The Pioneers
The Pioneers were formed in 1962 by brothers Sydney and Derrick Crooks, and their friend Winston Hewitt. Their early recordings "Good Nanny" and "I'll Never Come Running Back to You" were self-produced at the Treasure Isle studio using money lent to the Crooks brothers by their mother and appeared on Ken Lack's Caltone label.
Several other singles followed, none of them hits, before Hewitt emigrated to Canada in 1966. Hewitt was replaced for around a year by former Heptone Glen Adams.
The Pioneers' early singles were not successful, and Sydney began promoting concerts, while Derrick took up a job with the Alcoa bauxite company. The group broke up in mid-1967.
Reggae legend Jimmy Riley passes away
Reggae legend Jimmy Riley passed away at midnight ET, surrounded by family, after a long and brave battle with cancer. an indelible contributor to Jamaica's legendary 60’s era of music, and an essential part of Jamaica’s legacy of legendary vocalists, and sweet harmonies as a member of both The Uniques and The Techniques. our condolences to his loving family, especially Jimmy’s son, brilliant reggae singer Tarrus Riley- who brought his dad on stage with him for his final public performance last year in New York City’s Central Park- while he was on the 'Catch a Fire Tour' organized by The Marley family. We will always miss Jimmy’s voice, his smile and genuine warmth. rest peacefully, Jimmy Riley via SirusFm TheJoint.
Martin James Ziggy Norman Riley also known as Jimmy Riley was born in Jonestown, Kingston, Jamaica on 22 May 1954, Riley grew up in the city's Waterhouse district and attended Kingston Senior School along with Slim Smith. When Smith had success in The Techniques, Riley hung around with the group hoping to join, but was limited to carrying things for them and helping out with harmonies. He decided to form his own group, The Sensations, along with Cornell Campbell, Buster Riley (brother of The Techniques' Winston Riley), and Aaron "Dego" Davis. The Sensations had a successful audition for producer Arthur "Duke" Reid, and the group had mid-1960s success with "Everyday is Just a Holiday" and "Those Guys". On leaving the group in 1967, Riley joined Smith and Lloyd Charmers in the re-formed Uniques, having huge success with songs such as "Watch This Sound" and "My Conversation".RIP
Happy Birthday Lee "Scratch" Perry
Not much information about Perry's early life is known. He was born into poverty, and later moved to Kingston, Jamaica to pursue music. It is here where he apprenticed at Studio One and worked various other jobs until ultimately going off on his own to pursue his own musical interests.Perry's musical career began in the late 1950s as a record seller for Clement Coxsone Dodd's sound system. As his sometimes turbulent relationship with Dodd developed, he found himself performing a variety of important tasks at Dodd's Studio One hit factory, going on to record nearly thirty songs for the label.Disagreements between the pair due to personality and financial conflicts led him to leave the studio and seek new musical outlets. He soon found a new home at Joe Gibbs's Amalgamated Records.
Freddie McGregor
Freddie McGregor is one of reggae’s most durable and soulful singers, with an incredibly steady career that started all the way back in the ’60s, when he was just seven years old. Since then, he’s spanned nearly every stylistic shift in Jamaican music, from ska and rocksteady to Rastafarian roots reggae to lovers rock (his particular specialty) to dabblings in dancehall, ragga, and dub. Not just a singer, he wrote some of his own material, and grew into an accomplished producer as well. McGregor’s heyday was the early ’80s, when he released several high-quality albums and reached the peak of his popularity in Jamaica and England. However, he remained a strong presence on the reggae scene well into the new millennium.
McGregor was born in Clarendon, Jamaica on June 27, 1956. At age seven, he started singing backup for a local ska harmony duo called the Clarendonians (naturally, with the nickname of Little Freddie McGregor). the Clarendonians recorded for producer Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s legendary Studio One label for a time, and when they split in the mid-’60s, McGregor teamed up with ex-member Ernest “Fitzroy” Wilson to form a new duo, Freddie and Fitzroy. They recorded several single sides, including “Why Did You Do It” and “Do Good and Good Will Follow You.” McGregor stayed at Studio One for much of the ’70s, working as a session drummer and backup singer while developing his own vocal style, which owed much to smooth, Philadelphia-style soul. He sang lead for groups like Generation Gap and Soul Syndicate, and also recorded off and on as a solo act during the ’70s, though always in the singles medium. During this period, he began writing some of his own material, including songs like “Go Away Pretty Woman,” “Tomorrow Is Like Today,” and “What Difference Does It Make.”
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