Byron Lee ,
, ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 October 2008. born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee (27 June 1935 – 4 November 2008), was a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n musician, record producer, and entrepreneur, best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.Katz, David (2003), ''Solid Foundation: an Oral History of Reggae'', Bloomsbury,

Biography

Lee was born in Christiana, Manchester Parish, Jamaica, to a mixed-race Chinese-Jamaican mother, Evelyn Chung, and a Chinese father, Oscar Lee, a language teacher originally from

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

, Hong Kong. The family moved to the Mountain View Gardens area of

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

when Lee was around 8 or 9 years old. He learned to play piano at a convent school in Mandeville, but put music on hold when he was selected to the

Jamaica national football team The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "''Reggae Boyz''", represents Jamaica in men's international Association football, football. The team's first match was against Haiti national football team, Haiti in 1925. The squad is under ...

. He taught himself to play bass on a homemade instrument, and around 1950, along with his friend Carl Brady, he formed the first incarnation of the Dragonaires, named after the college football team that they played for, at that time concentrating on mento.Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, The band turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, soca, and Mas. Byron Lee is known to have introduced the electric bass guitar to Jamaica in late 1959 or 1960. However, the reason Lee began to use the electric bass as opposed to the double bass had nothing to do with sound. Rather, it was a way for Lee to avoid carrying the large and heavy double bass to the truck to move from gig to gig. The bass guitar gained popularity throughout the country and soon became the standard. The electric bass's louder, clearer, and more in-your-face sound soon changed the sound of Jamaican music entirely, especially after Skatalites bassist Lloyd Brevett took a liking to it. He and his band, The Dragonaires, are featured in the first

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

movie, '' Dr. No'', set in and around Kingston, Jamaica in 1962. They are prominently seen, playing "Jamaica Jump Up" on the bandstand at Pussfeller's calypso bar. Lee also worked as a producer, producing many of the

singles by The Maytals, and his entrepreneurial skills led to him setting up the ''Byron Lee's Spectacular Show'' tour, which involved several Jamaican acts (including The Maytals) touring the Caribbean. He also became the head of distribution in Jamaica for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Lee purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios from

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician and record producer. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.

after fire had destroyed the pressing plant on the same site, and renamed it

Dynamic Sounds West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) was a recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, established by future Prime Minister Edward Seaga in 1958. As he increasingly focused on his political career he sold the studio to Byron Lee in 1964, who renamed it Dyn ...

, soon having a new pressing facility built on the site. It soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, who recorded their famous song " Angie" there. Lee's productions included

Boris Gardiner Boris Gardiner (born 13 January 1943) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist. He was a member of several groups during the 1960s before recording as a solo artist and having hit singles with " Elizabethan Reggae" (in 1970), " I Wan ...

's ''Reggae Happening'',

Hopeton Lewis Hopeton Lewis (3 October 1947 – 4 September 2014) was a Jamaican born singer of rocksteady and reggae, an arranger, and radio music presenter. Biography Lewis was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He sang in church from an early age, and started ...

's ''Grooving Out on Life'', and

The Slickers The Slickers were a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae group in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Slickers centred on Derrick Crooks, one of the founding members of The Pioneers along with his brother Sydney. In the mid-1960s, The Slickers consis ...

' "Johnny Too Bad". Dynamic also acts as one of Jamaica's leading record distributors. In 1990, Lee inaugurated what became an annual event, Jamaica Carnival, held on Constant Spring Road, and attended by hundreds of thousands of people that united the "uptown" and "downtown" residents of Kingston, an event that Lee called "the happiest moment in my life".O'Brien Chang, Kevin, & Chen, Wayne (1998), ''Reggae Routes'', Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, Ellington, Barbara (2007)
The Dragon dances for God
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the Western Hemisphere. Original ...

'', 24 June 2007. Lee had performed with the Dragonaires at carnivals around the Caribbean since the mid-1970s, and chose the location for the carnival to attract revellers from all of Jamaica's classes, stating: "The biggest problem was that most Jamaicans said it wouldn't work, that it isn't a carnival country, but I persisted 'cause I believed in it. I wanted carnival to go to the public. You always had other carnivals that were held mostly indoor, where persons had to pay to get in. I went to the people and choose Half-Way Tree where uptown and downtown meet. That is where the route will remain".Henry, Krista (2008)
Carnival has its day in the sun
, ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 30 March 2008. In the early days of ska, Lee was credited in taking it from the ghettos and giving it appeal among Jamaica's "uptown" middle and upper classes. He has also been credited with taking soca in the opposite direction, popularising a genre that had previously only been enjoyed in Jamaica among the upper classes, with the island's working class. Lee missed the Jamaica Carnival in 2007 as he was receiving treatment for

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...

after having surgery in Florida, and no longer appeared on stage with the Dragonaires, although he was still involved in the band's management, and was involved with the festival again in 2008.Edwards, Michael A. (2007)
Byron 'the Dragon' Lee's new fire
", ''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 22 June 2007 A concert was held in his honour on 30 June 2007, to celebrate his 50 years in the music industry, with artists performing including fellow cancer survivors Myrna Hague and

Pluto Shervington Leighton Keith "Pluto" Shervington (13 August 1950 – 19 January 2024) was a Jamaican reggae musician, singer, audio engineer, and record producer. Life and career Leighton Keith Shervington was born in Saint Andrew Parish, Kingston, Jamaica ...

. Proceeds went to the Jamaica Cancer Society. Lee was awarded the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Ac ...

in 1982, upgraded to Commander level on 15 October 2007, in recognition of his "contribution in the fields of Music and Entertainment both locally and internationally".

Death

In October 2008, after receiving treatment for several weeks in Florida, Lee returned to spend his final days in Jamaica. In a ceremony at the University Hospital of the West Indies on 26 October 2008, he was awarded the Order of Jamaica (OJ). Lee died from

in Kingston on 4 November 2008, aged 73. In a statement on the day of Lee's death, the Prime Minister of Jamaica,

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to ...

, said: "Jamaica, and indeed the world, has lost another great music pioneer with the passing this morning of Byron Lee, one of the greatest band leaders ever to grace the entertainment stages of the world".Jamaica Has Lost Another Great Music Pioneer With the Passing of Byron Lee... Says PM Golding
", Office of the Prime Minister, 4 November 2008.

References

External links

Band web page
*Eder, Bruce " Byron Lee Biography, ''Allmusic'', Macrovision Corporation *
Byron Lee at Roots Archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Byron 1935 births 2008 deaths Musicians from Manchester Parish Deaths from bladder cancer Deaths from cancer in Jamaica Jamaican people of Chinese descent Jamaican record producers Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican ska musicians Jamaican soca musicians Jamaican calypsonians Reggae guitarists Rocksteady musicians Jamaican bandleaders Members of the Order of Jamaica Commanders of the Order of Distinction Hakka musicians VP Records artists