This is an immense loss to Jamaica’s music industry! I had become only recently aware of his illness and his hospitalization in New York, and had been hoping that the early signs of a complete recovery would have turned into reality.
I never had the opportunity of meeting Stevie, although I’m completely familiar with his body of work done in combination with the other half of the production partnership, Cleveland Browne.
As I type this post, the recording “Start The Fire” by the rock group No Doubt (featuring Gwen Stefanie) is playing in my CD player. I mention this because that song was produced by Steely and Clevie (on No Doubt’s monster hit album, “Rock Steady”).
In the case of Cleveland Browne, I was first introduced to him in Kingston back in the early 1980s when he was the drummer for the most progressive gospel group ever formed in Jamaica. That group is the only one I’ve seen in Jamaica that boasted two drummers playing at once (Earth, Wind and Fire style), and included Stephen Stewart, a gospel-jazz keyboard player who was a member of Sly & Robbie’s Revolutionaires at some points in their recording experience, and also a keyboardist with the Wailers in the months following Bob’s death.
Comment