R.I.P. Vivian Jackson aka Yabby You

Last tuesday, january 12, one of the most important artist in the history of reggae passed away. Vivian Jackson, better know as Yabby You, created some of the heaviest roots around, filled with spirituality, creating a massive following among reggae lovers. His masterpiece Conquering Lion (released in 1976 on the Prophet label) is a must-have, just like King Tubby's Prophecy of Dub and the Jesus Dread compilation on the Blood & Fire label. Big up Mr Jackson, may YOU rest in peace....................

Check the obituary on the exclaim website here.

R.I.P NORMAN WHITFIELD

Legendary producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield died on september 16th at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 67 years of age. Whitfield had struggled for months with complications from diabetes, and his prognosis had been day-to-day for several weeks. He had recently emerged from a coma. With collaborator Barrett Strong — himself in a Detroit hospital recovering from a stroke — Whitfield co-wrote many of Motown’s biggest hits, including its single most successful song, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” recorded by Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips. (source: freep)

Norman Whitfield first came to my attention listening to the Impressions' "Pyschedelic Shack" lp. The song that most notably "did it" for me on this album is called "Take a stroll through your mind," an epic, psychedelic and ganja flavoured musical epos, clocking in well over 8 eight minutes. Surely, that was not something I expected to hear from a Motown group with sweet hits to their name such as "It's allright", but dammit, this song struck me! It got to me big time and I just kept playing it over and over again. Soon I discovered that it was the producer, not the group, who was responsible for my newly beloved sound and I found myself digging for more of those psychedelic Norman Whitfield productions. Some were good, some were great and some dazzled me: I still remember the day my fellow Lock it Down writer Elephant Soundz put on the Jackson 5 version of "Hum along and dance" for me, which simply left me in awe...

Although certainly not all his productions are my cup of tea, Rose Royce's "car wash", for instance, is really a step too far for me, but it is without doubt that Norman Whitfield was a true talent. One of the kind that don't come up too often. A remarkable sound originator, a very gifted songwriter and, on a more personal level, one of the few producers who managed to create a signature sound that keeps me digging for more and more. His musical input is still greatly appreciated over here at Lock it Down. Think I'm gonna play the Velvelettes' "Needle in a haystack" some more....or "Ball of Confusion" or "Cloud Nine" or...

Producer Joe Gibbs dead at 65

From the Jamaica Gleaner:

RECORD producer Joel 'Joe Gibbs' Gibson, whose partnership with singer Dennis Brown yielded a string of hit songs during the 1970s, died last Thursday at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
Gibbs' son, Rocky, told The Gleaner that his father died shortly after suffering a heart attack. He was 65 years old.
The Montego Bay-born Gibbs began producing on his Amalgamated label in the 1960s. His first major hit was singer Roy Shirley's Hold Them, but it was in the next decade that Gibbs really hit his stride.
Brown, a former prodigy, cut a series of songs for Gibbs that were rarely off the charts. These included Money In My Pockets, Should I, Stay at Home, Love Has Found Its Way and How Could I Live.
Other productions
Gibbs also produced Culture's massive Two Sevens Clash, George Nooks' Tribal War and Althea and Donna's Uptown Top Ranking which made the British pop charts in 1977. His last major hit was singer J.C. Lodge's Someone Loves You Honey, a song originally done by African-American country singer Charlie Pride.
Bass player Lloyd Parkes was a senior member of Gibbs' house band, The Professionals. He said while Gibbs was an astute businessman, he was not the great producer many believed.
"I would call him an executive producer, most of the production was done by Errol Thompson and the musicians," Parkes said.
Thompson was the engineer at Gibbs' Retirement Road studio. He died in 2004.
Gibbs is survived by 11 children.

LUCKY DUBE SHOT DEAD

Reggae musician Lucky Dube was shot dead in a hijacking yesterday in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, South Africa, police say.

The report of the singer's death was published yesterday by the Independent online, an Internet-based news site.

Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht, who reported on the incident, told the news site that the incident took place around 8.20 p.m. when Dube was driving a blue Polo in the Johannesburg suburb.

The report was also carried by the BBC World Service last night.

