Earl Anthony Johnson (born 1953), better known as Earl Zero, is a
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
singer whose career began in the 1970s. He is the uncle of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
Born 1953 in the Greenwich Town area of Kingston, Johnson was the eldest of ten children, his father a
fisherman
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...
and his mother a
fishmonger
A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, me ...
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, retrieved 2011-01-02 Zero began his career in the 1970s, first as a member of the group Rush-It with his childhood friend
Earl "Chinna" Smith
Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...
, who recorded for producer
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 ...
, who gave him the name 'Earl Zero' to distinguish him from Smith.Katz, David (2003) ''Solid Foundation: an Oral History of Reggae'', Bloomsbury, , p. 140, 211Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 324 His recording of his song "None Shall Escape the Judgement" went unreleased but it was a hit for
Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke (born 12 January 1955) is a Jamaican reggae musician, best known for his recordings with producer Bunny Lee in the 1970s.
Biography
Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town and attended Jamaica College.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 186 and Zero first had success as a singer himself with the
Al Campbell
Alphonso "Al" Campbell (born 31 August 1954) is a Jamaican reggae singer active since the late 1960s.
Biography
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Campbell's singing career began in church, where his father was a preacher, and Al would sing to raise f ...
-produced "Righteous Works" in 1975. He recorded for Don Mais' Roots Tradition label (recording "Home Sweet Home" and "I No Lie"), and joined
Tommy Cowan
Tommy Cowan CD (born Thomas Lincoln Cowan, 6 April 1946, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica) is a producer and singer, initially working in reggae but later concentrating on gospel, who has been involved in the music business since the 1960s.Brooks, Sade ...
's Talent Corporation roster, and had further success with "Please Officer" and "City of the Weak Heart", released on Cowan's Arab label, the latter also recorded by Jacob Miller on his ''Killer Miller'' album. In 1976 he moved on to work with Bertram Brown, recording "Get Happy", and again recorded with Campbell on "Heart Desire". He continued recording through the late 1970s, recording with
Soul Syndicate
Soul Syndicate, originally called the Rhythm Raiders, were one of the top reggae session bands in Jamaica from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.
History
In the first half of the 1970s the band from the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston recorded ...
. His first two albums, ''Visions of Love'' and ''In the Right Way'', were released in 1979.
In 1979 he relocated to northern
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and continued to record since, with several albums released.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 98 His latest album is ''Marketplace'', to be released in Spring 2011 with producer Siahvash Dowlatshahi. The album features members of the
Roots Radics
The Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. They were joined by many musicians, including guitarist Noel "Sowell" Bailey, Dwight Pinkney ...
,
The Greyboy Allstars
The Greyboy Allstars are an American soul-jazz band from San Diego, California, United States, whose current members include Karl Denson on Saxophone, Robert Walter on Keys, Mike Andrews (under the pseudonym Elgin Park) on guitar, Chris Stillwe ...
, The Devastators and others.
Discography
*''Visions of Love'' (1979), Epiphany
*''In the Right Way'' aka ''Only Jah Can Ease the Pressure'' (1979), Freedom Sounds/Student
*''Roots & Romance'' (2007)
*''And God Said to Man'' (2009), A-Lone
*''Marketplace'' (2011), Foreign Key Records
*''Earl Zero Meets Sideway' 'Big Fisherman In Dub' (2020), Sideway Outernational Records