Doris Albertha Darlington (died 25 June 1998) was a Jamaican

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

who owned a food shop and later a liquor store 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 the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, in the 1950s and 1960s. This site provided the initial space for her son

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 ...

to begin playing music for customers, a practice that eventually led to his founding Studio One and becoming one of the island's key musical forces. When her son was away buying records to play on 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 ...

, Darlington set up and ran the sound system herself, and thus can be named one of Jamaica's first sound system operators, and a force in the development of

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

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

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 ...

music. Darlington also ran a record store in Jamaica, was often present at Studio One recording studios and involved in producing music in the early 1960s. Darlington was nicknamed "Nanny" after the famed female leader

Nanny of the Maroons Nanny of the Maroons Order of National Hero (Jamaica), ONH (c. 1686 – c. 1760), also known as Queen Nanny and Granny Nanny, was a Jamaican revolutionary and leader of the Jamaican Maroons. She led a community of formerly-enslaved escapees, the ...

Biography

Darlington was a descendant of the

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery in the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of Free black people in Jamaica, free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern Pari ...

, communities descended from escaped Africans who fought for and established free communities in the Jamaican interior. In the 1950s she owned a food shop whose customers were interested in hearing the latest R&B tunes from the US. Her son Clement "Coxsone" Dodd began to meet this need with a turntable, an amplified sound system and a collection of records, and eventually the space expanded into a bar with a canteen in the back at which Darlington would cook. However, whenever Dodd went on trips to purchase music, he would leave Nanny in charge of the show, running the technical and creative side of the Downbeat sound system. This made her "the first female sound system operator". Dodd later said of her contribution to music that "She is the founding mother of everything, for without her nothing would’ve happened". Dodd also named one of his sublabels D. Darling after her. Darlington also ran the record store, Music Land, in Spanish Town, Jamaica. (Some sources describe her as running a record store called Muzik City, which is also associated with Coxsone Dodd).

Production career

Darlington was often present at Studio One recording studio, and sometimes took an active role from at least 1961 to the early 1990s, when she was listed as producer on George Faith's 1992 album ''Just the Blues''. The bulk of her credits are from the early 1960s, when she produced a small string of

, Jamaican rhythm and blues and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Doris Jamaican record producers Jamaican sound systems Jamaican DJs Women DJs People of Jamaican Maroon descent Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica 1930s births 1998 deaths Women record producers