Derrick Clifton Harriott OD (born 6 February 1939) is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n singer and record producer. He was a member of the Jiving Juniors with Herman Sang before embarking on a solo career. He has produced

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican Toasting (J ...

, Chariot Riders, The Chosen Few,

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

, The Ethiopians, Keith & Tex, The Kingstonians, Rudy Mills, Scotty, Sly & Revolutionaries, and Winston McAnuff.

Biography

The Jiving Juniors

As a student at Excelsior High School, Harriott formed a duo with Claude Sang Jr.Jiving Juniors Unleashes Derrick Harriott On The World
, ''

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. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the Western Hemisphere. Original ...

'', 18 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014 Harriott entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest as a solo artist in 1955, failing to reach the final round, and entered again in 1957 as a duo with Sang, going on to win several times. The duo first recorded for

Stanley Motta Stanley Motta was an electronics store proprietor who established a record label in Kingston, Jamaica and opened the first privately owned recording studio in Jamaica in 1951, jump starting Jamaica's music industry. Career Motta recorded cal ...

, and went on to record for several producers, having hits including "Daffodil" and "Birds of Britain" before splitting up when Sang's job took him overseas. In 1958 Harriott formed the Jiving Juniors with Eugene Dwyer, Herman Sang (Claude's younger brother), and Maurice Wynter. The group had success on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, and in 1960 and 1961 had

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s with "Lollipop Girl" (for

Duke Reid Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and record label owner. He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Tr ...

) and "Over The River" (aka "I'll Be Here When He Comes", for

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 ...

). The group split up after Harriott emigrated to the United States, although the other members continued for a while with Jimmy Mudahy replacing Harriott.The Second Coming – Jiving Juniors Hits Recording Studios
, ''

'', 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014 After struggling to find work, Harriott reformed the Jiving Juniors with a new line-up, having already teamed up again with Claude Sang in New York. The new line-up included Winston Service and Valmont Burke, and split their time between Jamaica and New York, where they recorded at the Mirasound Studios, having hits including "Sugar Dandy". The travelling took its toll and the group split up in 1962.

Solo and production career

Harriott embarked on a solo career and later formed 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, ...

, Crystal. His first solo release, "I Care", was a hit, with further hits following with "What Can I Do" (1964), "The Jerk" (1965) and "I'm Only Human" (1965), all of which were included on his debut album, ''The Best of Derrick Harriott''. In 1967 he had further solo hits with "The Loser" and "Solomon", as well as with productions of other artists, including The Ethiopians' "No Baptism", and Keith And Tex's "Tonight" and "Stop That Train". The lyrics to his song "Message from a Black Man" (circa 1970) echoed the growing black consciousness in American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

of that time. In 1970 he issued The Crystalites' ''The Undertaker'', an

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 ...

album in a similar vein to the early music of

The Upsetters The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song "I Am the Upsetter", a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxs ...

. He produced successful albums by other artists, including DJ Scotty's ''Schooldays'',

's ''Super Reggae and Soul Hits'', and also his own ''14 Chartbuster Hits''. In 1971, ''Swing'' magazine named Harriott the Top Producer of 1970. He was one of the first producers to use

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

mixing talents at his Waterhouse studio, issuing one of the earliest dub albums in 1974: ''Scrub A Dub'', credited to The Crystallites. Harriott followed this with another dub/instrumental album, ''More Scrubbing The Dub''. His late 1970s productions used backing from The Revolutionaries on albums such as Winston McAnuff's ''Pick Hits To Click'' (1978), DJ Ray I's ''Rasta Revival'' (1978) and his own ''Enter The Chariot'' and ''Disco 6'' (a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

featuring Dennis Brown, Cornell Campbell and

Horace Andy Horace Andy (born Horace Keith Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as " Skylarking", as well as "Government Land", "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Ma ...

