Randy’s 50th Anniversary (Disc 1) It’s common knowledge that the early sound systems - Tom The Great Sebastian, Sir Coxsone Down Beat, Duke Reid The Trojan, V-Rocket, Prince Buster’s Voice Of The People and King Edwards the Giant - were the motive power behind the development of Jamaican popular music in the 1950s. They played mostly US R&B and when the source of records began to dry up in the USA, many of the soundmen began to record local talent. But if sound systems were the engine in this vehicle of expression, then it was the local community of middle-class entrepreneurs - many among them of Chinese or Middle Eastern origin - who put themselves in the drivers seat. Men like the late Ken Khouri, owner of the first big record factory on the island and one of the first to record local music, the bandleader and businessman Byron Lee, the accountant Leslie Kong, the ice-cream parlour owner Charlie Moo, or Justin Yap, whose family owned stores. Equally prominent among this group was Vincent ‘Randy’ Chin. Together this group provided a commercial platform from which the music could make the transition from local style to international taste. Vincent Chin was born 3rd October 1937 in Kingston, the son of a carpenter who had arrived from China in the 1920s. He got the nickname ‘Randy’ because he was a fan of a US radio show broadcasting rhythm and blues and sponsored by Randy’s Record Shop of Gallatin, Tennessee, on station WLAC from Nashville. After finishing his schooling in the mid-1950s, he worked for Mr. Isaac Issa, then controller of the large jukebox market in Jamaica. Vincent’s job was to maintain and restock Mr. Issa’s jukeboxes all over the island. In 1958 he opened his first record shop with old stock - he had scrupulously saved all the discarded ex-jukebox discs - and thus began the family business. In 1961 he opened new premises at 17 North Parade, on the north side of the square in downtown Kingston. In time, the Jamaican ‘Randy’s Record Shop’ would become integral to the development of the music, even more so when Vincent opened a studio above the shop in 1968. Half a century later, that fairly humble beginning has evolved into the internationally known VP Records, now based in New York. This anniversary compilation surveys that half-century.... 1) Independent Jamaica - Lord Creator Whilst on a Caribbean tour in early 1962 following the success of his tune “Evening News”, Lord Creator [born Kenrick Patrick in San Fernando, Trinidad c.1935] met up with Vincent at a club called the Havana on Windward Road in eastern Kingston. Vincent asked him to record this tune, celebrating Jamaica’s independence from colonial rule. It was recorded at Federal Studio and duly became a big hit. Coincidentally it was the first record to be issued in the UK by Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. Creator’s urbane style - which he developed singing in front of the larger aggregations then prevalent in Trinidad - proved even more successful in Jamaica and he went on to become Randy’s leading solo singer. 2) Let Me Dream - Alton & Eddie Alton Ellis had recorded ballads for Coxsone Dodd with his partner Eddie Perkins, including “Muriel”; this was the last tune the duo did together before Perkins went to the USA. Alton went on to record a couple of solo sides for Randy’s before becoming one of Jamaica’s most successful soloists in the rock steady period, notably for Duke Reid and Coxsone Dodd. 3) Since You’re Gone - Roy & Paulette Roy Richards made many sides as a solo singer in the Jamaican R&B and ska style; this track however features him in the popular male / female ‘duet’ style, modeled on such US hit making R&B duos as Shirley & Lee and Gene & Eunice. 4) Rico Special - Rico Rodriquez A former pupil at the renowned Alpha School run by Sister Ignatius, Rico Rodriguez became one of the leading jazz-based musicians on the island; he played with the legendary Eric Deans Orchestra, replacing Don Drummond in the trombone chair in that band. This is from his last session in Kingston before he left for the UK in 1962 5) We Will Be Lovers - Lord Creator & Norma Creator originally wrote this song as a vehicle for Norma Fraser to sing solo; when she had difficulties with the song at the session, he joined her in the performance, handling the melody while Norma supplied harmony. 6) Don't Stay Out Late - Lord Creator Another big hit for the Creator, exemplifying his cool style to perfection as he escorts his underage date home safely. Johnnie Clarke revived this hit song in the mid-seventies for producer Bunny Lee. 7) Goodbye Pretty Darling - Basil Gabbidon Basil Gabbidon made around fifty titles - for Coxsone, Duke Reid and Prince Buster - in the early boogie / ska period, beginning as lead singer of the Mellowlarks for Coxsone Dodd in 1959; beyond that discography, little is known about him and he disappears from view completely after 1962, when he cut titles for Randy’s and for his friend the late pianist Theo ‘Easy ‘Snappin’ Beckford. 