trying to write a song. I like to walk around and see what`s happening around town, that`s when I find myself singing, I don`t need a pen and paper. When I wrote `Unity` I was passing Race Course (a Horse Race track in Kingston) and some guys who were playing football started fighting so I bought myself a piece of corn and started to sing and by the time I reached home the song was completed. The same thing happened with `007`. It was just before election time and there were some demonstrations going on in Shanty Town (Trench Town, Kingston) so the police and the soldiers came in to quiet it down and some violence broke out. I just sang it from memory when I went into the studio.

"I like to get my lyrics from anything that happens to me. For instance, I was staying at an expensive hotel in London and this chick who I invited up she moved away with some of my money so I wrote `Pickney Gal` which goes `I put my money into a Condense can (a condensed milk can)/She take it away give it to her thiefin man.` When I was in Jamaica I wrote a song called`Mother Pepper` and girls wrote complaining to newspapers that I was putting them down. I must admit that the song was a bit weird, it`s about a girl I knew who used to talk too much. Then I wrote a song called `Mother Young Gal` which all the younger women liked because it gave them a boost, they bought it like mad. I try to write a little something for everybody y`know."

The late Leslie Kong, Desmond`s ex manager and producer, used to make all the decisions concerning DD. When he came to England Desmond was put out on the Doctor Bird label, but then Leslie switched him to Trojan in 1971.

"Leslie was the best. He couldn`t read or write music but when he heard a good song if he said it was gonna be a monster it always was, there was no two ways about it. He knew exactly what he wanted in a studio, every song that Leslie Kong produced for me was a hit, he produced Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Morgan, Bob Marley, The Maytals, he was tops! I felt I had to leave Trojan when Leslie died, it got me down, I didn`t really know what to do at first. I didn`t know what was happening at Beverly`s--who was going to be my next producer, so I just decided to cool it. I just did some hard thinking and a little writing then I decided in 1972 to sing for Tony Cousins and Bruce White at Creole, they had been asking me to join them for a long time."

There has been an obvious leaning towards a more commercial or pop-reggae sound in DD`s records since his last British chart success `You Can Get It If You Really Want.` His first record with Creole (Rhino) `Beware` didn`t reach the charts. `Sing A Little Song` which followed sold better but wasn`t a hit either, yet it`s always requested by Desmond`s audiences.

"You Can Get It If You Really Want` was the first song I ever sang which I didn`t write myself. It influenced me to write my lyrics so that everybody can understand them and if I hadn`t sang that I would still be writing songs like `Israelites.` I still get a lot of work and I still go down well everywhere. As soon as I walk on stage people want to hear `007` or `It Mek` or `Israelites` so I just have to forget about everything esle and sing what they want to hear. Sometimes they want to hear `Sabotage` or `Pickney Gal` and the band can`t remember the tunes but I try to sing even a verse or so to keep everybody happy. A lot of people know about some of the old songs but they have never actually heard them so I would really love to record some of them again, I still enjoy listening to them."

Rhino have a number of new Desmond Dekker songs, some of which will be on DD`s new year LP. Desmond is now produced by Tony Cousins and Bruce White but he always flies over to Jamaica himself to put down his backing tracks with the cream of Jamaican sessionmen at Byron Lee`s Dynamic Studio--the same musicians who played on Paul Simon`s `Mother And Child Reunion`.

"When I go out there I use the same musicians that Leslie would use and I try to create the same type of atmosphere. Most of the time there`s no need to tell the guys what to play. As soon as I start to sing they just start playing, it`s as if they already have the tune waiting for you to come along and put vocals to it. If I tried to tell them what to play I would spoil it, I couldn`t use anyone else."
Carl Gayle:-

BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1974

peace

[stepping razor]

BLACK MUSIC APRIL 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 5

JOHN HOLT: Love Songs From The Ghetto

John Holt (pictured opposite) is perhaps Jamaica`s most consistently successful singer.
CARL GAYLE talks to him on the eve of his British tour . . .

JOHN HOLT sings middle-of-the-road pop songs. If he was white, and American, he`d probably be in the same bag as Jack Jones, and earning as much money. But he`s black, and Jamaican, and he sings those songs in the idiom of his people, reggae. Maybe that`s why he`s still singing for peanuts.

John`s been singing for twelve years. He`s twenty eight now, getting on a bit, but "never giving up" he says. He firmly believes that Jamaican music needs to be more `commercial`. His last LPs--"The Further You Look" and "1,000 Volts Of Holt"--with new manager Tony Ashfield, put it beyond doubt that he was headed in a pop direction. His next LP "Dusty Roads", due in May, will continue in that vein.

"Something`s got to happen," he says, "but to really get this music on top, the artists, arrangers, and producers will have to add more instruments and of course write better songs."

It has become clear that reggae music will only be acceptable after it has been `commercialised`: it cannot succeed without being given a `pop` treatment. "The Further You Look" LP was a best seller in Jamaican music last year because it was successful in doing this. For the first time horns, strings, flutes, and background vocals were added and arranged with imagination. The LP was easy to get into and hard to resist playing over and over again despite the not-so-happy theme of lyrics.

But then John Holt has good reason to sing sad songs. The Jamaican music business does not usually produce happy musicians.

He sings specifically about love but his songs are not just products of his or others` relationships with women. They`re not quite so narrow. Holt`s hard life in the business, the frustrations and disappointments, are expressed in his songs despite being concealed by lyrics that only seem to deal with the love/emotions in a man-woman relationship.

He has a song out now called "Reggae In The Ghetto", untypically, of which he says: "A lot of people believe that reggae is coming from some sort of high society, so I`m explaining where it`s really coming from. It was just a couple of local cats who got together and made this reggae thing, not some great orchestra or something." . . . Reggae is coming from the depths of the ghettoes of Kingston, Jamaica. John is from Kingston, his love songs are from the ghettos too.
Carl Gayle:-
Part 1

BLACK MUSIC APRIL 1974

peace