Roland Alphonso

Roland Alphonso (Havana, Cuba, January 12, 1931 - Los Angeles, California, November 20, 1998) aka Rolando Alphonso or The Chief Musician was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist.

Alphonso came to Jamaica at the age of two with his Jamaican mother, and started to learn saxophone at the Stony Hill Industrial School.

In 1948 he left school to join Eric Deans’ orchestra and soon passed through other bands in the hotel circuit and first recorded as a member of Baba Motta’s group in 1952.

Around the mid 1950s, he joined the band of Cluett Johnson named Clue J & The Blues Blasters and backed many sessions of Coxsone Dodd in a typical Jamaican R&B style. By 1960, he was recording for many other producers such as Duke Reid, Lloyd “The Matador” Daley and King Edwards. During this period he played in many different bands, such as The Alley Cats, The City Slickers, and Aubrey Adams & The Dew Droppers. In 1963, after few months spent in Nassau, Bahamas, he took part in the creation of The Studio One Orchestra, the first session band of the freshly opened recording studio of Coxsone. This band soon adopted the name of The Skatalites.

When the Skatalites disbanded by August 1965, Alphonso formed the Soul Brothers (with Johnny “Dizzy” Moore, Jackie Mittoo) to become The Soul Vendors in 1967. He released the first album under his name in 1973 on the Studio One record label.

During the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, he kept on playing on numerous records coming out from Jamaican studios, especially for Bunny Lee, and he toured with many bands. He was awarded Officer of the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in 1980, and started to tour more often in the U.S. He took part in the reformation of the Skatalites in 1983, with whom he toured and recorded constantly until his death in 1998.

Rude Boy??

What is a rude boy? What is a rude girl? What does 'to be rude' mean? Today, it simply means that you're a dedicated member of the ska scene. If you have a good ska collection, if you dress up in a way that indicates that you like ska, if your style and taste makes it obvious to others that you're in with the ska, you are therefore 'rude' by the definition of ska crowd.

Where did the term come from? I recently spoke to Tommy McCook, the founder, leader and tenor saxophonist of the original ska band, the Skatalites. When I asked him about rude boys coming to Skatalites in the early Sixties, McCook said: "Actually in our tenure as the Skatalites, in the time of the ska music, we did not have any violence. We didn't have any rude boys, so to speak. The violence came around 1966. I remember when rock steady just came in, in late '65. Then in '66 violence broke out wickedly across the island, so much so that we had to have a curfew in Western and Eastern Kingston. So, that's when the rude boy thing came out."

The truth is that 'rudeness' and the original 'rude boys' had absolutely nothing to do with ska. The rude boy came AFTER ska music, during the time of rock steady! Rude boys were the name given to a subculture of young street corner hoodlums, gangsters and other unemployables. In emigrating to England, the rude boys helped spread Jamaican music to the working-class skinheads, another youth subculture. When the 2Tone sound of ska (the second wave of ska in the late Seventies) made it into the popular media, youth subculture changed with it. Today , a new American subculture revolves around the images of the 'rude boy' and 'skinhead.'

The rude boy was not the first subculture of Jamaica, but it was the first youth subculture. After independence in the early Sixties (which gave birth to the nationalist 'ska' music), over-population was putting extreme demands on the basics of life---housing, work and food. The response to these conditions was the start of a creation of a new subculture, unofficially called scufflers. Scuffling was just scrounging to get by, by any means necessary. This often meant involvement in the underground economy. Pimping and prostitution, begging and stealing became the unofficial economic activities in the shanty towns of West Kingston.

The squatter camps of Trenchtown and Back O'Wall existed on the fringe of the city since the Thirties, but population pressures enlarged them and a hurricane in 1951 allowed the squatters to capture nearby government land that was cleared for re-housing. People lived in packing crates, fish barrels, cardboard boxes and polystyrene packing pieces. Fire hydrants and open-air pit latrines supplied basic amenities. Living in these parts was a social stigma that guaranteed unemployment. Diseases of overcrowding---tuberculosis and typhoid---remained in the camps even though public health improvement in the 1930s put these in check elsewhere on the island.