8) Make Hay - Cornell Campbell Cornell Campbell has had a long career in Jamaican music, cutting sides for Coxsone Dodd in the very early 1960s before linking up with fellow vocalist Roy Panton. He cut this song for Vincent in late 1963, with Charlie Organaire playing harmonica and Oswald ‘Baba’ Brooks playing the distinctive trumpet. Cornell’s trademark high tenor is instantly recognizable on the ‘warning’ lyric, but the tune never meant much beyond the dancehall audience for whom it was intended. Cornell returned to recording in 1968, cutting string of classics as member of the Eternals vocal group for Coxsone Dodd and Harry Mudie, and later in the mid- 1970s as soloist for Bunny Lee. 9) Royal Charlie - Charlie Organaire The chances are that if you hear a harmonica played on a ska record then Charlie ‘Organaire’ Cameron is blowing it. Born in Kingston March 20th 1942, Charlie attended Boys Town School and was discovered by Vere Johns, who ran talent shows in Kingston’s theatres in the 1950s. He recorded for all the leading producers including Coxsone, Reid, King Edwards, Prince Buster and Byron Lee. He was also a member of various bands, including Carlos Malcolm’s Afro- Jamaicans, Trenton Spence and Sonny Bradshaw’s group. He migrated to Chicago in 1976, where he continues playing to the present day. 10) Blow Roland Blow – Joanne Gordon & Roland Alphonso The young-sounding Joanne Gordon (sister of popular ska singer Lord Tanamo), sings the praises of the master saxophonist; he delivers a brace of scintillating solos as proof. The Cuban-born sax man had a beautiful sound, said to be inspired by that of his early hero, Tex Beneke of the legendary Glenn Miller Band, while renowned Jazz pianist Monty Alexander hears him sounding “like a funky Stan Getz. Either way, those tough yet tender qualities are manifest on this cut, recorded in 1964. Roland Alphonso continued playing with the reformed Skatalites right up to his death in 1998. 11) Portrait Of My Love - Baba Brooks A version of a pop hit - for UK crooner Matt Monro among others - given a jaunty ska treatment by trumpeter Oswald ‘Baba’ Brooks, illustrating perfectly how virtually any song could become grist to Ska’s musical mill. Brooks is most celebrated for cutting the original ‘Shang Kai Shek’ for producer King Edwards. 12) Malcolm X - The Skatalites Excellent ska instrumental featuring the trumpet of Johnny ‘Dizzy’ Moore and Roland Alphonso’s tenor sax, this track is adapted from USA Jazz maestro Lee Morgan “ The Sidewinder”, in tribute to the great US political leader. 13) Mouth A Massy - Alton Ellis Alton delivers a warning to someone who is allegedly spreading lies; the phrase ‘mouth a massy [Liza]’ is said to derive from the African Twi language ‘mmasa- mmasa’, meaning ‘confused words’. A confident tenor solo - possibly Stanley Notice or Roland Alphonso - underlines Alton’s sentiment. 14) Rum Bumpers - John Holt & Alton Ellis ‘Rum-bumpers’ are people who drink too much rum, causing their Adam’s apple to swell into a ‘rum-bump‘. This song, one of John Holt’s earliest efforts with Alton Ellis supplying harmony, warns people to watch out for such people. 15) John & James - The Maytals Many of the Maytals earlier ska songs were drawn from the Revivalist gospel\ canon; this - one of the best - shows the great ska drummer Lloyd Knibb in supremely propulsive form, seemingly driving the whole song via his cymbal pattern. 16) Yagga Yagga - Delroy Byfield In which a countryman describes who he is and what he eats: "I am a little man, I come from Temple Hall, I eat potato, I eat them big and small. but let me tell you my friend, I have a special time, when I lean my back against the wall..." Byfield was a Rasta man who lived in the Wareika Hills camp; nicknamed ‘Soft Subject’ by Vincent, he only made a handful of sides - including the titles ‘Bongo Man” and “Marcus Garvey” for Duke Reid and Coxsone Dodd - before disappearing off the musical radar. 17) Machine Shop - Don Drummond Without a doubt, Don Drummond was the most important musician to emerge from the ska period; his creativity lived on after his death in the so-called ‘Far East’ sound developed by such as Augustus Pablo in the 1970s. This instrumental is typical of his output - a minor-key riff is developed to the point where Drummond takes off, his solo displaying both a lyricism and emotion that seems barely contained before fading out.