Black Ark Studio
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Black Ark Studio
The Black Ark was the recording studio of reggae and dub producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, built in 1973 and located behind his family's home in the Washington Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica. Despite the rudimentary set-up and dated equipment, it was nonetheless the breeding ground for some of Jamaica's most innovative sounds and recording techniques in the latter half of the 1970s. Innovative musical techniques From a technological standpoint, the Black Ark was at the low end in comparison to the international music recording standards of its day. The studio's legendary reputation stems from the innovative production techniques employed by Perry to create sounds that baffled his contemporaries, and which have continued to be a source of amazement to later generations of music producers. An example of Perry's inventive style was his ability to overdub layers of sound effects and instrumentation on each recording track of a basic 4-track machine, with such precise t ...
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Junior Byles
Kenneth Byles (born 2 February 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica), also known as "Junior Byles", "Chubby", or "King Chubby", is a Jamaican reggae singer.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, Biography The Versatiles Named after his father Kenneth Snr, Kenneth Byles Jr. was born at Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, and grew up in the city's Jonestown ghetto, where his father worked as a mechanic, and his mother as a schoolteacher.Junior Byles Biography
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Katz, David (2000), ''People Funny Boy – The Genius of Lee "Scratch" Perry'', Payback ...
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Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in 1971 by former The Beatles, Beatle bassist Paul McCartney, his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards, session drummer Denny Seiwell, and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. Wings were noted for their commercial successes, musical eclecticism and frequent personnel changes; going through three lead guitarists and four drummers. However, the core trio of the McCartneys and Laine remained intact throughout the group's existence. Created following the McCartneys' 1971 album ''Ram (album), Ram'', the band's first two albums, ''Wild Life (Wings album), Wild Life'' (1971) and ''Red Rose Speedway'' (1973) (the latter featuring guitarist Henry McCullough), were viewed as artistic disappointments beside Paul's work with the Beatles. After the release of Live and Let Die (song), the title track of the James Bond film ''Live and Let Die (film), Live and Let Die'', McCullough and Seiwell resigned from the band. The McCartneys a ...
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Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring styles ranging from pre–rock and roll pop to classical and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon remains the most successful in history. Born in Liverpool, McCartney taught himself piano, guitar and songwriting as a teenager, having been influenced by his father, a jazz player, and rock and roll performers such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly. He began his career when he joined Lennon's skiffle group, the Quarrymen, in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the cute Beatle", McCartney later invo ...
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The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon. Headon left the group in 1982 due to internal friction surrounding his increasing heroin addiction. Further internal friction led to Jones' departure the following year. The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986. The Clash achieved critical and commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their self-titled debut album, ''The Clash'' (1977) and their second album, ''Give 'Em Enough ...
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Dub Music
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.2 Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, emphasis of the rhythm section (the stripped-down drum-and-bass track is sometimes referred to as a riddim), and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.Michael Veal (2013)''Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae'', pages 26-44, "Electronic Music in Jamaica" Wesleyan University Press Dub was pioneered by recording engineers and producers such as Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Errol Thompson and others beginning in the late ...
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Negril (album)
''Negril'' is an album released in 1975 from a session produced, arranged, and almost entirely composed by guitarist Eric Gale. It includes some of Jamaica's best-known musicians of the time. The album expresses Gale's fondness for the beach and natural beauty of the Jamaican seaside village Negril, which became a popular destination for tourists. Session and first release ''Negril'' was recorded at the Harry J Studio in Kingston, Jamaica. It was released in Jamaica by Micron Music, co-owned by executive producer Michael Johnston, and in the UK by Klik Records. Gale was under contract with CTI Records, so he could not be identified as the session leader. CTI's founder, Creed Taylor, approved of Gale's participation because the cover lists him "courtesy of C.T.I." and publishing credit is listed on the label as "Creede (sic) Taylor Inc". The album incorrectly attributes session leader to drummer Sparrow Martin and songwriting to "Eric Gayle." Re-releases In 1992, ''Negril'' was ...