By the Sixties, the economic boom of the 1950s was receding, the Trenchtown poor were no better off than before. Independence may have given a sense of optimism to the population. But a lack of any major change lead to riots and protest movements by the end of the decade. Within this decade, the sub-culture of the scuffling rude boy emerged. These rude boys defined their own personal style. These youths, boys from fourteen to twenty-five years, carried German ratchet knives and handguns. They came from all over West Kingston. With deteriorating living conditions, these rude boys were, above all, angry.

They wore sharp 3-button tonic suits and "stingy brim," or pork-pie hats, in imitation of the upper-classes. The gangster image and sunglasses at all hours gave them a facade of 'cool,' a new and distinctly modern value. If you lived in Trenchtown and scuffled for a living, dressing in this manner would certainly bring attention from neighbors, and suspicion from the upper classes.

According to the Jamaican census of 1960, over one-third of the entire population were unemployed and looking for their first job, about 10,000 people. On the other hand, 70% were under the age of 21, from where the rude boys came.

First at the blues dances of the Fifties and later at the outdoor sound systems of the Sixties, it was the rude boys who would draw the knives and guns first, smash bottles for no particular reason, and cause fear when the pressure would heat up at the events. They would inspire a whole sub-genre within ska music---rude boy songs---which would either condone or condemn them.

Either way, the rude boys were a strong presence on the scene in Jamaica, and a popular image that followed the music. You can translate music, style and attitude from country to country, you can even translate class-standing nationally, but for the very specific economic, political and social forces that made the rude boys truly rude, these things can not be copied.

The 2Tone (ska revival) movement in the Seventies saw kids both black and white dressing sharp and calling themselves rude boys, as one way to identify with the true Jamaican roots of bands like the Specials, the Selecter and Madness. Today, kids are dressing 'rude' not to give props to the Jamaican roots, but to '2Tone' each other.

I got a big chuckle when I read a magazine piece that started off something like, "Rude boys: them no loot; them no shoot; what the fuck do they do?" They're just ska fans, man, chill. Forgive them their lack of knowing the roots. Teach the young rude boy the way, and today's ska music will benefit.

The Funk Brothers

The name Funk Brothers might not be widely known, but as the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown points out, they played on more number-one records than the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley combined. And there's a reason for their anonymity: At Motown Records, where the Funks were the studio band from 1958 through the early 1970s, owner Berry Gordy, Jr., never gave them credit on the records. By contrast, at Stax Records, Motown's Memphis rival, the house band Booker T. and the MGs were pushed aggressively towards stardom--they even had their own hit singles.

Standing in the Shadows, based on Allan Slutsky's award-winning biography of the late Motown bassist James Jamerson, goes a long way toward giving these important musicians full recognition for their contributions. Motown thrived because of superstar groups and singers such as the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and the Marvelettes, of course, but just as crucial were drummer Benny Benjamin's perfect fills, Jamerson's one-finger heartbeat bass, Robert White's chiming electric guitars and their shiny-and-dirty-at-the-same-time soul. "Even as a teenager I always wondered what made the Motown sound," singer Rick James told Rolling Stone in 2002, during a Shadows soundtrack release party. "Was it the wood? Was it the food they ate in there? Was it the liquor they drank? Was it the women in their lives? What made the Motown sound was those Funk Brothers, those human beings. Like my man said, you could throw a frog in that studio and see it come out with a hit. Those guys were the sound."

The studio in question was Studio A, a converted garage at 2648 West Grand Blvd. in Detroit, where an unprecedented cadre of local singers recorded one massive hit after another. Although the Funks' membership rotated frequently due to contract issues, illness and (in the case of the notoriously unreliable Benjamin) tardiness, they built the "Snakepit" as the heart of Hitsville U.S.A. At the Motown Museum, in the original building, there's a worn spot in the control-room floor where Gordy tapped his foot.

Jamerson Was Group's Heart

The Funk Brothers' heart was Jamerson, who moved from Charleston, South Carolina, to Detroit in 1953. Before joining Motown, he sat in on upright bass with a wide cross-section of night-clubbing musicians, from bluesman John Lee Hooker to jazz reed player Yusef Lateef. Because Jamerson had a wife and the first of four children to support, he waived a Wayne State University scholarship and accepted an offer from Gordy--the Motown chief paid session players union scale, about $52.50 per three-hour session. By the early 1960s, Gordy had built the "Sound of Young America" on Jamerson's thick electric-bass grooves.

