1.
Burning Spear
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Winston Rodney OD, better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential, Winston Rodney was born in Saint Anns Bay, Saint Ann, Jamaica. As a young man he listened to the R&B, soul, curtis Mayfield is cited by Rodney as a major US musical influence along with James Brown. Rodney was deeply influenced as a man by the views of the political activist Marcus Garvey, especially with regard to the exploration of the themes of Pan-Africanism. In 1969, Bob Marley, who was also from Saint Ann, Burning Spear was originally Rodneys group, named after a military award given by Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of an independent Kenya, and included bass singer Rupert Willington. The duo auditioned for Dodd in 1969 which led to the release of their debut single Door Peep and they were then joined by tenor Delroy Hinds. The trio recorded several singles for Dodd, and two albums, before they moved on to work with Jack Ruby in 1975. These recordings featured the backing band The Black Disciples, which included Earl Chinna Smith, Valentine Chin, Robbie Shakespeare and Leroy Wallace. The group worked with Ruby on their album, Marcus Garvey. In late 1976, Rodney split from both Ruby and group members Willington and Hinds, and from that point on used the name Burning Spear for himself alone, aswad also provided backing on his next studio album, Social Living, which also featured Sly Dunbar and Rico Rodriguez. A dub version of the album, Living Dub, was mixed by Sylvan Morris and his profile was raised further by an appearance in the film Rockers, performing Jah no Dead. A Sylvan Morris dub version followed in the form of Living Dub Volume Two, in 1982, Rodney signed with Heartbeat Records with a series of well-received albums following, including the 1985 Grammy-nominated Resistance. He returned to Island in the early 1990s, releasing two albums before rejoining Heartbeat and this arrangement in which Burning Music Productions delivered completed albums of music to EMI, Island and Heartbeat Records for worldwide distribution lasted for many years. When Heartbeat ceased releasing new material, Burning Music took matters into their own hands, touring the world time and time again, the band’s live sound matured and grew more sophisticated. While remaining firmly rooted in reggae, accents of free jazz, funk and his 1999 album, Calling Rastafari brought his first Grammy Award in 2000, a feat which he repeated with Jah Is Real in 2009. In 2002, he and his wife, Sonia Rodney who has produced a number of his albums, restarted Burning Music Records, since the mid-1990s, he has been based in Queens in New York City. Burning Spear was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer on 15 October 2007, since establishing their own label, Winston and Sonia Rodney have released nearly forty singles, CDs, DVDs and vinyl albums on the Burning Music imprint. Many of these albums have been editions of albums previously available on other labels and often include bonus tracks
2.
Reggae
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Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A1968 single by Toots and the Maytals Do the Reggay was the first popular song to use the word reggae, effectively naming the genre, Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’ and it is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rock steady, from the latter, stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento, calypso, African music, as well as other genres. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms, staccato chords played by a guitar or piano on the offbeats of the measure, the tempo of reggae is usually slower than ska but faster than rocksteady. The concept of call and response can be found throughout reggae music, the genre of reggae music is led by the drum and bass. The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae, the bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays on the off beat of the rhythm and it is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Reggae is noted for its tradition of criticism and religion in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love. Reggae has spread to countries across the world, often incorporating local instruments. Reggae en Español spread from the mainland South America countries of Venezuela, Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions. Many reggae artists began their careers in the UK, and there have been a number of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica, Reggae in Africa was boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe in 1980. In Jamaica, authentic reggae is one of the biggest sources of income, the 1967 edition of the Dictionary of Jamaican English lists reggae as a recently estab. Sp. for rege, as in rege-rege, a word that can mean either rags, ragged clothing or a quarrel, a row. Reggae as a term first appeared in print with the 1968 rocksteady hit Do the Reggay by The Maytals which named the genre of Reggae for the world. Reggae historian Steve Barrow credits Clancy Eccles with altering the Jamaican patois word streggae into reggae, however, Toots Hibbert said, Theres a word we used to use in Jamaica called streggae. If a girl is walking and the look at her and say Man, shes streggae it means she dont dress well
3.
Studio One (record label)
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Studio One is one of Jamaicas most renowned record labels and recording studios, having been described as the Motown of Jamaica. The record label was involved with most of the major movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub. Studio One was founded by Clement Coxsone Dodd in 1954, amongst its earliest records were Easy Snappin by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, and This Man is Back by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of labels, including World Disc. In the early 1960s the house band providing backing for the vocalists were the legendary Skatalites whose members were recruited from the Kingston jazz scene by Dodd, the Skatalites split up in 1965 after Drummond was jailed for murder, and Dodd formed new house band Sound Dimension. Headley Bennett, Ernest Ranglin, Vin Gordon and Leroy Sibbles were included among a fluid line-up, to record tracks directed by Jackie Mittoo at Studio One from 1966-1968. Jackie Mittoo, Joe Isaacs, and Brian Atkinson left Studio One in 1968, recorded drums and bass for Desmond Dekkers and Toots biggest hits at other Kingston studios, then moved to Canada. Hux Brown stayed in Jamaica to record on the soundtrack The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, and toured in Nigeria with Toots, the label and studio were closed when Dodd relocated to New York City in the 1980s. Studio One has recorded and released music by including, Noted rival Prince Buster began his career working for Dodds sound system. In addition, record producer Harry J recorded many of his best-known releases at Studio One, the liner notes written by Chris Wilson explain, It is important to understand why Studio One is so venerated. The obvious common ingredient in all the songs that Studio One has released over the last thirty-five years is Clement Dodd. From his earliest days as a producer he has understood the complexities of making a hit, List of record labels List of Jamaican record producers Downbeat Special
4.
