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Island Records Discography
The history and the discography of the Island Records label can conveniently be divided into three phases: *The Jamaican Years, covering the label's releases from 1959 to 1966 *The New Ground Years, covering 1967 to approximately 1980. *The Consolidation Years, covering 1980 onwards. In 1989, Chris Blackwell sold Island Records to PolyGram, resulting in a remarketing of the Island back catalogue on compact disc under the Island Masters brand. Jamaican releases (1959–1962) Blackwell released 28 singles and three LPs in this period. Jamaican singles The very first records have been issued on 7" sides in Jamaica on a label called R&B *Laurel Aitken: "Boogie In My Bones" *Ernest Ranglin: "Wranglin'" *Lord Lebby With The Caribs: "Caldonie" Jamaican LPs CB stands for Chris Blackwell; 22 for the age of Blackwell at the time; it is the first number of the LP catalogue. *CB21 – Lance Hayward: ''Lance Hayward at the Half Moon Hotel'' *CB22 – Lance Hayward: ''Lance Hayward at the Half ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. Island Records operates four international divisions: Island US, Island UK, Island Australia, and Island France (known as Vertigo France until 2014). Current key people include Imran Majid and Justin Eshak who were named co-CEOs of Island Records in 2021. Partially due to its significant legacy, Island remains one of UMG's pre-eminent record labels. History Rise of the brand Island Records was founded in Jamaica on 4 July 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong, and financed by Stanley Borden from RK ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Alton Ellis
Alton Nehemiah Ellis (1 September 1938 – 10 October 2008)Godfather of rocksteady dies at 70 , , 11 October 2008 was a Jamaican singer-songwriter. One of the innovators of , he was given the informal title "Godfather of Rocksteady".Huey, Steve, "Alton Ellis Biography" Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation. In 2006, he was inducted into the Internation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
John Holt (singer)
John Kenneth Holt OD (11 July 1947 – 19 October 2014) was a Jamaican reggae singer who first found fame as a member of The Paragons, before establishing himself as a solo artist. Early life Holt was born in the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston in 1947.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 117–120. His mother Amy was a nurse.Ustanny, Avia (2004),You Inspired Me", ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 7 November 2004. Retrieved 25 October 2014. By the age of 12, he was a regular entrant in talent contests run at Jamaican theatres by Vere Johns, winning 28 contests, some broadcast live on Radio Jamaica.Larkin, Colin (1998), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, .Black, Roy (2014)Holt: One Of The Most Enduring Jamaican Singers, ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014. Career and recognition He recorded his first single in 1963 with "Forever I'll Stay"/"I Cried a Tear" for record producer Leslie Kong, and also recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cornell Campbell
Cornel Campbell aka Don Cornel or Don Gorgon (born 23 November 1945 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae singer, best known for his trademark falsetto voice, and his recordings at Studio One in the late 1960s and his later work with Bunny Lee in the 1970s. Biography Campbell has one of Jamaican music's distinctive falsettos. His first name was mistakenly spelled with two L's on a record and has been commonly misquoted since. He prefers the correct spelling: Cornel Campbell. Campbell's singing career began in his local church choir. At age eleven, in 1956, he was introduced to trombonist Rico Rodriguez, who took him to Clement Dodd's studio, where he recorded his first single, "My Treasure".Katz, David (2003) ''Solid Foundation – an Oral History of Reggae'', Bloomsbury, Further singles followed, including "Turndown Date", as Jamaican music transformed from rhythm and blues to ska, with backing from The Skatalites. He later recorded for King Edwards backed by The Bell Stars, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Maytals
The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. Frontman Toots Hibbert, who died in 2020, was considered a reggae pioneer on par with Bob Marley. His soulful vocal style was compared to Otis Redding, and led him to be named by ''Rolling Stone'' as one of the 100 Greatest Singers. After Hibbert's death, the Maytals indicated that they would continue as a working group. Their 1968 single " Do the Reggay" was the first song to use the word "reggae", coining the name of the genre and introducing it to a global audience. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' credits Toots and the Maytals in the etymology of the word "Reggae". According to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, "The Maytals were unlike anything else ... sensational, raw, and dynamic." Career Formation and early success Frederi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bobby Aitken
Bobby Aitken is a Cuban-born Jamaican guitarist and singer who had a string of hits in Jamaica in the 1960s and led the band The Carib Beats. Biography Aitken is the brother of Laurel Aitken, and recorded in the early 1960s for producer King Edwards.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 43, 83 He had hits in the ska era of the 1960s with singles such as "Never Never" (1962, Blue Beat), "Baby Baby" (1962, Island Records), "Don't Leave Me", "I've Told You", and "It Takes a Friend" (all 1963), "Jericho" and "Rolling Stone" (1964), "Rain Came Tumbling Down" (1965), "Thunderball" and "Shame & Scandal" (1966), and "What a Fool" (1967).Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, Aitken also led the band The Carib Beats, who recorded for J.J. Johnson, Bunny Lee, Joe Gibbs, Ewan McDermott, and Clancy Eccles. The Carib Beats disbanded in the mid-1960s, with Aitken becoming more involved with his church ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Theo Beckford