Although the Funks never received songwriting credit, it's hard to imagine, say, the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On" without its opening urgent, staccato guitar chords, the Temptations' "My Girl" without its up-and-down bassline or Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" without the precise, rattling drums between the choruses. The Funks weren't actually brothers, but they were friends who jammed with each other in Detroit-area jazz and blues clubs, partied together at night (infamously hiding from Gordy's wrath at a local funeral home, according to the movie) and flung ideas at each other for hours on end in the studio.

Among the group's most famous members: William "Benny" Benjamin, a big band-trained drummer whose rolls and fills defined the Motown sound and who suffered with heroin and alcohol addiction before dying in 1968; classically trained jazz pianist Johnny Griffith, who died in 2002; the influential guitar trio of country-and-blues-influenced Eddie Willis, rock-solid jazzman Joe Messina, Detroit nightclub fixture Robert White; and accomplished vibesman Jack Ashford, whose tambourine fills are instantly recognizable.

Legendary Hijinks

Several Funks were legendary for their anti-authority hijinks, which often confounded Gordy (who, like most major Motown musicians, didn't contribute to Standing in the Shadows, although coproducer Allan Slutsky says the former mogul licensed Motown music to the film for a very low price. He also released a statement in the Houston Chronicle praising the Funks' "indispensable role" in the Motown sound.) At one point, when Gordy was showing the studio to some important European distributors, Benjamin asked his boss if he could "bum a fin." Gordy, whom Benjamin had nicknamed "the Führer," was not amused.

Jamerson was at the heart of this colorful crew. The documentary is filled with Jamerson anecdotes, like the time he rode in the back seat of a cramped car and insisted on eating smelly pig's feet while his touring-band colleagues tried to sleep. He was also, unfortunately, a heavy drinker and when Gordy transferred Motown from Detroit to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Jamerson took it especially hard. According to the movie he had to scalp a balcony ticket to attend Motown's twenty-fifth anniversary television special in 1983. He died of cirrhosis of the liver a few months later, prompting his widow, Annie, to tell rocker Marshall Crenshaw in Rolling Stone: "When people clamor after you, and then forget you when you become ill.... That really hurt him." Jamerson was, however, inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

"The key to my approach was that I wanted to lay down the bottom for the whole recording. I didn't want to solo and I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself," he told Bass Player interviewer "Dr. Licks," a.k.a. Slutsky, who would eventually publish Jamerson's award-winning biography and turn it into Standing in the Shadows of Motown. "I just wanted to make the rhythm section kick a** so that people would get up and dance. My bass was set up to do just that. There was one time I did solo for Motown. That was on a cut called 'Mutiny' by Junior Walker. I really took it out, but that was rare for me."

Short-Lived Fame

The rest of Motown's studio musicians had similar role-player mentalities. They didn't receive credit on a record until Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic What's Going On, and even then their fame was short-lived. (To this day, many Motown CD anthologies, such as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 2002 Ooo Baby Baby: The Anthology make no mention of the Funk Brothers in liner notes.) When Gordy moved the company to Los Angeles in 1972, Hitsville as a Detroit institution was brought to an end. The musicians didn't find out until they reported to the studio and found a "Session canceled: will reschedule" sign.

Some of the Funks, including Jamerson, attempted to follow Motown to the West Coast, but became frustrated with the company's confused new direction. Eventually most returned, unknown and not particularly well off, to Detroit. Some became reputable session musicians, others went into retirement. "I was on the road with the Four Tops for 15 years, but I'd quit in 1990," Willis told the Washington Post in 2002. "I had moved to Mississippi and hadn't played the guitar for 10 years. I'd walk around and look at it--I'd keep it lying on the bed--but I hadn't touched it." In the same Post article, Ashford said he stopped playing his vibraphone in 1975: "I would dabble at it but with no intent, simply because so many years had gone by and who's gonna think of me, in my sixties, starting a new career?"

Standing in the Shadows of Motown almost single-handedly revived the Funks' career and returned them to the spotlight. Despite Slutsky's aggressive script-marketing efforts, movie studios were completely uninterested for almost a decade. It took a completely unrelated film, Artisan's Buena Vista Social Club, a documentary about legendary Cuban musicians, to give studios a reference point. Slutsky finally landed an Artisan deal, and in 2000 he reunited the Funks--with contemporary stars like Joan Osborne, Chaka Khan and Ben Harper taking lead vocals on Motown classics.

