Derrick Morgan OD (born 27 March 1940)Walters, Basil (2012)
A New Day – Songs heralding JA’s Independence
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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 ...

'', 3 June 2012, retrieved 3 June 2012 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 musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with

Desmond Dekker Desmond Dekker (born Desmond Adolphus Dacres; 16 July 1941 – 25 May 2006) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group the Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Ho ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

, and

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hol ...

in the

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and ska genres, and he also performed

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 ...

and

skinhead A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...

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 ...

Biography

In 1957, Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent show held at the Palace Theatre in

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, ...

. He won with rousing impressions of

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

and, shortly after that, was recruited to perform around the island with the popular Jamaican comedy team Bim and Bam. In 1959, Morgan entered the recording studio for the first time.

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 ...

, the

sound system Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...

boss, was looking for talent to record for his Treasure Isle record label. Morgan cut two popular shuffle-

boogie Boogie is a repetition (music), repetitive, swung note, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . groove (music), "groove" or pattern used in blues which was origina ...

sides "Lover Boy", a.k.a. "S-Corner Rock", and "Oh My". Soon after, Morgan cut the

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

-tinged boogie "Fat Man", which also became a hit. He also found time to record 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 ...

. In 1960 Morgan became the only artist ever to fill the places from one to seven on the Jamaican pop

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

simultaneously. Among those hits were "Don't Call Me Daddy", "In My Heart", "Be Still", and "Meekly Wait and Murmur Not". But it was the following year that Morgan released the biggest hit of his career, the

Leslie Kong Leslie Kong (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was a Jamaican reggae producer. Early life Kong was born into a Chinese-Jamaican family. He had a "relatively comfortable upbringing" and attended St. George's College in Kingston. Career ...

production of "Don't You Know", later retitled "Housewives' Choice" by a local DJ. The song featured a bouncing ska

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 ...

, along with a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

by Morgan and Millicent "Patsy" Todd. "Housewives' Choice" began the rivalry between Morgan 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 ...

, who accused Morgan of stealing his ideas. Buster quickly released "Blackhead Chiney Man", chiding Morgan with the sarcastic put-down "I did not know your parents were from Hong Kong" – a swipe at Kong. Morgan returned with the classic "Blazing Fire", in which he warns Buster to "Live and let others live, and your days will be much longer. You said it. Now it's the Blazing Fire". Buster shot back with, "Watch It Blackhead", which Morgan countered with "No Raise No Praise" and "Still Insist". Followers of the two artists often clashed, and eventually the government had to step in with a staged photo shoot depicting the rivals as friends. Morgan had a major success in 1962 with "Forward March", a song celebrating Jamaican independence from Great Britain. In the mid-1960s, when ska evolved into

, Morgan continued to release top quality material, including the seminal rude boy songs, "Tougher Than Tough", "Do the Beng Beng", "Conquering Ruler", and a cover of Ben E. King's soul hit, " Seven Letters". Produced by

Bunny Lee Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD (23 August 1941 – 6 October 2020), better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer. He was known as a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to Trojan Records i ...

, "Seven Letters" is often cited as the first true reggae single. In 1969 Morgan recorded the skinhead anthem "Moon Hop" (on Crab Records). However, failing eyesight then forced him to give up regular stage appearances. He remained popular in Jamaica and the UK into the early 1970s, and has lived primarily in the UK or the US since the late 1960s. Morgan has written several songs that have won the Festival Song Contest for other artists, including "Jamaica Whoa" (1998, Neville Martin), "Fi Wi Island A Boom" (2000, Stanley Beckford), and "Progress" (2002, Devon Black). 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, a two-night "Legends of Ska" concert was held. Reuniting were

The Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone (song), Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Bus ...

