Rupert Lloyd Edwards (born 4 July 1945) is a Jamaican

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

singer and record producer.

Biography

Rupie Edwards was born in Goshen, in

Saint Ann Parish Saint Ann () is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called "the Garden Parish of Jamaica" on ...

.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 103–105 The family moved to

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in 1958, where he sang in talent contests, including those run by Vere Johns. He was spotted by producer S.L. Smith, for whom he recorded his debut single, "Guilty Convict" b/w "Just Because", released on Smith's Hi=Lite label nd licensed to Blue Beat Records in 1962. After recording a few further singles, he formed the Ambassadors in 1965 with Paragons singer Junior Menz and guitarist Eric Frater, becoming the Virtues with the addition of Dobby Dobson.Greene, Jo-Ann
Rupie Edwards Biography
,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 26 April 2016 They recorded several singles for

Harry J Harry Zephaniah Johnson (6 July 1945 – 3 April 2013), known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, in 1945, Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass p ...

, as well as Edwards' first self-production, "Burning Love", credited to Rupie Edwards and the Virtues. The Virtues broke up in 1968, and Edwards started to focus mainly on his work as a producer, although he continued to release his own records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the beginning of the 1970s, he had recorded

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

The Heptones The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady in ...

, The Mighty Diamonds, Bob Andy, Johnny Clarke,

Joe Higgs Joseph Benjamin Higgs (3 June 1940 – 18 December 1999) was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson. He was a popular artist in Jamaica for four decades and i ...

Gregory Isaacs Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...

("Lonely Man") and The Ethiopians on his own

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s 'Success' and 'Opportunity', based at his Success record shop in Orange Street, and on the

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

sub-labels Big Records and Cactus.Katz, David (2006) ''People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry'', Omnibus Press, , p. 80 He also worked with DJs such as

U-Roy Ewart Beckford OD (21 September 1942 – 17 February 2021), known by the stage name U-Roy, was a Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of toasting.Jo-Ann GreeneU-Roy Biography, AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2013. U-Roy was known for a melodic style ...

Dennis Alcapone Dennis Alcapone, born Dennis Smith, is a Jamaican reggae Deejay (Jamaican), DJ and Record producer, producer. In 2018, he received the Prime Minister's Medal of Appreciation from Andrew Holness.Johnson, Richard (2018)'Clean up your act!'", ''Ja ...

and I-Roy, and released some

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

versions with his

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

band, The Rupie Edwards All Stars. The group included

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

s such as

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Tommy McCook Tommy McCook (4 March 1927 – 5 May 1998) was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

player Vin Gordon,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Carlton 'Santa' Davis,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Hux Brown,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Gladstone Anderson,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Clifton 'Jackie' Jackson and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Winston Wright. In 1974, he released an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

(''Yamaha Skank'') containing solely of tracks based on the Uniques' "My Conversation" riddim, credited as the first single-riddim album. In 1974 and 1975, he scored

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in the UK Singles Chart with "Ire Feelings" and "Leggo Skanga". Both tracks were based on the same

riddim In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the ''riddim'' plus the ''voicing'' (vocal part) sung by the deeja ...

, first used for Johnny Clarke's "Everyday Wondering", and the ''Ire Feelings'' album followed in 1975. Another one-riddim album based on these tracks, ''Ire Feelings - Chapter and Version'', was released by Trojan in 1990. After these successes, Edwards moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and since then has continued producing and recording, working with artists such as Jah Woosh, Gladstone Anderson, Errol Dunkley, Dobby Dobson, and Shorty the President, and releasing a series of ''Dub Basket'' albums culled from his earlier productions. He now mainly records

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

.Bradley, Lloyd (2001) ''Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King'', Penguin,

Discography

Albums

*''Yamaha Skank'' (1974), Success *''Ire Feelings'' (1975), Cactus *''Jamaica Serenade'' (1976), Cactus *''Conversation Stylee'' (1980), Tad's *''Lovers Roots'' (198?), Success - split with Dobby Dobson *''Pleasure and Pain'' (1987), Success *''Sweet Gospel Volume Four'', Rupie Edwards *''Bible Music Citation'' (2007), Success

Compilations

*Various Artists - ''Rupie's Gems - 1972-1974'' (1974), Cactus *Various Artists - ''Yamaha Skank'' (1974), Success *Rupie Edwards & Various Artists - ''Hit Picks'' (1974), Horse *Rupie Edwards All Stars - ''Dub Basket'' (1975), Cactus - also issued as ''Dub Classic'' (1977), Success *Rupie Edwards All Stars - ''Dub Basket Chapter 2'' (1976), Cactus *Various Artists - ''Rupie's Gems Volume 2'' (1976), Cactus *''Hit Picks Volume 1'' (1977), Success *Various Artists - ''Ire Feelings, Chapter & Version 1973-1975'' (1990),

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 18 ...

*Rupie Edwards & Friends - ''Let There Be Version'' (1990), Trojan *Rupie Edwards All Stars & Various Artists - ''Pure Gold'' - Success *Various Artists - ''House of Lovers'' *Various Artists - ''Rupie's Scorchers'' - 1969-1971 - Trybute (2002) *''Success Archives vols. 1-8'' (2006-2007), Success *''Best of Sweet Gospel, Reggae And Soul - Vols. 1 - 7'' (2006), Success *''Rupie Edwards Presents Success Archives - From Kingston Jamaica to London UK'' (2013), Rupie Edwards

References

External links

Rupie Edwards Discography
from Roots Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Rupie 1945 births Living people Jamaican record producers Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican male songwriters Musicians from Saint Ann Parish Trojan Records artists