Larry Marshall (born Fitzroy Marshall; 17 December 1941 – 24 August 2017) was a Jamaican reggae singer, who recorded both as a solo artist and as part of the duos Larry & Alvin and Larry & Enid.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books,

Early life

Marshall was born in Lawrence Park in Saint Ann Parish in 1941. He left St. Ann in 1957 and travelled to Kingston.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn", Rough Guides,

Career

Marshall's musical career stretches back to the early 1960s, his initial inspiration being

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later ...

.Dooley, Jim (2000
"Come Let Us Reason"
Small Axe Between 1962 and 1967, he had minor hits for producers such as E. Henry ("Too Young To Love"), Philip Yap ("Promise Is a Comfort to a Fool" and "Snake In The Grass"),

Coxsone Dodd Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent a ...

("Please Stay"), and

Prince Buster Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary ...

("I've Got Another Girl" and "Suspicion"). His greatest successes came in the late 1960s when he teamed up with Alvin Leslie in the duo Larry & Alvin, recording hits for Dodd's Studio One label (where he had been working as an assistant engineer) such as the massive Jamaican hit "Nanny Goat" which is regarded as the record that began the shift from

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

to reggae,Campbell, Howard (2012)
Larry Marshall makes sweet Nanny Goat
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Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor is ...

'', 14 September 2012, retrieved 22 September 2012Black, Roy (2017)
Larry Marshall Hailed As A Musical Pioneer
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Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 14 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017 followed by "Hush Up", "Your Love", and "Mean Girl". "Throw Me Corn" also became a big hit in Jamaica when released in 1971. Marshall also recorded as a duo with Enid Cumberland, as Larry & Enid. In the early 1970s, Marshall worked for Studio One as assistant studio engineer to Sylvan Morris, writer, arranger, and dub-plate seller, and the label released a compilation of his recordings, ''Presenting Larry Marshall'', in 1973. While at Studio One, Marshall arranged several recordings by

Burning Spear Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots a ...

, and also provided backing vocals. Morris left Studio One in 1974, prompting Dodd to offer the chief engineer job to Marshall, but he declined the offer, unhappy with the wages. After leaving Studio One in 1974, he released the 1975 single "I Admire You", followed by an album of the same name. The dub version on the b-side of the single was one of the first to be credited to

King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who greatly influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the ...

. Marshall released several singles in the mid-1980s produced by

Gussie Clarke Augustus "Gussie" Clarke (born 1954) is a reggae producer who worked with some of the top Jamaican reggae artists in the 1970s and later set up his own Music Works studio. Career Clarke started working in the music industry by cutting dub plat ...

, including remakes of "Throw Me Corn" and "I Admire You", and released further albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Marshall also provided backing vocals on

Junior Byles Kenneth Byles (born 2 February 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica), also known as "Junior Byles", "Chubby", or "King Chubby", is a Jamaican reggae singer.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, Biography The Versatiles Na ...

' 1986 album ''Rasta No Pickpocket''.

Personal life

Marshall moved to Miami, and having not received significant financial reward for his musical career, supported himself by working on building sites. He continued to record occasionally. He died at his home in Miami on 24 August 2017, aged 75, from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

, from which he had suffered for ten years.Larry Marshall ─ 1941 – 2017
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Remembering pioneer Larry Marshall
, ''

'', 17 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017 Marshall was a cousin of

Aston Barrett Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

and

Carlton Barrett Carlton "Carly" Barrett (17 December 1950 – 17 April 1987) was a Jamaican musician best known for being the long-time drummer for Bob Marley & The Wailers. Recognized for his innovative style, which featured a highly syncopated, broken tripl ...

, best known as members of the

Wailers Band The Wailers Band are a reggae band formed by Aston Barrett in 1989, one of several spinoffs from Bob Marley and the Wailers. History After the death of Bob Marley in 1981, the Wailers continued, led by Aston Barrett and Junior Marvin. The ban ...

Albums

*''Presenting Larry Marshall'' (1973), Studio One (reissued (1992), Heartbeat) *''I Admire You'' (1975), Black and White/Marshall/See Me Yah (reissued (1992), Heartbeat) *''Dance With Me Across The Floor'' (1988), Conqueror *''Come Let Us Reason'' (1992), King's Music Records *''In Jah Corn Field'' *''Golden Hits'' (1998), Discotex *''I Admire You in Dub'' (2000),

Motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

(with

) *''Throw Mi Corn'' Original Music

References

External links

Larry Marshall at Roots ArchivesLarry Marshall releases at ReggaeID
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Larry 1941 births 2017 deaths Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican ska musicians People from Saint Ann Parish Heartbeat Records artists