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 ...
vocalist and
bass player
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...
who has recorded and performed as a solo artist as well as part of Skin, Flesh & Bones,
The Revolutionaries
The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires") was a Jamaican reggae band.
Career
Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim, The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Bertram "Ranc ...
, The Professionals, and We the People Band.Larkin, Colin: ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', 1998, Virgin Books,
Biography
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Parks' interest in music was fuelled by his uncle Dourie Bryan, who played in a calypso band, and Parks became the band's singer.Shakespeare, Keisha (2006) Like father, like son ", '' Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 February 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2011 In the late 1960s, he performed with the Invincibles band (whose members also included
Ansell Collins
Ansel Collins is a Jamaican musician, composer, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Dave Barker as Dave and Ansel Collins.
Biography
Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica,Sly Dunbar and Ranchie McLean) before teaming up with Wentworth Vernal in The Termites.Campbell, Howard (2015) 40 years with Lloyd Parks and we the people , '' Jamaica Observer'', 26 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015 In 1967, they recorded their first single, "Have Mercy Mr. Percy", and then an album ''Do the Rocksteady'' for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label. After recording "Rub Up Push Up" for the Dampa label, Parks and Vernal split up. Parks then briefly joined The Techniques as a replacement for Pat Kelly, recording tracks such as "Say You Love Me", before embarking on a solo career and later starting his own label, Parks. His second single was the classic "Slaving", a moving song about the struggles of a working man. As a solo artist, he recorded a number of songs for Prince Tony Robinson, including "Trenchtown Girl" and "You Don't Care". Some of his best-known solo hits include "Officially", "Mafia" (both 1974), "Girl in the Morning" and "Baby Hang Up The Phone" (both 1975).
Parks was a studio bass player, backing many reggae artists, including
Justin Hinds
Justin Hinds (7 May 1942 – 16 March 2005) was a Jamaican ska vocalist, with his backing singers the Dominoes.
He is best known for his work with Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Records, where his most notable song, "Carry Go Bring Come" recorde ...
on
Duke Reid
Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and 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 Troja ...
's Treasure Isle label. He was a member of Skin, Flesh, and Bones along with
Ansell Collins
Ansel Collins is a Jamaican musician, composer, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Dave Barker as Dave and Ansel Collins.
Biography
Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica,Ranchie McLean on guitar. This group backed Al Brown on his hit "Here I am Baby", and many other artists. When Skin Flesh and Bones started playing for
Channel One Studios
Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica.Campbell, Howard (2014)Making magic at Channel One, ''Jamaica Observer'', 17 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014 The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and ...
, Parks renamed the band
The Revolutionaries
The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires") was a Jamaican reggae band.
Career
Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim, The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Bertram "Ranc ...
. Parks was also a member of
Joe Gibbs
Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and ...
' house band, The Professionals, performing hits such as
Althea & Donna
Althea & Donna were a Jamaican reggae vocal duo, consisting of Althea Rose Forrest and Donna Marie Reid. They are best known for their 1977 single " Uptown Top Ranking", which was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978.
Career
The Jama ...
's "Up Town Top Ranking", and in the 1970s he backed artists including
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...
,
The Abyssinians
The Abyssinians are a Jamaican roots reggae group, famous for their close harmonies and promotion of the Rastafari movement in their lyrics.
History
The vocal trio was originally formed in 1968 by Bernard Collins and Donald Manning. Their fir ...
Culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
,
Bim Sherman
, children = Chantelle Vincent, Rasiah Vincent
Jarret Lloyd Vincent (12 February 1950 – 17 November 2000), better known by one of his stage aliases Bim Sherman (others include Jarrett Tomlinson, Jarrett Vincent, Lloyd Vincent, J. L. ...
and
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 ...
.
In 1974, he founded the We the People Band, who backed
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...
on tour for over 20 years and have been regulars at the Reggae Sunsplash and
Reggae Sumfest
Reggae Sumfest is the largest music festival in Jamaica and the Caribbean, taking place each year in mid-July in Montego Bay.Johnson, Richard (2014)All Set for Sumfest, ''Jamaica Observer'', 8 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014 Sumfest started in 19 ...
festivals.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 316-7 The band also included singer
Ruddy Thomas
Ruddy Thomas (12 July 1951 – 10 June 2006) was a Jamaican reggae singer, musician, and recording engineer, who had his greatest successes as a singer in the late 1970s and early 1980s with lovers rock songs.
Biography
Thomas worked for produ ...
and a horn section of Tony Greene (saxophone), Everol Wray (trumpet), and Everald Gayle (trombone), and with the band continuing for over forty years, the line-up has included Parks' daughter Tamika on keyboards and his son Craig "Leftside" Parks on drums.
Parks' band also backed John Holt along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London in 2000.
In 2015 Parks recorded an album of songs originally recorded by the Techniques; ''Lloyd Parks Sings The Techniques'' is set for release in early 2016.Campbell, Howard (2015) Lloyd Parks’s new technique , '' Jamaica Observer'', 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015
Solo discography
* ''Officially'' (1974, Attack)
* ''Girl in the Morning'' (1975, Trojan)
* ''Loving You'' (1976, Trojan)
* ''Meet the people'' (1978, Parks)
* ''Jeans, Jeans'' (1985, Tad's)
* ''What More Can I Do'' (1983)
Compilations
* ''Still Officially Yours, The Collection 1970–2004'' (2005, Parks Records)
* ''Time A Go Dread'' (2016, Pressure Sounds)