Ewart Beckford OD (21 September 1942 – 17 February 2021), known by the stage name U-Roy, was a Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of toasting.Jo-Ann Greene
U-Roy Biography
, AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2013. U-Roy was known for a melodic style of toasting applied with a highly developed sense of timing.

Early life

Ewart Beckford was born in Jones Town, Saint Andrew Parish,

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 ...

, on 21 September 1942. He was raised within a religious and musical family; his mother was an organist for the choir at a local

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

church.Taylor, Angus
U-Roy Interview
, United Reggae, 20 December 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013. The

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

U-Roy originated from a younger member of his family who found it difficult to pronounce his first name. Beckford attended Denham Town High School in Kingston. As a young man Beckford listened to the music of

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a popular music, pop music ...

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

Rufus Thomas Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Re ...

, Smiley Lewis and was especially influenced by the vocal phrasing of

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

.Rougeot
U-Roy Interview
, Reggae France. Published 22 October 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2013.

Career

Inspired by

Count Matchuki Winston Cooper (–1995), better known as Count Matchuki or Count Machuki, was a Jamaican deejay. Biography Cooper was born in Kingston, Jamaica,Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, ...

, U-Roy started his professional career as a deejay in 1961 on Dickie Wong's

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 ...

(originally called Doctor Dickies later changed to Dickies Dynamic) moving later to the Sir George the Atomic sound system. He then worked on

Sir 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 ...

's sound system where he ran the number two set while

King Stitt Winston Sparkes (17 September 1940 – 31 January 2012), better known as King Stitt, was a Jamaican pioneer DJ. Biography He earned the nickname as a boy because of his stuttering and decided to use it as his stage name. Stitt began deejaying ...

"The Ugly One" ran the main set. This was followed by a period with Sir Percy before he moved to

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 ...

's Hometown Hi-Fi sound system. His first single "Dynamic Fashion Way" (1969) was a

Keith Hudson Keith Hudson (18 March 1946 – 14 November 1984),Thompson, p.311 was a Jamaican reggae artist and record producer. He is known for his influence on the dub movement. Biography Raised in a musical family, Hudson attended Boys Town School i ...

production. It was followed by the

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, songwriter and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development ...

production "Earth's Rightful Ruler" with

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...

. In 1970, Jamaican singer John Holt (lead vocalist of

the Paragons The Paragons were a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Kingston, Jamaica, initially active in the 1960s. Their most famous track was "The Tide Is High", written by band member John Holt. Career The Paragons were originally Garth "Tyrone" Ev ...

) heard U-Roy toasting over a

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 ...

track at a dance. Holt told Reid about the performance and on his recommendation Reid asked him to come and see him and an informal recording deal was arranged. His first two singles on Duke Reid's

Treasure Isle 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 ...

label in 1970, "

Wake the Town "Wake the Town" is a reggae song recorded by Jamaican toaster U-Roy in 1970. It was U-Roy's first big hit and one of the songs that established U-Roy as the grandfather of the modern deejay phenomenon. It also helped create dancehall style in Jama ...

" and "Wear You to the Ball", were Jamaican hits and established his reputation as one of Jamaica's most popular toasters. He went on to work with other major producers on the island including

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 ...

, Phil Pratt,

Sonia Pottinger Sonia Eloise Pottinger OD ( Durrant; 21 June 1931 – 3 November 2010)Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 316 Rupie Edwards Rupert Lloyd Edwards (born 4 July 1945) is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer. Biography Rupie Edwards was born in Goshen, in Saint Ann Parish.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 103–105 The fam ...

Alvin Ranglin Alvin 'GG' Ranglin (born 1942, Eden, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica)Greene (Alvin Ranglin Biography) is a Jamaican reggae singer, record producer and record label owner. Biography Ranglin started to sing in public in his teens with an Adventist Chur ...

and Lloyd Daley. 1971 saw the release of his deejay version of The Paragons' "

The Tide Is High "The Tide Is High" is a 1967 rocksteady song written by John Holt, originally produced by Duke Reid and performed by the Jamaican group the Paragons, with Holt as lead singer. The song gained international attention in 1980, when a cover versi ...

