Roy Anthony Cousins (born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer, producer, and record label owner, known for being lead singer and co creator of The Royals, his productions of artists such as

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

Prince Far I Prince Far I (23 March 1945 – 15 September 1983) was a Jamaican reggae deejay and producer, and a Rastafarian. He was known for his gruff voice and critical assessment of the Jamaican government. His track "Heavy Manners" used lyrics about ...

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

, Winston Francis,

Earl Sixteen Earl Sixteen (b. Earl John Daley, 9 May 1958, Kingston, Jamaica)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , p. 152 is a reggae singer whose career began in the mid-1970s. Biography Daley grew up in Waltham ...

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Junior Reid Delroy "Junior" Reid (born 6 June 1963) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician, best known for his featuring on the songs " One Blood", " It's Okay (One Blood)" and "This Is Why I'm Hot", as well as being the lead vocalist for Black Uhuru ...

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedri ...

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, Ken Parker,

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and

Cornell Campbell Cornel Campbell aka Don Cornel or Don Gorgon (born 23 November 1945 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae singer, best known for his trademark falsetto voice, and his recordings at Studio One in the late 1960s and his later work with Bunny Lee i ...

, and his record labels, Uhuru, Tamoki, Wambesi, Dove & Tamoki-Wambesi/Tamoki Wambesi Dove.

Biography

Cousins worked for the Jamaican Post Office for many years after he left school, and had formed his first vocal group in 1962, to attend the Junior Festival Competition. In 1965 he formed a vocal group, initially known as The Tempests, and later as The Royals. Frustrated with his dealings with record labels, he started his own Uhuru label in 1971. This soon folded, but he returned with the Tamoki label in 1972 and the Wambesi label in 1974. He also began producing other artists, including

Gregory Isaacs Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...

' "Way of Life" in 1974, which established the singer as a star. In June 1977, Cousins left his Post Office job to concentrate full-time on music, resulting in 1978's '' Pick Up The Pieces'' album, a collection of tracks from Royals 1970s singles, which is now considered one of the great reggae albums. Its success led to a contract with Ballistic Records, licensed to

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

, with two further Royals albums following. Cousins-produced dub albums also appeared (''Freedom Fighters Dub'' and ''Liberated Dub''). In 1979,

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

s almost led to Cousins losing his sight, and after recovering, he began to concentrate on production, introducing the

deejay 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 a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

Charlie Chaplin with a series of LPs, and producing artists such as Cornell Campbell,

Earl 16 Earl Sixteen (b. Earl John Daley, 9 May 1958, Kingston, Jamaica)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , p. 152 is a reggae singer whose career began in the mid-1970s. Biography Daley grew up in Waltham ...

, Naggo Morris, and

. Cousins produced Prince Far I's final album in 1983, ''Umkhonto We Sizwe'', the chanter being fatally shot before it was finished. This prompted Cousins to emigrate to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England, where he set up a record shop, Cousins Cove, and continues to release records on his Tamoki-Wambesi and Dove labels, both from his back-catalogue, and new recordings of visiting Jamaican artists. Another classic Cousins-produced track from this era is "Skanky Producer" which features the DJ Charlie Chaplin and Black Uhuru singers Don Carlos and Junior Reid.

References

External links

Roy Cousins at Roots ArchivesRoy Cousins productions at ReggaeIDRoy Cousins at discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Roy 1949 births Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican record producers Jamaican reggae musicians Living people