The film was critically acclaimed, and nominated for several prestigious critics' awards (although not an Oscar), but it arrived with a sad postscript. A few days after viewing a screening, drummer Richard "Pistol" Allen died of cancer in June of 2002; just months later, keyboardist Johnny Griffith died of a heart attack. "Pistol and Uriel [Jones] had no business doing this film--they risked their lives" during the live performances, Slutsky told the Washington Post. "Uriel knew he needed quintuple bypass and he didn't tell me. And Pistol knew he was dying and he didn't tell me, either. They refused to tell me until afterwards. We wrapped the film, and two days later, Uriel was getting cut on the table. But I knew they were looking at it like 'this is my whole life right here; I don't get another chance.'"

Funk Brothers's Career

Studio band at Motown Records, 1958-early 1970s; contributed to recordings by artists including the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the Supremes.

Derrick Morgan

Derrick Morgan is a Jamaican musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and ’70s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff in ska, and also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae. He was born on March 27, 1940, in Stewarton, in the parish of Clarendon. In 1957, Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent show held at the Palace Theatre in Kingston. He won with rousing impressions of Little Richard and shortly after that was recruited to perform around the island with the popular Jamaican comedy team, Bim and Bam.

In 1959, Morgan entered the recording studio for the first time. Duke Reid, the acclaimed sound system boss, was looking for talent to record for his Treasure Isle label. Derrick Morgan cut two popular shuffle-boogie sides “Lover Boy,” aka “S-Corner Rock,” and “Oh My.” Soon after, Morgan cut the bolero-tinged boogie, “Fat Man,” which also became a hit. He also found time to record for Clement Dodd.

In 1960, Derrick Morgan became the first artist to have spots 1-7 on national pop charts simultaneously, a feat to this day has never been matched. Among those hits were “Don’t Call Me Daddy,” “In My Heart,” “Be Still” and “Meekly Wait and Murmur Not.” But it would be the following year that Morgan would release the biggest hit of his career, the Leslie Kong production of “You Don’t Know,” later re-titled, “Housewives’ Choice” by a local deejay. The song featured a bouncing ska along with a duet sung by Morgan and Millicent “Patsy” Todd. “Housewives’ Choice,” also began the legendary rivalry between Morgan and Prince Buster, who accused Morgan of stealing his ideas. Buster quickly released, “Blackhead Chiney Man,” chiding Morgan with that sarcastic putdown of, “I did not know your parents were from Hong Kong,” a clear swipe at Kong. Morgan returned with the classic, “Blazing Fire,” in which he warns Buster to “Live and let others live, and your days will be much longer. You said it. Now it’s the Blazing Fire.” Buster shot back with, “Watch It Blackhead,” which Morgan countered with, “No Raise No Praise,” and “Still Insist.” Followers of both artists often clashed, and eventually the government had to step with a staged photo-op depicting the rivals as “friends.”

In the mid sixties, when ska evolved into the cooler, more soulful rocksteady period, Morgan continued to release top quality material, including the seminal rude boy classic, “Tougher Than Tough,” “Do the Beng Beng,” “Conquering Ruler,” and a cover of Ben E. King’s soul hit, “Seven Letters.” Often backed by master guitarist, Lynn Taitt, Morgan remained popular in Jamaica and the UK into the early seventies. In 1969, Morgan cut the famous skinhead anthem, “Moon Hop.” However, failing eyesight forced him from the stage. Derrick Morgan still performs occasionally at ska revival shows across the world.