, Lloyd Knibb, Rico Rodriguez, Lloyd Brevett,

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 and Lynn Taitt; along with

, Alton Ellis, Owen Gray, 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 Harriott, Winston Samuels, Roy Wilson, Patsy Todd, Doreen Shaffer, Stranger Cole, Lord Tanamo, and Derrick Morgan. In 2007, Morgan appeared on the bill at the annual Augustibuller music festival. His song "Tougher Than Tough" was featured in the video game '' Scarface: The World is Yours''. Morgan continued to perform occasionally at ska revival shows across the world, often backed by the guitarist Lynn Taitt until the latter's death in 2010. He retired from the music industry because of illness in the 2010s, but returned in 2016 to collaborate with Kirk Diamond on a remake of Morgan's song 1960s "Conqueror". Morgan headlined the Supernova International Ska Festival, in Fredericksburg, Virginia from 27 to 28 May 2017.

Discography

Albums

*''Seven Letters'' (1969) *''Derrick Morgan in London'' (1969) *''Moon Hop'' (1970) *''Feel So Good'' (1975) (featuring Hortense Ellis) *''People's Decision'' (1977) *''Still in Love'' (1977) (also featuring Hortense Ellis) *''Sunset at Moonlight City'' *''Love City'' *''The Legend of Derrick Morgan'' (1980) *''I Am the Ruler'' (1992) –

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 ...

*''Tougher Than Tough (Rudie in Court)'' (1992) *''The Conquering Ruler'' (and the Sensational Yebo) (1994) – Pork Pie Records *''Ska Man Classics'' (1995) *''Ska Man Classics'' (1997) *''21 Hits Salute'' (1997) *''Meets the High Notes Live'' (2003) *''Moon Hop: Best of the Early Years 1960–69'' (2003) *''Derrick:Top the Top'' (2003) *''Derrick Meets the High Notes'' (2004) *''Shake A Leg'' (2014) *''Storybook Revisited'' (2019)

Singles

Morgan released nearly 200 singles in the UK, and more than 250 in Jamaica. These include: *"The Hop" / "Tell It To Me", 7-inch: Island WI 006, UK, 1962 *"Forward March" / "Please Don't Talk About Me", 7-inch: Island WI 011, UK, 1962 *"See The Blind" / "Cherry Home", 7-inch: Island WI 013, UK, 1962 *"I Am The Ruler" / "I Mean It" Pyramid 1968 *"No Dice" / "I Mean It" Pyramid 1968 *"Fat Man" / "South Parkway Rock" Trojan TR 626 UK, 1968 Singles on Crab Records *"Moon Hop" – 1969 – UK No. 49* "River to the Bank" / "Reggae Limbo", 7-inch (B side – Peter King) * " Seven Letters" / "Lonely Heartaches", 7-inch (B side – The Tartons) * "The First Taste of Love" / "Dance All Night", 7-inch * "Don't Play That Song" / "How Can I Forget You", 7-inch * "Mek It Tan Deh" / "Gimme Back", 7-inch * "Send Me Some Loving" / "Come What May", 7-inch * "Hard Time" / "Death Rides A Horse", 7-inch (B Side – Roy Richards) * "Man Pon Moon" / "What A Thing", 7-inch * "Moon Hop" / "Harris Wheel", 7-inch (B Side – Reggaeites) * "A Night at the Hop" / "Telephone", 7-inch * "Oh Baby" / The Rat", 7-inch (B Side – The Thunderbirds) * "Need To Belong" / "Let's Have Some Fun", 7-inch (with Jennifer Jones) * "I Wish I Was An Apple" / "The Story", 7-inch * "Take A Letter Maria" / "Just A Little Loving", 7-inch (with Owen Gray) * "Rocking Good Way" / "Wipe These Tears", 7-inch (with Jennifer Jones) * "My Dickie" / "Brixton Hop", 7-inch * "I Can't Stand It No Longer" / "Beyond The Wall", 7-inch * "Endlessly" / "Who's Making Love", 7-inch * "Hurt Me" / "Julia", 7-inch * "Searching So Long" / "Drums of Passion", 7-inch

References

External links

Derrick Morgan biography A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and a ...

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 ...