Theophilus Beckford (26 June 1935 – 19 February 2001) was a Jamaican pianist and one of the pioneers of Jamaican popular music during the transition from rhythm 'n' blues to Jamaican ska. Biography Beckford was born in 1935 in Trench Town, Kingston, Jamaica, the second of three sons.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p.22Katz, David (2001)Theophilus Beckford, ''The Guardian'', 19 March 2001 He learned to play piano at the Boys' Town home for indigent boys in west Kingston, initially inspired by Rosco Gordon and Fats Domino, and on leaving bought a piano and began working with producer Stanley Motta, backing local calypsonians. His piano playing helped to define the sound and feel of ska music, as distinct from Jamaican rhythm & blues in the late 1950s. He had a huge hit in 1959 with "Easy Snappin", recorded in 1956 and played at dances by producer Coxsone Dodd before he released it three years later on his Worldisc label. The single was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Monty Alexander
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann, and Frank Sinatra. Alexander also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. His recording career has covered many of the well-known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs. Biography Alexander was born on 6 June 1944 in Kingston, Jamaica. He discovered the piano when he was four years old and seemed to have a knack for picking melodies out b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Blues Busters
The Blues Busters was a vocal duo from Jamaica formed in 1960, consisting of Philip James (9 March 1941 – 1989) and Lloyd Osbourne Campbell (31 December 1941 – 1992).Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 32 The Blues Busters was the most consistently popular Jamaican male duo of the early 1960s,Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 22 and among the Jamaican artists who performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 264 They initially worked in cabaret shows to tourists in Kingston and Jamaica's north coast, but got their big break when they were asked to accompany Sam Cooke on his tour of the island in March, 1961. Taking inspiration from Cooke, on returning to the cabaret circuit they emulated the soulful harmonies of his performances and recorded a number of soul and reggae cover versions, having minor hits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rico Rodriguez (musician)
Emmanuel "Rico" Rodriguez (17 October 1934 – 4 September 2015), also known as Rico, Reco or El Reco, was a Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist. He recorded with producers such as Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd Daley. He was known as one of the first ska musicians. Beginning in the 1960s, he worked with the Members, the Specials, Jools Holland, and Paul Young. Career Rodriguez was born in Havana, Cuba, and at an early age moved with his family to Jamaica.Campbell, Howard (2012)Rico Rodriguez: Man From Wareika, ''Jamaica Observer'', 22 June 2012; retrieved 24 June 2012. He grew up there in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, and was taught to play the trombone by his slightly older schoolmate Don Drummond at the Alpha Boys School. In the 1950s, Rodriguez became a Rastafari movement, Rastafarian and was closely associated musically to the rasta drummer Count Ossie. In 1961, Rodriguez moved to the UK, where he joined live bands such as Georgie Fame's Georgie Fame a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Don Drummond
Don Drummond (12 March 1934 – 6 May 1969) was a Jamaican ska trombonist and composer. He was one of the original members of The Skatalites, and composed many of their tunes. In 1966, Drummond was convicted of murdering his 23-year-old lover, Anita "Marguerita" Mahfood. Biography Drummond was born at the Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, to Doris Monroe and Uriah Drummond.Cane-Honeysett, L: ''Don Drummond Memorial Album'', liner notes. Trojan 2009. He was educated at Kingston's Alpha Boys School, where he later tutored his younger schoolmate Rico Rodriguez playing the trombone. His musical career began in 1950 with the Eric Dean's All-Stars where he performed jazz. He continued playing with big bands into the 1960s at clubs such as the Big Bucket and the Silver Slipper. After performing jazz for a decade, Drummond began performing ska and in 1964 he joined The Skatalites. With Drummond's politicized conversion to the Rastafari movement, other band members fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Errol Dixon
Errol Dixon (born Errol Barnes; 1937 – 31 January 2023) was a Jamaican-born singer and blues pianist. Dixon was born in 1937 in Jamaica, and as a boy moved to New York. He later moved to London in 1957, where he started his music career. In 1965, he played with the Ram Jam Band prior to Geno Washington Geno Washington (born William Francis Washington; December 21, 1943, in Evansville, Indiana) is an American R&B singer who released five albums with the Ram Jam Band between 1966 and 1969, and eight solo albums beginning in 1976. Background ... joining. He recorded with them; the single "Shake Shake Senora" was released, but made no commercial impact. During his career he released more than 15 albums and 30 singles. From 2010, Dixon lived in the canton Schwyz, Switzerland. He died on a visit to Jamaica on 31 January 2023. He was 86. References External links Errol Dixon singles on 45cat 1937 births 2023 deaths 21st-century British pianists Musicians from New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