Marcus Garvey (album)
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Marcus Garvey is the third album by the reggae group Burning Spear, released in 1975 on Island Records, ILPS9377. The album is named after the Jamaican National Hero and Rastafari movement prophet Marcus Garvey, a dub version of it was released four months later as Garveys Ghost. It was produced by Lawrence Lindo, better known by his handle taken from the assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald, apparently, upon their first meeting, Lindo and vocalist Winston Rodney realized the opening track to this album, Marcus Garvey. The backing musicians, whom Lindo named the Black Disciples, had assembled from the Soul Syndicate. On July 27,2010, this album was remastered and released by Universals Hip-O Records reissue imprint in tandem with the dub version on one compact disc, the album was listed in the 1999 book The Rough Guide, Reggae,100 Essential CDs. All tracks written by Winston Rodney and Phillip Fullwood except as indicated, Robert Christgau felt that it was the most African-sounding and most political reggae album to be released in America at the time. The album was included in Robert Dimerys 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die where Jim Harrington commented that he felt it had a poignant blend of religious aspirations and cultural concerns
5.
Island Records
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Island Records is a major record label that operates as a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. It was founded by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong in Jamaica in 1959, Blackwell sold the label to PolyGram in 1989. Three Island labels exist in the world, Island UK, Island US, and Island Australia, current key people of Island Records include Island president Darcus Beese, OBE and MD Jon Turner. Partially due to the labels significant legacy, Island remains one of UMGs pre-eminent record labels, Island Records was founded in Jamaica on 4 July 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong, and partially financed by Stanley Borden from RKO. Its name was inspired by the Harry Belafonte song Island in the Sun. Blackwell explained in 2009, “I loved music so much, I just wanted to get into it, or be as close to it as I could. ”Tom Hayes, the labels sales manager between 1965 and 1967, referred to the early period of the label in the UK as “organized chaos”. “My Boy Lollipop”, sung by Millie Small, was the labels first success in the UK, Blackwell explained in a 50-year-anniversary documentary that he was only interested in building long-term careers at that stage in time, rather than short-term projects. Suzette Newman has been a colleague of Chris Blackwells since working together in the early days of Island Records. Suzette Newman and Chris Salewicz were the editors for the book “The Story of Island Records, Blackwell relocated to England in May 1962 to garner greater levels of attention after the local Jamaican sound systems proved to be overwhelmingly successful. The vast majority of the artists who had signed to Blackwells fledgling label while he was in Jamaica agreed to allow the entrepreneur to release their music in the UK. While in England, Blackwell travelled throughout the city carrying his stock with him and he did not provide any copies to radio stations, as they would not play any of the Island music, the music was also not reviewed by the press. Meanwhile, Goodall left to start the Doctor Bird record label in 1965, Blackwell signed the Spencer Davis Group to the label. The group became popular and Island started their own independent series to spotlight UK rock talent. They signed artists like John Martyn, Fairport Convention, Free, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, they were a major label in England with artists like Roxy Music, King Crimson, Traffic, The Wailers, and many others. Blackwell had signed Bob Marley, and now Toots and the Maytals, in November 2016, Jackie Jackson described the formation of the group in a radio interview for Kool 97 FM Jamaica. Accompanied by Paul Douglas and Radcliffe Dougie Bryan in studio, Jackson explained, Were all original members of Toots, first it was Toots and the Maytals, three guys, Toots, Raleigh, and Jerry. …And then they were signed to Island Records, Chris Blackwell, and we were their recording band. One day we were summoned to Chris house, and he says, Alright gentleman, I think its time
6.
Garvey's Ghost
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Garveys Ghost is the fourth album by the reggae group Burning Spear, which was one of the seminal vocal trios in reggae. Released in 1976 on Island Records, ILPS9382, each track is a dub version of its correspondent song on the groups third album, Marcus Garvey. This album was fashioned by Island Record engineers John Burns and Dick Cuthell in their Hammersmith studio and it features prominently the backing musicians, whom Lindo named The Black Disciples band, assembled from members of the session group The Soul Syndicate and Bob Marleys touring band, The Wailers. On July 27,2010, this album was remastered and released by Universals Hip-O Records reissue imprint in tandem with the original Marcus Garvey LP on one compact disc, a more official dub version was released officially on the original 7 single releases of Marcus Garvey. All tracks written by Winston Rodney and Phillip Fullwood except as indicated
7.
Man in the Hills
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Man in the Hills is a reggae album by Jamaican musician Burning Spear, released in 1976 on Island Records. Man in the Hills was follow-up to the seminal Marcus Garvey, Man in the Hills is usually considered a worthy follow-up, though less innovative and incendiary. Produced by Jack Ruby, Man in the Hills is a simple and unadorned album, with songs that reminisce about Spears childhood in St. Annes Bay, Jamaica. Door Peep was originally recorded in 1969 at Studio One after Spear ran into Bob Marley, the man was moving with a donkey and some buckets and a fork, and cutlass and plants. We just reason man-to-man and I-man say wherein I would like to get involved in the music business, and Bob say, All right, just check Studio One. The single was released but fared poorly on the Jamaican charts, after Marcus Garvey, Spears fame had grown considerably, and he was a star in Jamaica and cult sensation in the United Kingdom. Man in the Hills was a quieter and more restrained album than its predecessor. Man in the Hills, the album opener evokes the superiority of rural living over urban. In Jamaican history, the roots of radical protest, an identity and the Rastafari movement, grew from communities formed by escaped slaves in the hills