Lee "Scratch" Perry

Born Edward O'Sullivan Lee, 23 August 1941, Jamaica, West Indies. Bunny Lee, aka Bunny and Striker, was introduced to the music business by vocalist Derrick Morgan in 1962. Morgan, at that time one of Jamaica's most prolific and successful performers, took Lee to producer/sound system operator Duke Reid, who gave him a job as record plugger for his Treasure Isle label. Following his stay with Reid, Lee began working with Ken Lack, erstwhile road manager for the Skatalites band. By 1966, Lack had started releasing records by Ken Boothe, the Clarendonians, Max Romeo, the Tartans, the Heptones and others. Lee's first production, "Listen To The Beat" by Lloyd Jackson And The Groovers, was released on Lack's Caltone label in 1967. His first hit was "Music Field" by Roy Shirley (1967), on the WIRL label. He then began releasing his productions on his own label, Lee's. He enjoyed local hits during 1967-68 with Derrick Morgan's "Hold You Jack", Slim Smith And The Uniques' "My Conversation", Lester Sterling and Stranger Cole's "Bangarang", Pat Kelly's "Little Boy Blue" and the Sensation's "Long Time Me No See You Girl". Lee's talent for producing music that was commercially and artistically satisfying ensured his position as the leading hitmaker in Jamaica by 1969. During the following four years Lee enjoyed hits with Slim Smith's "Everybody Needs Love" (1969), Pat Kelly's "How Long?" (1970), Delroy Wilson's "Better Must Come" (1971) and the Jamaica Song Festival winner, Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby" (1971), later a UK hit for UB40, and John Holt's "Stick By Me" (1972). By 1974 he was producing Johnny Clarke on a string of local hits, beginning with "None Shall Escape The Judgement" and "Move Out Of Babylon". Owen Grey had showcased "Bongo Natty" that same year, while 1975 saw Cornell Campbell release a series of strong-selling tunes, beginning with "The Gorgon".

Lee, along with producer Lee Perry and engineer King Tubby, had changed the face of Jamaican music, breaking the dominance of the big producers such as Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid. Bunny Lee's contribution had been to grasp the commercial opportunities created by technological innovations such as the multi-track studio. A rhythm track could be made that could then be used as the backing for many songs or "versions", often remixed or "dubbed". In addition to King Tubby, engineers such as King Jammy and Philip Smart developed their talents on Bunny Lee productions. During the period 1969-77, Lee produced literally thousands of tracks - vocals, DJ records and dubs - with a wide range of artists. As well as those already mentioned, he produced music for singers, including Jackie Edwards, Leroy Smart, Linval Thompson, David Isaacs, Alton Ellis, Dave Barker, Ken Boothe and Frankie Jones, and for DJs such as Dennis Alcapone, U-Roy, I. Roy, Prince Jazzbo, U Brown, Big Joe, Trinity, Dr. Alimantado, Jah Stitch and Tapper Zukie, most with additional corresponding dub versions. The early 80s saw a reduction in output; Lee was hampered because he did not control his own studio, although he continued to release music through his connection with Count Shelley in London and New York. He bought Joe Gibbs' old studio in North Parade, Kingston, and released material in the late 80s using computer-generated rhythms, but seemed contented to hire his studio to newer producers. The 4-CD overview of his career released by Jet Star in 2005 is essentially a history of Jamaican music and as such is highly recommended.

Symarip

Symarip (also known at various stages of their career as The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters and Zubaba) were a ska and reggae band from the United Kingdom, originating in the late 1960s when Michael Thomas and his friend Frank Pitter founded the band called The Bees. Some sources spell the band's name as Simaryp, which is an approximate anagram of the word pyramids.

Consisting of members of West Indian descent, Symarip is widely marked as one of the original skinhead bands, being one of the first to target skinheads as an audience. Their style of music became known as skinhead reggae, and their hits included "Skinhead Moonstomp", "Skinhead Girl" and "Skinhead Jamboree". They moved to Germany in 1971, performing reggae and Afro-rock under the name Zubaba. In 1980, the album Skinhead Moonstomp was re-issued in the wake of the 2 Tone craze, hitting the UK pop charts for the first time. The band officially split in 1985 after their last album 'Drunk & Disorderly' (Ariola, 1985) which was produced by Stevie B. Trojan Records released a best of album in 2004 with a new single, "Back From the Moon", performed by two of the former band members, Monty Neysmith and Roy Ellis. The Pyramids / Symarips widely known ska hit "Skinhead Moonstomp" is based on the Derrick Morgan song, "Moon Hop".

Mento

Over the long history of African slavery in the Caribbean and the deep South (from around 1690 to 1850's), the practice of sharing stories, of people, faith and indiscretions in the form of songs and chants around the evening fire and other major gatherings at Christmas and Easter was a way cultural information was passed down through time. This ensured that tales of woe, faith and humor would be preserved in the oral tradition. The tales usually focused on the role of the spirit, the solace provided by the church and the need to protect the righteousness/morality of the Church as an institution, along with secular tales of the human experience. The Church was the first institution that embodied the ideals that any slave or person could aspire to. Therefore, it was a desirable position in the community to be able to sing songs or play an instrument in order to be able to impart cultural knowledge.