". He first toured the UK in 1972 with the artists

Roy Shirley Ainsworth Roy Rushton Shirley (18 July 1944 – July 2008), better known simply as Roy Shirley, and also known as King Roy Shirley and The High Priest, was a Jamaican singer whose career spanned the ska, rocksteady and reggae eras, and whose "Ho ...

and

Max Romeo Maxwell Livingston Smith (22 November 1944 – 11 April 2025), known professionally as Max Romeo, was a Jamaican reggae and roots reggae recording musician who achieved chart success in his home country and in the United Kingdom. He had several ...

. The tour was organized by Rita and Benny King, the owners of R & B Records based in

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

, London. U-Roy's album '' Dread in a Babylon'' was released in the US, Europe and Jamaica by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in 1975. The album achieved significant sales in the UK, due in part to the ongoing expansion of the Virgin label and stores. The track "Runaway Girl" from the album was released as a single in Europe that same year. The success of ''Dread In A Babylon'' led to a series of Tony Robinson produced albums: ''Natty Rebel'' (1976), ''Rasta Ambassador'' (1977) and ''Jah Son Of Africa'' (1978). His international popularity led to the album ''Natty Rebel'' being released in 1976 on Virgin's Front Line label in Nigeria as well as in France on Virgin and

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. U-Roy started his own sound system in 1978, which he named Stur Gav after his sons. The sound system would launch the careers of a younger generation of toasters and singers including Ranking Joe, Jah Screw, Charlie Chaplin and Josey Wales. The pop group Blondie had a world-wide hit with a cover of "The Tide Is High" in 1980, prompting Virgin to re-release the original Paragons' recording from 1967 and the 1971 U-Roy version as a single that same year. His album ''Pray Fi Di People'' was released in 2012. U-Roy was featured on the album ''True Love'' by

Toots and the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

, which won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 ...

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José Manuel Tomás Arturo Chao Ortega on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish musician. He sings in French language, French, Spanish language, Spanish, English language, English, Italian language, Italian, Arabic, Catalan language ...

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

Toots Hibbert Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert, (8 December 1942 – 11 September 2020) was a Jamaican singer and songwriter who was the lead vocalist for the reggae and ska band Toots and the Maytals. A reggae pioneer, he performed for six decades and ...

, Paul Douglas,

Jackie Jackson Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson (born May 4, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Jackson 5, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Jackson is the second child of the Jac ...

Ken Boothe Kenneth George Boothe OD (born 22 March 1948) is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appeal ...

, and

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 ...

. He 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 ...

in 2007 by the Jamaican government for his contribution to music. His last recording was the song "The Coming of Jah Jah" for the project "The Deejay Battle: Sly & Robbie vs Roots Radics" released in April 2023 produced by the Grammy nominated musician and producer Hernan "Don Camel" Sforzini.

U-Roy's music and Rastafari

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

has been a feature of U-Roy's lyrics from his earliest singles to his latest album ''Pray Fi Di People''. Beckford's second single "Rightful Ruler" (1969) opens with a profession of Rastafari faith given in the Ethiopian language

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

Kibir amlak (Glory to Jah) Qedamawi ras fetari (First creator) Qedamawi iyesus kristos (Holy Jesus Christ) Lebdama mabrak isad Tenayistilgn (Greetings)

His "Joyful Locks" (1975) is a DJ version of

Linval Thompson Leval Alphonso Thompson (born 12 October 1954, Kingston, Jamaica), also known as Linval Thompson, is a Jamaican conscious roots reggae vocalist, dub musician and record producer. Biography Thompson was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, but spent ti ...

's "Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks"; an encouragement to others to keep their dreadlocks and to "let it grow". The original song and U-Roy's DJ version both allude to the biblical

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

who as a Nazarite was expected to make certain religious vows including the ritual treatment of his hair as described in Chapter Six of the

Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

Death

Beckford's death was confirmed on 17 February 2021 when his partner, Marcia Smikle, told the Jamaican newspaper ''

The 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 ...

