Tweet
Farmah, what a way for you to start my morning (LOL)! I can assure you, though, that I am not the forum’s “best authority” on anything, except for maybe the overriding negative influences of our current dancehall music. I thought that this scourge (the seemingly anti-music dancehall genre) on our culture would have disappeared long ago, but unfortunately it still persists!
While I know a great deal about some people and events in music, there are others which I know little about, and also others that I know absolutely nothing about! For example (looking at your questions) I know very little about Lord Laro, and nothing whatsoever about Selvin “Scientist” Morris.
The people who are the real authorities in Jamaican music are, in my opinion, people like Garth White and Dermott Hussey. Now, these are guys at whose feet I would gladly sit and silently listen (LOL)!
But I suspect that both you and TDowl are aware of the unbelievably rich legacy that our musicians, singers, arrangers and songwriters of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s have left us!! When I think back on the history of Jamaican music, it is with total and infinite respect for a country that has produced so many geniuses that it is hard to fully explain! We talk about our great track and field athletes, but we would freak out (literally) if we were to deeply examine the musical greatness that once was!!!
This is why I get so totally angry at what our great musical legacy has descended to – gibberish uttered over synthesized, moronic rhythms by the likes of Elephant Man, Bounty Killer, Mavado, Busy Signal, and the dozens of others!! How we managed to descend to this level is something that I will never know for sure! And the supreme irony is that the very people who created and took Jamaican recorded music to the dizzy heights -- the people from Jamaica's underclass (ghettoes) -- are the same people who, to a great extent, are responsible for the current depths to which it has descended (the deejays).
And so we see that, thanks to the dancehall genre, bands and musicians in Jamaica today, when compared with previous decades, have become a rapidly disappearing breed!! How many bands actually exist today in our beloved country? Despite its determined, single-minded focus on European music and European music alone back in the day, I often wish that we could have another Alpha Boys Catholic School today!!
I won’t have time this morning to discuss all the names you mentioned, but for sure I will comment on one of my favourite characters in Jamaican music history, Prince Buster.
By the way, the only “Scientist” I know is an excellent recording engineer that I met on a couple of occasions at Channel One studios (Maxfield Avenue) back in the early 1980s (I think). I don’t remember much about Scientist except that he was a tall, skinny (boney, straight shoulders), light complexioned young guy who everyone in the studio clearly respected very much! I suspect that he is not the person you are referring to, however.
Regarding your other question, I have no idea if Jackie Opel was also known as Jackie Richards. I know that comparisons were generally made between Opel and that great American R&B singer who influenced him, Jackie Wilson. Also, although born in Barbados, Jackie Opel later became a Trinidadian citizen. What I suspect many people also are not aware of is the fact that not only was Opel the primary lead singer and occasional acoustic bass player for the Skatalites, but he was also heavily involved in much of the arrangements of their music. There is absolutely no question that Opel is one of the greatest products of our recording industry!
By the way, Jackie Opel was barely into his 30’s when he was killed in a car crash in the land of his birth.
I’m not sure what to say about Prince Buster, as there is so much that can be said about this legend of Jamaican music! When I mention the name Prince Buster to people, the only thing many can remember are the recordings “Burke’s Law,” “Judge Dread,” “Al Capone” and “Hard Man Fe Dead.” However, Prince Buster was much more than merely that! He was also much more than merely a strikingly handsome thug/exploiter!
Quite simply, Prince Buster is, without question, one of the most important and influential record producers and recording artists in the entire history of Jamaican music! Literally speaking!
How many people, for example, realize that he produced one of the most important and influential record ever made in Jamaica, Count Ossie and the Folkes Brothers’ only hit, “Oh Carolina”? In other words, Prince Buster was probably the first producer to bring a completely new sound by including the Rastafarian influence in Jamaica’s popular music. This alone makes Prince Buster a major figure in Jamaican music history! And the idea to do this particular recording originated with Prince Buster, who then brought together Count Ossie and the Folkes Brothers.
(Unfortunately, there was a huge controversy between Buster and one of the Folkes brothers, both of whom claimed to have written “Oh Carolina.” Around ten years or so ago a court in Britain determined in favour of the Folkes Brothers’ claims.)
(Did you know that none of the Folkes Brothers were Rastafarians? On the contrary, all three brothers have been practicing Christians all their lives!)
As a singer, Prince Buster wa among the first political commentaries, through music, on the problems faced by ghetto youths.
As a singer, it is also interesting that Prince Buster was among the group sent by Edward Seaga to the 1964 World Music Fair. The controversy surrounding Seaga's decision, of course, was not because of the singers who went, but rather, because Seaga chose Byron Lee and the Dragonaires as opposed to a more representative (of ska) outfit like the Skatalites.