A more secular focus in the content of music in the Caribbean began to emerge as the period of slavery ended in the early to mid 19th century (in Jamaica slavery was abolished in 1833). According to historians, freed slaves and similar blacks from larger, mainly agriculture-based islands (like Jamaica) ventured to other parts of the Caribbean including Costa Rica, Haiti and Trinidad in search of non-agriculture-based work, such as construction or factory labor (which paid better than farming).

As a result, Latin (mainly samba) and polyrhythmic Calypso patterns of Trinidad influenced the Jamaican music scene as returning workers brought back musical ideas from foreign lands. The main instruments that made up the mento bandstand were the drum (Jamaican bongo or tree drum being first and foremost), acoustic guitar, banjo, rhythm box, and a variety of percussion instruments. Direct Cuban musical influence on mento took the form of incorporating the rhythm box or giant thumb piano ('Marimbula') into the range of instruments used in mento (something the Jolly Boys refer to as the 'Kalimba'). The choice of instruments used varied according to the choice of the artist or more often, availability - there was no fixed rule. Overall, most experts say that the mento style is more similar to calypso and other Caribbean styles rather than the complex melodic structure of Latin music. The emphasis of mento musical structure is based on the a few key stylistic and structural elements - the upstroke of the guitar and rhythm and melody are tightly coupled in accent and delivery; the form of rhyming verses which tell a story and lastly a catchy chorus that was melodically different from the verse.

Due to its mainly localized range and appeal, early mento evolved slowly in the last century (i.e. without major western influence) and was relatively unaffected by Latin or early 20th century western music and had a heavy colloquial flavor. The description of mento as being early Caribbean 'street folk' music is apt. Themes that were sung of were for most part 'happy' and not religious in nature (the common themes being sex, Jamaica, inter-island differences or rivalries and human caricatures). Thus mento music served as an active cultural sub-text and it pointed out these resilient peoples' ability to "tek bad tings mek laugh" in what must have been an unimaginably destitute hard life.

As the evolution of mento was a localized phenomenon, this is one of the reasons for its lack of an official historical record. Songs relating local events, personalities and issues were staple for mento songs. Villages and towns around Jamaica developed their own sub-styles of mento and each had its own special lyrical emphasis to suit the topical interests of the day in local communities. The largely local thematic focus of mento's lyrical content, echoes back to similarities in slave musical beginnings. As slaves were disallowed from travel and learning about geography, the early songs and stories dealt with the limited reaches of their world. Similarly, the focus of early mento had a constrained geographic worldview to be relevant to the average mento listener (largely poor and uneducated non-whites). This point is good to remember when thinking of why the history of mento is so poorly recorded - it was a musical stance, for most part, borne out of the oral tradition of the slaves and did not have the support of the white establishment.

Arthur "Duke" Reid

Arthur Reid, c.1915, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 1974.

One of the major influences on reggae music along with his close rival, Coxsone Dodd and followed by the likes of Prince Buster, Joe Gibbs, and Lee Perry. Duke Reid’s marvellous productions were, at their best, rocksteady at its absolute peak. Reid spent 10 years as a Kingston policeman, a sometimes dangerous profession that enabled him to develop the no-nonsense style he displayed while conducting business negotiations in later life. He and his wife Lucille bought the Treasure Isle Liquor Store in the 50s, and in a sponsorship agreement, Reid hosted his own radio show, Treasure Isle Time, airing US R&B: his theme song was Tab Smith’s ‘My Mother’s Eyes’. Reid also ran his own sound system, Duke Reid The Trojan, and visited America to find obscure R&B tunes with which to baffle rivals such as Coxsone Dodd’s Down Beat sound system. After flirting with the record business for three years, recording tunes such as ‘Duke’s Cookies’, ‘What Makes Honey’ and ‘Joker’, he took up record production seriously in 1962, enjoying ska hits galore with Stranger Cole, the Techniques, Justin Hinds And The Dominoes and Alton Ellis And The Flames. The records were issued on three labels: Treasure Isle, Duke Reid and Dutchess. Reid was a formidable presence in the music business: he was notorious for carrying a loaded gun and ensuring that his ammunition belt was clearly visible. However, he was more than mere muscle and had an astute musical sensibility, as the fast-approaching rocksteady era proved beyond doubt.