). In the 1970s he opened his first record shop on King Street in Kingston, later moving to larger premises at Twin Gates Plaza in Half-Way Tree. In the 1980s, he continued to have hits with soul cover versions, such as "Skin To Skin" and "Checking Out". In 1988 he scored with "Starting All Over Again", a duet with Yellowman, with lyrics about Hurricane Gilbert. The mid to late 1990s saw solo efforts such as ''Sings Jamaican Rock Steady Reggae'', ''For a Fistful of Dollars'', ''Derrick Harriott & Giants'', and ''Riding the Roots Chariot'' being released. In July 2002 in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, Harriott performed at the two-night ''Legends of Ska'' festival. Other performers included: Skatalites, Rico Rodriguez,

Lester Sterling Lester "Ska" Sterling OD (31 January 1936 – 16 May 2023), also known as Mr. Versatile, was a Jamaican trumpet and saxophone player. Early life Sterling was born on 31 January 1936.Johnny Moore, Lynn Taitt,

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 ...

, Alton Ellis, Lord Creator,

Justin Hinds Justin Hinds (7 May 1942 – 16 March 2005) was a Jamaican ska and conscious roots reggae vocalist with his backing singers the Dominoes. He is best known for his work with Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Records, where his most notable song, "Car ...

, Derrick Morgan and Lord Tanamo. In 2009, Harriott was awarded the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Ac ...

by the Jamaican government, and in 2019 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Music from the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA).Derrick Harriott shrugs off rumours
, ''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 7 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022

Discography

Albums

* ''The Best of Derrick Harriott'' – 1965 –

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

* ''The Best of Derrick Harriott Volume 2'' – 1968 –

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 ...

* ''Sings Jamaican Reggae'' – 1969 – Crystal/ Pama * The Crystalites – ''Undertaker'' – 1970 Trojan * ''Psychedelic Train'' – 1970 – Crystal/Trojan * ''Presents Scrub-A-Dub Reggae'' – 1974 – Crystal * ''More Scrubbing The Dub'' – 1975 – Crystal * ''Songs For Midnight Lovers'' – 1976 – Crystal/Trojan * Derrick Harriott & The Revolutionaries – ''Reggae Chart Busters Seventies Style'' – 1977 * ''Reggae Disco Rockers'' – 1977 – Charmers * ''Born to Love You'' – 1979 – Crystal

Compilation albums

* Derrick Harriott & Various Artists – ''14 Chartbuster Hits'' – 1973 – Crystal * Derrick Harriott & The Crystalites / Chariot Riders – 1970 – ''Blockbuster Reggae Instrumentals'' * ''Greatest Reggae Hits – 1975 – Crystal/Trojan * ''Disco 6'' – 1977 * ''Enter The Chariot'' – 1978 * Derrick Harriott & Various Artists – ''Those Reggae Oldies'' – 1978 * Derrick Harriott & The Jiving Juniors – ''The Donkey Years 1961–1965'' – Jamaican Gold (1993) * Derrick Harriott & Various Artists – ''Step Softly 1965–1972'' – Trojan (1988) * Derrick Harriott – ''Sings Jamaican Rock Steady Reggae'' – Jamaican Gold * Derrick Harriott & The Crystalites – ''For A Fistful of Dollars'' – Jamaican Gold * ''From Chariot's Vault Volume 2: 16 Reggae Hits'' – Jamaican Gold * Derrick Harriott & Various Artists – ''Riding the Roots Chariot'' – 1998 – Pressure Sounds * Derrick Harriott & Various Artists – ''Skin To Skin'' – 1989 – Sarge * Derrick Harriott & Various Artists – ''Musical Chariot'' – 1990 – Charly Records

References

External links

Derrick Harriott Rock Steady 1966–1969
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Derrick Harriott Reggae, Funk & Soul 1969–1975
at Bandcamp
Pressure Sounds biography of Harriott

* Derrick Harriott & The Crystalites: * Derrick Harriott & The Chosen Few: {{DEFAULTSORT:Harriott, Derrick 1939 births Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican male singers Jamaican record producers Living people Recipients of the Order of Distinction