Beverleys production

musicology #536

Jamaica #16

(The Wailers – Caution)

FAR too nice a day out there to spend it slaving over a hot keyboard so I’ll keep it brief..Today’s cut is one from the stable of the Kong Brothers whose Beverley’s Label was an important part of Jamaican recording history from the earliest days of Ska right through to Leslie Kong’s death in 1971.

The arrangements were mainly in the hands of Derrick Morgan and Roland Alphonso with most of the musicians moonlighting from Tommy McCook’s band the Supersonics who together with the Bunny Lee All Stars and The Sound Dimension pretty much played on everything that came out of the Studios in Jamaica. Not sure if they have all been namechecked yet on the theme so I’ll do it here.

The Supersonics were made up of Jackie Jackson, Gladstone Anderson, Theo Beckford, Lynn Tait, Hux Brown, Ronnie Bop, Douggie Bryan, Paul Douglas, Drumbago, Hugh Malcolm and the man cited by many as the cat who gave Reggae it’s defining character Organist supreme Winston Wright.

The vocals on today’s cut are provided by a vocal group we are all familiar with, (if only by name), The Wailers featuring, (of course), Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. One of my favourites of theirs from the period..Thankfully they require no background information so I’ll just let the music speak.Enough…I’m gone to soak up the sunrays..

musicology #382

Modernist #10

(Derrick & Patsy – Housewife’s Choice)

Sticking with the Jamaican selection with a next piece that was spun back in the day. The quote below from a cat named Ian Hebditch confirms conversations about them days that I have had with a good friend of mine’s Dad, (hold this one Don), who is Jamaican, born in 1947 and was there on the London scene at the time in question.

“There was a great degree of respect between the Mods and the West Indian Community. I personally found that. Within the Mod movement I don’t recollect any element of racism at all and by racism I mean anti-black feeling”.

Many a reason for this but one I would like to add is that in my experience Jamaicans have much of the mod/ernist attitude. Confident, Proud, Defiant, Dynamic are all attributes I have come across in my friends and their familys over the years and often have I witnessed this being interpreted as them having ‘a chip on their shoulder’ a misinterpretation that lingers on to this day.

Today’s cut is a 1962 slice from early Ska proponent Derrick Morgan in combination with a female singer by the name of Patsy Todd and I’ll leave it to Johnny Spencer to give you the details of the cut, a picture of the label and an informative piece of writing on it here on his magnificent project