By 1966 ska was evolving into a slower, more stately beat, and with help from guitarist Ernest Ranglin and the band of saxophonist Tommy McCook And the Supersonics, Reid’s productions at his own Treasure Isle Studio epitomized the absolute peak of the style. Hits such as the Paragons’ ‘Ali Baba’ and ‘Wear You To The Ball’, Alton Ellis’ ‘Cry Tough’, ‘Breaking Up’, ‘Rock Steady’ and ‘Ain’t That Loving You’, the Melodians’ ‘You Don’t Need Me’, ‘I Will Get Along’, ‘I Caught You’ and ‘Last Train To Expo ’67’, the Jamaicans’ ‘Things You Say You Love’ and the Techniques’ ‘Queen Majesty’ were only the tip of an impressive iceberg. All were tasteful, irresistibly danceable, soul-soaked rocksteady classics, released on Reid’s own labels in Jamaica and on Trojan Records (the label was named after his sound) or its imprints in the UK. By 1969 rocksteady had died, and Reid was apparently struggling, stuck in a musical revolution he himself had created. However, in 1970 he did it again, taking a sparsely recorded toaster named U-Roy, and single-handedly founded the modern DJ era. At one point U-Roy held four out of the top five Jamaican chart positions and both he and Reid watched the records swap places over a period of months - ‘Wake The Town’, ‘Wear You To the Ball’, ‘Everybody Bawling’ and ‘Version Galore’. Reid simply dropped the chatter over his old rocksteady hits to start a whole new genre of reggae music. He also had hits with other DJs, such as Dennis Alcapone and Lizzy. Reid’s legend in the reggae pantheon was assured. By 1973 Reid’s fortunes had again begun to wane, perhaps because he was notorious for not wanting to record rasta lyrics in an era dominated by roots themes, and was considered to be an establishment figure as the senior reggae producer in Jamaica. He died in 1974, his extensive back catalogue going on to sell thousands of singles and albums through a variety of licensees. Reid’s name on a record is a guarantee of sheer joy.

Ben Sherman

The man himself was born Arthur Benjamin Sugarman, Brighton, England in 1925.

He moved to the United States in 1946. Where he married a succession of women. It was in California he learned about the garment trade. His third wife's father was a successful manufacturer, owning 2 swimwear companies.

In 1962, having gained American citizenship, Arthur moved back to Brighton England.

The following year of 1963, the Ben Sherman brand was born.

The Ben Sherman shirt was both unique, and radically different from any other shirt.

The unique features included, Front button down collar. (Button holes on each side and tip of the collar.) The collar Itself was large. The tips of the collar were then secured with a small button sewn to the main body of the shirt.

In addition, the collar had a extra button, at the centre back. This held the collar in firmly in place.

Other features included, Plackets cut on the Bias. Each shirt had a black label, bearing Ben's name, sewn into the left hand upper seam of the left hand pocket.

His shirts sold in vast quantities, throughout Britain, Europe and the United States.

Ben's shirts were adopted as essential wear by the ever increasing youth cult of the time, known as the Mods.

Ben opened a showroom in Carnaby Street, London.

At the same time, 1967, he opened his first shop in Duke street, Brighton.

2 More shops followed, both located In London.

Since those early days The company Ben Sherman has experienced massive growth and Business success. Now being one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world.

The company has diversified into, ladies wear, Boys wear and accessories. In addition. Ben Sherman now offer a very commercial range of Footwear, along with a more specialist range, which has a directional edge, aimed at the Mod fashion market.

Ben Sherman is truly a brand on its own. It retains its distinctive heritage to this day and is recognised by people the world over.

Since 1996 Cazual have been authorised stockist of Ben Sherman. Our extensive range covers the entire current collection.

This Range includes; The world famous Oxford button down collar shirt in most colours. We have just introduced a range of specialist wear for the Mod enthusiast. From the famous Mod Fit range of shirts, to a range of shoes with pure distinction.

Our current range of main stream Ben Sherman clothing includes shirts, short sleeved Polo shirts, T Shirts and the world famous Harrington Jacket.