Lloyd Coxsone (born Lloyd Blackford, c. 1945) 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-born sound system operator and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, who has been resident 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

since 1962.

Biography

Blackford was born in Morant Bay, Jamaica, c.1945, and moved to

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

, London in 1962.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 309Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 72-73 With his surname borrowed from one of Jamaica's leading sound system operators and producers,

Clement "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 ...

, Blackford operated his own Coxsone Sound system in London from 1965 through to the 1980s, gaining a residency in the 1970s at the Roaring Twenties club in

Carnaby Street Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques. S ...

. In the early 1970s he began working as a producer, having success with one of the early lovers rock hits,

Louisa Mark Louisa Lynthia Mark, also known as "Markswoman" (11 January 1960 – 17 October 2009), was a British lovers rock singer, best known for her work between the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Her 1975 single "Caught You in a Lie" is regarded as the f ...

's "Caught You in a Lie"; Coxsone is credited with paving the way for lovers rock by incorporating

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

records into his sound system sets.Clayton, Jace (2008) "Lovers rock", in ''Africana: the Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience'', Oxford University Press In the mid- and late-1970s he launched his own Safari, Tribesman and Outernational labels. Among his best-known works as a producer are two dub albums released in 1975 and 1982 - ''King of the Dub Rock'' and ''King of the Dub Rock part 2''.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 234 These mixed his own productions featuring musicians such as Matumbi with rhythms produced in Jamaica by Gussie Clarke, with the second album also featuring mixes by

Scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

. His other productions included the debut single by Levi Roots. Abbott, Diane (2007)
Jamaican cook tastes success in Britain
, '' Jamaica Observer'', 25 March 2007 In the mid-1980s, Coxsone took a back seat with his sound system, allowing younger men such as Blacker Dread to take a leading role. Coxsone went into semi-retirement in the late 1980s, but later returned to the sound system circuit with his Sir Coxsone the Outernational system.Davis, Barry (2002) "Arise and groove Sir Coxsone", '' Jerusalem Post'', 10 January 2002 He was paid tribute by

I-Roy Roy Samuel Reid (28 June 1942 – 27 November 1999), better known as I-Roy, was a Jamaican deejay who had a very prolific career during the 1970s. Biography Born in 1944 in Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, Reid graduated from Dinthill Technical C ...

on the single "Lloyd Coxsone Time".

Productions

*''King of the Dub Rock'' (1975), Safari *''King of the Dub Rock Part 2'' (1982), Tribesman *''12 the Hard Way'' (1989), Tribesman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxsone, Lloyd Living people Jamaican record producers Year of birth missing (living people)