The Independent online story reported Captain Engelbrecht as saying that the Rastafarian singer was dropping off his son in the area when he was attacked.

"His son was already out of the car. When he saw what was happening, he ran to ask for help," the Independent online said.

Lucky Dube, who said he was inspired by late Reggae star Peter Tosh, last performed in Jamaica at the Cricket World Cup opening ceremony at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

Dube, who was born in Johannesburg on August 3, 1964, was named 'Lucky' as he was born in poor health and doctors thought he would die, according to Wikipedia.

But Dube survived and went on to become a front-line artist in the reggae genre.

May he rest in peace

source: Jamaican Gleaner

R.I.P. JOSEPH HILL

Reggae legend and Culture frontman Joseph Hill is no longer with us. Joseph suddenly took ill and passed away in Berlin Germany on the morning of August 19, 2006 while the group were in the middle of a European tour. Hill (born: January 22, 1949) enjoyed a lengthy career in reggae music and will be greatly missed by both fans and peers. The group plans to finish its current European tour and honor all other commitments with Joseph's son Kenyatta standing in on lead vocals as a tribute to his father. In coming days additional information will be posted on this website and Culture's website and Guestbook entries can be made here

R.I.P: RUDDY THOMAS

Jamaican music lost another of its stalwarts on Saturday night when Ruddy Thomas collapsed on stage while performing as part of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission show in Portland.

"He was performing his hit song "Loving Pauper" and in the middle of the song he collapsed," Boris Gardiner, Thomas' friend of many years and himself a veteran musician, told the Jamaican Observer saturday night.

Read more here

R.I.P. FAZA NELLY

Sad news from Tanzania where Faza Nelly, one of the founding members of Tanzanian rap group X Plastaz, passed away. Nelly had been admitted to hospital with wounds inflicted by a knife that a psychotic neighbour had used to attack him. Doctors had hope of curing him, but the damage to his lungs proved too severe.

In his travel with the group he got to see different parts of the world such as Belgium, UK and Brazil. He was booked to perform in Gabon (West-central Africa) in early June, and a music video featuring him rapping on top of the holy mountain of the Maasai (the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai) was about to be released in Tanzania along with the new single 'Hiyo' which is also on the new Kunta Kinte Clothing mixtape (see the X Plastaz Myspace page for audio).

In Memoriam: Raymond "Ray" Barretto

Drummer and bandleader: born New York 29 April 1929; married 1978 Brandy Rivera (three sons, one daughter); died Hackensack, New Jersey 17 February 2006.

Ray Barretto, the towering Puerto Rican percussionist who straddled the occasionally conflicting worlds of salsa and Latin jazz during a career that spanned more than half a century, died Friday. He was 76.

Barretto, who had asthma, was hospitalized last month in New Jersey, where it was discovered he had suffered a heart attack. He was also treated for pneumonia and later underwent quadruple bypass surgery. His condition suddenly worsened because of unspecified complications, according to longtime friend and family spokesman George Rivera, who declined to state a cause of death. "He fought to the bitter end," Rivera said. "There was never any doubt in his mind that he was going to play again. If he could survive, he was going to play, because that was his mission in life." (www.LAtimes.com).

ESSENTIAL RECORDING: Acid (Fania, 1968)

Tracklist: El Nuevo Barretto; Mercy, Mercy Baby; Acid; A Deeper Shade of Soul; The Soul Drummers; Sola Te Dejare; Teacher of Love; Espiritu Libre.

Produced by Jerry Masucci & Harvey Averne

Listen HERE to Ray's Soul Drummers on the Home of the Groove blogspot!

R.I.P. BRENT DOWE

BRENT DOWE, lead singer of one of the harmony trio The Melodians, which also includes Tony Brevette and Trevor McNaughton, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack shortly before daybreak yesterday.

Reports are that Dowe, who appeared to be in good health, fell ill at his Hughenden, St. Andrew, home yesterday.

One of the most memorable of many hits which he sang lead on was Rivers of Babylon, the adaptation of a Psalm which was included on the soundtrack of the 1972 film Harder They Come.

Dowe also sang lead on the songs Little Nut Tree, Swing And Dine and You Have Caught Me.

source: jamaican gleaner