Wilfred Gerald Edwards (1938 – 15 August 1992), known as Jackie Edwards, was a Jamaican

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

whose career took in ska, R&B,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and ballads.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books,

Career

Edwards was born in

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 ...

in 1938 and grew up there with fourteen siblings. Strongly influenced by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

, he began performing at the age of 14.Wilfred ‘Jackie’ Edwards, An Unsung Hero Of The 60s
, ''

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 ...

'', 24 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015 Edwards came to the attention of

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell OJ (born 22 June 1937) is a Jamaican-British former record producer and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall ...

in 1959. Edwards had four number one singles in Jamaica between 1960 and 1961, all self-written ballads with Latin-influenced music. When Blackwell set up

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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1962, Edwards traveled with him. Edwards worked as a singer and songwriter for Island, recording as a solo artist and also duets with

Millie Small Millicent Dolly May Small Order of Distinction, CD (6 October 1947 – 5 May 2020) was a Jamaican singer who is best known for her international hit "My Boy Lollipop" (1964). The song reached number two in both the UK Singles Chart, UK and ...

as well as performing duties such as delivering records. He wrote both "

Keep On Running "Keep On Running" is a song written and first recorded by Jackie Edwards. It became a hit in the UK for The Spencer Davis Group; their version reached number one in the charts. Recordings "Keep On Running" was written by Jamaican singer-songwri ...

" and "

Somebody Help Me "Somebody Help Me" is a single by The Spencer Davis Group, which was released in 1966. As with "Keep on Running", it was composed by Jackie Edwards. Chart performance "Somebody Help Me" became the band's second consecutive and last number-on ...

", which became number one singles in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for

The Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

. He continued to work as a recording artist himself, with regular album releases through the mid-1980s. Much of his later work was 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 ...

. Edwards also worked with

The Aggrovators The Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s and 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time.Larkin, Col ...

, one of his most renowned songs he produced with that band was the roots sound systems favorite, a recut of

Burning Spear Winston Rodney Order of Distinction, OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian movement, Rastafarian and one of the ...

's ''Invasion (Wadada)''.

Dionne Bromfield Dionne Julia Bromfield (born 1 February 1996) is a British soul music singer, television presenter and television personality. Her debut album, '' Introducing Dionne Bromfield'', was released in 2009 by Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records label. S ...

covered his song "Oh Henry" on her album ''

Introducing Dionne Bromfield ''Introducing Dionne Bromfield'' is the debut album by British singer Dionne Bromfield. She recorded it when she was thirteen for Lioness Records, the label of her godmother, Amy Winehouse. The album was released on 12 October 2009 and reache ...

'' in 2009. Edwards worked as a producer, co-producing the 1977 album ''Move Up Starsky'' by The Mexicano. The majority of his catalog is published through Fairwood Music (UK) Ltd. He died in August 1992 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Discography

Albums

*''The Most of Jackie Edwards'' (1963) –

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 ...

*''Stand Up for Jesus'' (1964) – Island *''Come on Home'' (1965) – Island *''By Demand'' (1966) – Island *''Pledging My Love'' (1966) – Island (with Millie Small) *''Premature Golden Sands'' (1967) – Island *''Put Your Tears Away'' (1969) – Island *''I Do Love You'' (1972) –

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 ...

*''Do You Believe in Love'' (1976) – Klik *''African Language'' (1977) – Harry J Records *''Let It Be Me'' (1978) – Jamaica Sound (with Hortense Ellis) *''Tell Me Darling'' (1978) – Imperial *''Sincerely'' (1978) – Trojan *''Come to Me Softly'' (1979) – Third World *''Nothing Takes the Place of You'' (1981) – Starlight *''King of the Ghetto'' (1982) – Black Music *''Tell It Like It Is'' (1982) – Starlight *''Love & Affection'' (1983) – Sky Note (feat. Kate Swadling) *''The Original 'Mr. Cool Ruler (1983) – Vista Sounds *''The Dynamic Jackie Wilfred Edwards'' (1984) – Boss *''Musical Treasures Disco Style'' (198?) – Imperial *''Endless Love'' (1986) – World Enterprise *''Heart to Heart'' (1990) – Justice *''Escape'' (1995) – Peter Pan Industries *''Dearest'' (1995) – Lagoon *''In Paradise'' (1995) – Carl's Records

Compilation albums

*''The Best of Jackie Edwards'' (1966) – Island *''The Best of Jackie & Millie'' (1967) – Trojan (with Millie Small) *''20 Greatest Hits'' (1977) – Conflict *''Starlight'' (1978) – Pye *''20 Super Hits'' (19??) – Sonic Sounds *''In Paradise'' (1994) – Trojan *''Memorial'' (19??) – Rhino *''Singing Hits from Studio One and More'' (1995) – Rhino *''Great Soul Hits: Put Your Tears Away'' (1997) – Marginal *''This Is My Story: A History of Jamaica's Greatest Balladeer'' (2005) – Trojan *''I Feel So Bad'' (2006) – Castle *''50 Greatest Hits'' (2013) – Alexander Music Group

References

External links