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Eric Gale
Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. ''Early life and career'' Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, Gale grew up in a diverse household. His paternal grandfather was from Yorkshire, England. He had extended family in Barbados and Venezuela. Gale often visited the U.K. and Venezuela as an adolescent, which influenced his style into adulthood. He was fluent in Spanish. Gale started playing the guitar at age 12. At that time, he skipped junior high school. Soon after, in high school, he visited John Coltrane's home after school and sat in on jam sessions, which inspired Gale's readily recognizable style. Gale received his Master of Science in chemistry at Niagara University. He was also on the football team. Later, Gale was pursued by Frank Sinatra to work on the hit song "My Way", as mentioned in Frank Sinatra's autobiography. Gale decided to pursue a musical career full-time instead of getting his Ph.D. in Chemis ...
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Jah Lloyd
Jah Lloyd, aka Jah Lion, The Black Lion of Judah, and Jah Ali (born Patrick Lloyd Francis, 29 August 1947, died 12 June 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer, deejay and producer. Biography Francis was born in Point Hill, Saint Catherine Parish in 1947.Katz, David (1999) "Obituary: Pat Francis The sound of dub and Rastafarian praise in Jamaican", ''The Guardian'', 26 June 1999 His mother died when he was eight, and he lived with his father, a farmer. After leaving school at the age of twelve he moved to Kingston and settled in Trench Town. Francis began his career in the mid-1960s as a singer in The Mediators along with Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson, and worked as a solo singer with tracks such as "Soldier Round the Corner" and "Know Yourself Blackman" recorded for producer Rupie Edwards.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, In the early 1970s, he worked as a record salesman before turning to production, recording the early efforts by Simpson's new ...
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Augustus Pablo
Horace Swaby (21 June 1953 – 18 May 1999),Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 200-202 known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer and a multi-instrumentalist, active from the 1970s until his death. He popularised the use of the melodica (an instrument at that time primarily used in Jamaica to teach music to schoolchildren) in reggae music. His album ''King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown'' (1976) is often regarded as one of the most important examples of dub. Biography He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, and learned to play the organ at the Kingston College School, where a girl lent him a melodica, an instrument that fascinated him. He also met Herman Chin Loy, who after working at his cousin Leslie Kong's Beverley's record shop, had set up his own Aquarius store in Half Way Tree. Swaby recorded early tracks including "Higgi Higgi", "East of the River Nile", "Song of the East" and "The Red Sea" between 1 ...
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The Heptones
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady into reggae with their three-part harmonies. The Heptones were contemporaries of the Wailers and the Maytals, and every bit their equal in the mid-1960s. History Leroy Sibbles, Earl Morgan and Barry Llewellyn first came together as "The Hep Ones" in 1965 in Kingston, but they soon changed their name to "The Heptones". The name was chosen by Morgan after seeing a Heptones Tonic bottle lying in a pile of refuse.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 114 The Heptones recorded for major Jamaican record producers at the time. They began their career, after one unsuccessful single for Ken Lack's "K Calnek" label, under the watchful eye of Coxsone Dodd of Studio One. The Heptones had a number of Jamaican hits f ...
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Mighty Diamonds
The Mighty Diamonds were a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and were best known for their 1976 debut album, '' Right Time'', produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, and the 1979 release, ''Deeper Roots''. On March 29, 2022, their lead singer, Donald "Tabby" Shaw, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting. On April 1, 2022, Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson died. History Formed in 1969 in the Trenchtown area of Kingston, the group comprised lead vocalist Donald "Tabby" Shaw, and harmony vocalists Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson and Lloyd "Judge" Ferguson.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 196-7Huey, SteveThe Mighty Diamonds Biography, '' AllMusic'', retrieved 17 September 2012 They had become friends at school in the mid-1960s, and were originally called The Limelight, adopting 'Mighty Diamonds' after Shaw's mother started referring to them as "the diamonds".Kenner, Rob (1995)Boomshots, '' ...
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