"Double Barrel" is a 1970
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 ...
single by
Dave and Ansell Collins (though credited in both the UK and the US to 'Dave and Ansil Collins').
It was the second reggae tune to top the
UK singles chart, two years after
Desmond Dekker's number 1 breakthrough hit "
Israelites
Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age.
Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
". The record reached number 1 in the UK
for the first two weeks in March 1971, selling 300,000 copies, after only 33 radio plays. In the US, "Double Barrel" peaked at number 22 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of 7 August 1971 and number 4 on
WLS on 28 June 1971, two years to the week after "Israelites" made a nearly identical climb to peak at the same position on the same chart. The record also reached number 1 in Mexico on October 23, 1971
and number 8 in Australia.
[
]
Background
Written and produced by Winston Riley,[ former vocalist of ]The Techniques
The Techniques were a Jamaican rocksteady band (music), vocal group mainly active in the 1960s.
History
The group was formed by Winston Riley in 1962 while still at school, with the initial line-up also featuring Slim Smith, Franklyn White, and ...
,[Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p.317] the single featured the vocals of Dave Barker, who had been recording in Jamaica for around five years, principally for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and Lee Perry. This song marked the first appearance on record by Sly Dunbar
Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie.
Biography
Dunbar began playing at 15 in a ba ...
, later of Sly & Robbie fame, on drums. He was just 18 at the time. A significant portion of the tune bears a strong resemblance to Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...
' 1967 song "Party Time" (on Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
). From the very beginning of the cold intro, the lyrics are punctuated throughout by the unusual claim "I am the magnificent W-O-O-O" (and variants thereof), but the title never appears.
Charts
Cover versions
*The song has been covered by later ska acts such as The Selecter and The Specials
The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...
. In 1972, a sample of the song was included in the top ten hit "Convention '72" by The Delegates.
Samples
It was sampled in 2012 GOOD Music
GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide music distribution, distributi ...
song " The One".
See also
* List of number-one hits of 1971 (Mexico)
References
{{authority control
1970 debut singles
1970 songs
Number-one singles in Mexico
Jamaican reggae songs
UK singles chart number-one singles
Big Tree Records singles