X, I Apologize – I Know Nothing About Music

[Historian]

Missstorian…..Have you begun to write that book on the history of Jamaican music? I suggest you read Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World’s Greatest Trombonist Paperback (sic) by Heather Augustyn, to get a grasp of Jamaican musical history.

Isn’t it a bit hyperbolic to recommend a book on Don Drummond as a way of helping me, as you put it, “to get a grasp of Jamaican musical history”?

Have you realized that, Don Drummond, genius that he is, was confined to the asylum shortly after he murdered Margarita Mahfood in January 1965. Later in that same year the brief era of the Skatalites came to an end as the group, faced with increasing internal tensions, split into separate entities, one led by Tommy McCook and the other led by Roland Alphonso.

To put it simply, the Skatalites lasted as a group for LESS than two years (to be more specific, about 18 months) before that great aggregation came to an end. Are you suggesting that reading a book on Don Drummond, whose brief period as a live performer and recording artist came to an end almost 50 years ago, will give me “a grasp of Jamaican musical history”? Is Jamaican history limited to merely the first couple of years of the 1960s?

Sometimes it’s better if we think before we type. In this case, though, I understand your plight as you are clearly obsessed with Don Drummond. (And trust me on this: the great Don Drummond is NOT by any means the most talented musician Jamaica has produced!)

By the way, in the context of your scathing criticism of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires and their role in the growth of ska, you need to understand that in the early 1960s Byron Lee and the Dragonaires was a more popular band than the Skatalites! The Skatalites became famous long AFTER their breakup. For example, a poll conducted by RJR in February 1965 revealed that the Skatalites were the fourth most popular band in Jamaica at the time. Here are the results of that poll:

1 The Mighty Vikings (2,411 votes)
2 Carlos Malcolm and the Afro Jamaican Rhythms (2,367 votes)
3 Byron Lee and the Dragonaires (956 votes)
4 The Skatalites (273 votes)
5 The Granville Williams Orchestra (20 votes)
6 The Lennie Hibbert Combo (6 votes)

The results of this survey were published in The Sunday Gleaner, February 7, 1965.

[Bricktop]

speaking of books...i hear this is a must read:

[Islandman]

LOL. Why you nuh go download some Tessanne pon itunes and stop aggravate the man,

[Sir X]

No need to apologise ,we know you well .

Keith Lyn recalls that when he first heard ska at Chocomo Lawn in west Kingston, there was a lot of barbed wire around. It was a place that he was warned not to visit, but followed his musical heart and went along with Byron Lee and Ken Lazarus. There he heard ska for the first time, being performed by the Paragons, Heptones and "a whole bunch of guys we did not know" and the sound grabbed him.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2.../ent/ent3.html


Any musical historian will tell you that Byron Lee went to the World Fair because uptown society demanded it , Tommy McCook and others were very ,very upset about it and spoke on it , the Skatalittes were rudies !

Any Historian will tell you that in the 60s, music was divided by class,like everything else, uptown was more Jazz/Calypso orientated.

SKA WORLD FAIR.

http://books.google.com/books?id=bUb...201964&f=false

http://skabook.com/foundationska/tag/1964-worlds-fair/

You quote the Gleaner as reference,the same gleaner that advocated locking up Rastas in the 60s because they smoked ganja, you think the tone would be different for the ska muscians associated with rastas.You think they sampled anyone from those barbed wire environs, Keith Lynn spoke about ?

You dont have to rehash Ska history with me , I told you once , I will tell you again , putting pen to paper to write anything about Jamaican music coming from you, makes you a dangerous man.

I dread that day.Read the book trust me you will learn alot.