While I know a great deal about some people and events in music, there are others which I know little about, and also others that I know absolutely nothing about! For example (looking at your questions) I know very little about Lord Laro, and nothing whatsoever about Selvin “Scientist” Morris.
The people who are the real authorities in Jamaican music are, in my opinion, people like Garth White and Dermott Hussey. Now, these are guys at whose feet I would gladly sit and silently listen (LOL)!
But I suspect that both you and TDowl are aware of the unbelievably rich legacy that our musicians, singers, arrangers and songwriters of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s have left us!! When I think back on the history of Jamaican music, it is with total and infinite respect for a country that has produced so many geniuses that it is hard to fully explain! We talk about our great track and field athletes, but we would freak out (literally) if we were to deeply examine the musical greatness that once was!!!
This is why I get so totally angry at what our great musical legacy has descended to – gibberish uttered over synthesized, moronic rhythms by the likes of Elephant Man, Bounty Killer, Mavado, Busy Signal, and the dozens of others!! How we managed to descend to this level is something that I will never know for sure! And the supreme irony is that the very people who created and took Jamaican recorded music to the dizzy heights -- the people from Jamaica's underclass (ghettoes) -- are the same people who, to a great extent, are responsible for the current depths to which it has descended (the deejays).
And so we see that, thanks to the dancehall genre, bands and musicians in Jamaica today, when compared with previous decades, have become a rapidly disappearing breed!! How many bands actually exist today in our beloved country? Despite its determined, single-minded focus on European music and European music alone back in the day, I often wish that we could have another Alpha Boys Catholic School today!!
I won’t have time this morning to discuss all the names you mentioned, but for sure I will comment on one of my favourite characters in Jamaican music history, Prince Buster.
By the way, the only “Scientist” I know is an excellent recording engineer that I met on a couple of occasions at Channel One studios (Maxfield Avenue) back in the early 1980s (I think). I don’t remember much about Scientist except that he was a tall, skinny (boney, straight shoulders), light complexioned young guy who everyone in the studio clearly respected very much! I suspect that he is not the person you are referring to, however.
Regarding your other question, I have no idea if Jackie Opel was also known as Jackie Richards. I know that comparisons were generally made between Opel and that great American R&B singer who influenced him, Jackie Wilson. Also, although born in Barbados, Jackie Opel later became a Trinidadian citizen. What I suspect many people also are not aware of is the fact that not only was Opel the primary lead singer and occasional acoustic bass player for the Skatalites, but he was also heavily involved in much of the arrangements of their music. There is absolutely no question that Opel is one of the greatest products of our recording industry!
By the way, Jackie Opel was barely into his 30’s when he was killed in a car crash in the land of his birth.
I’m not sure what to say about Prince Buster, as there is so much that can be said about this legend of Jamaican music! When I mention the name Prince Buster to people, the only thing many can remember are the recordings “Burke’s Law,” “Judge Dread,” “Al Capone” and “Hard Man Fe Dead.” However, Prince Buster was much more than merely that! He was also much more than merely a strikingly handsome thug/exploiter!
Quite simply, Prince Buster is, without question, one of the most important and influential record producers and recording artists in the entire history of Jamaican music! Literally speaking!
How many people, for example, realize that he produced one of the most important and influential record ever made in Jamaica, Count Ossie and the Folkes Brothers’ only hit, “Oh Carolina”? In other words, Prince Buster was probably the first producer to bring a completely new sound by including the Rastafarian influence in Jamaica’s popular music. This alone makes Prince Buster a major figure in Jamaican music history! And the idea to do this particular recording originated with Prince Buster, who then brought together Count Ossie and the Folkes Brothers.
(Unfortunately, there was a huge controversy between Buster and one of the Folkes brothers, both of whom claimed to have written “Oh Carolina.” Around ten years or so ago a court in Britain determined in favour of the Folkes Brothers’ claims.)
(Did you know that none of the Folkes Brothers were Rastafarians? On the contrary, all three brothers have been practicing Christians all their lives!)
As a singer, Prince Buster wa among the first political commentaries, through music, on the problems faced by ghetto youths.
As a singer, it is also interesting that Prince Buster was among the group sent by Edward Seaga to the 1964 World Music Fair. The controversy surrounding Seaga's decision, of course, was not because of the singers who went, but rather, because Seaga chose Byron Lee and the Dragonaires as opposed to a more representative (of ska) outfit like the Skatalites.
Comment