''.

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 ...

was also informed about his death. While no cause of death was made public at the time, he suffered from diabetes, hypertension, and problems with his kidneys prior to his death, and had been undergoing surgery at the hospital.

Legacy

Beckford was preceded by the toasters

and

Sir Lord Comic Sir Lord Comic is one of the original Jamaican deejays. Biography His career began as a dancer with the ''Admiral Dean'' sound system.Larkin, Colin:"The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", 1998, Virgin Books, In the late 1950s, following the lead ...

who themselves were influenced by the ''

jive talk Jive talk, also known as Harlem jive or simply Jive, the argot of jazz, jazz jargon, vernacular of the jazz world, slang of jazz, and parlance of hip is an African-American Vernacular English slang or vocabulary that developed in Harlem, where "jiv ...

'' of the US

disc jockeys A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile D ...

that they heard on American radio stations whose broadcasts reached the Caribbean. Beckford was the first toaster to popularize the form through a series of successful releases on the Duke Reid label gaining a wider audience for toasting. This approach to production and the remixing of previously recorded tracks with a new vocal influenced the early

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

pioneers. Kool Herc states:

"Hip-hop….the whole chemistry of that came from Jamaica…..In Jamaica all you needed was a drum and a bass. So what I did was go right to the ‘yoke’. I cut off all the anticipation and just played the beats. I’d find out where the break in the record was and prolonged it and people would love it. So I was giving them their own taste and beat percussion wise….cause my music is all about heavy bass."

Many internationally known dancehall deejays have acknowledged U-Roy as an influence on their careers, including

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

and

Shabba Ranks Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon OD (born 17 January 1966), better known by his stage name Shabba Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throu ...

Album discography

*''Version Galore'' (1970) *''Version Galore Vol. 2'' (1972) *''U Roy'' (1974) *'' Dread in a Babylon'' (1975) – produced by Prince Tony Robinson *''Natty Rebel'' (1976) *''The Best of U Roy'' (1976) *''Right Time Rockers-The Lost Album'' (1976) *''African Roots'' (1976) *''Rasta Ambassador'' (1977) *''Jah Son of Africa'' (1978) *''With Words of Wisdom'' (1979) *''The Originator'' (1980) *''Love Gamble'' (1980) *''Line Up and Come'' (1986) *'' Music Addict'' (1987) - produced by Prince Jazzbo *''True Born African'' (1991) – produced by

Mad Professor Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser (born 27 March 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) known by his stage-name Mad Professor, is a British dub music producer, engineer and remixer. He has collaborated with reggae artists Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and Robbie, ...

*''Smile a While'' (1993) – produced by Mad Professor *''Babylon Kingdom Must Fall'' (1996) – produced by Mad Professor *''Reggae Live Sessions Vol-1'' (1998) *''Serious Matter'' (2000) *''Now'' (2001) – produced by Guillaume Bougard/Pierre Simonin *''Rebel in Styylle'' (2005) – Mediacom *''Old School/New Rules'' (2007) – produced by Mad Professor *''Pray Fi Di People'' (2012) – produced by Ewart Beckford *''Talking Roots'' (2018) – produced by Mad Professor *''Solid Gold U-Roy'' (2021) *''Dread In A Africa U-Roy'' (2022) Jamaican Art Records *''The Deejay Battle: Sly & Robbie vs. Roots Radics feat. Big Youth'' (2023) Serious Reggae

References

External links

Smokeyroom's Version Galore
* U-Roy biographyat the

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 ...

website *
''Natty Rebel'' (1976) Nigerian release at Discogs"Joyful Locks" (1975) Bunny Lee production at DiscogsU-Roy Live & Interview"Heavy Duty" (2016) at Spotify
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uroy 1942 births 2021 deaths Jamaican Rastafarians Jamaican reggae musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Performers of Rastafarian music Recipients of the Order of Distinction Trojan Records artists Treasure Isle (record label) artists Former Seventh-day Adventists Converts to the Rastafari movement Jamaican former Christians Virgin Records artists