BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT:
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
WHEN a good deejay does his thing the party begins to swing. He compels you to dance, shout and sing as he seeks to communicate his feelings through the emotional fever the background music produces in him. Dennis Al Capone is a genuine deejay. A spontaneous artist who, at his best, makes great reggae music, and who renders null and void the suggestions that his type of sounds retard the development of JA music.
DJ records did not begin with U. Roy and do not end with Big Youth. The roots of dj music are buried in the frenzied excitement of the ska music era.. Those were the days of the dancers, primarily the shufflers. Ska music saw the birth of the dj. U. Roy brought dj music to the beginning of its prime and nowadays it`s accepted, taken for granted. It`s even harshly criticised and rejected by some, but we`ll come to that.
It began with the popularity of the Jamaican sound systems and their djs. They would earn their reputation via their ability on the mike. Eventually the djs themselves became the stars--and their talkover style was captured on disc. Perhaps the first proper dj tune on record was Lord Comic`s "Ska Ing West" (in the mid sixties). Although there were others which preceded it, like "One Eyed Giant" by Baba Brooks (which opened with the question "Hey have you seen the one eyed giant?" then erupted into an exciting upbeat of brass, rhythm and vocal scatting). And the very popular "Lawless Street" by the Soul Brothers (noted for the vocal scat riff all the way through).
In "Ska Ing West" Lord Comic begins: "Adam and Eve went up my sleeve and they never came down until Christmas eve/Come on you cats we`re going west . . ." The rhymes were designed to spur on the dancers who enjoyed the music all the more because they felt that the comments were directed specifically at them individually. "Ok daddy we`re going west" went Lord Comic.
Early in 1970 U. Roy said "Real cool daddy" and dancers felt the same sense of self importance. "Chick a bow-chick a bow . . . she`s got it she`s got it she`s got it . . ." went his catchphrase in "Wear You To The Ball" . . . "Do it baby do it" in "Wake The Town" . . . "Move brother move, make a move sister move" in "Rule The Nation". And these three records emphasised his overwhelming popularity by occupying the first three places in both radio charts (RJR and JBC) week after week. Bigger and better records followed like "Your Ace From Space", "Happy Go Lucky Girl", "You`ll Never Get Away", the brilliant "Tom Drunk" and "Flashing My Whip" . . .
The year before, King Stitt had appeared fleetingly with very good records like "The Ugly One", "Vigorton Two" and "Fire Corner" but his performances were not sustained and his promise never fulfilled. Besides, he was never as vibrant as U. Roy, he only hinted at what was to come.
U. Roy was no originator--as he boasted--but he was certainly an innovator. Dj tunes were never like this before. Roy was immediately infectious, devastatingly fast, intensely exciting. His was a self-induced excitement, his shouting singing and screaming reaching a pitch of intensity between `70 and `72 which has never been matched since by himself or anyone else.
In the wake of U. Roy came many others, among them the relentless Dennis Al Capone, his only serious rival during his prime.
"People didn`t really recognise the dj stuff until U. Roy took over," said Dennis. "King Stitt did a good thing with things like `Fire Corner` but it didn`t really get off until U. Roy, came along. I came on the scene about three months after U. Roy, then Lizzie came. He used to play Jammy`s Hi Fi. And then you had Scotty. But I was in the shadows at that time. I was selling but . . . I rate U. Roy up to now as the greatest, yeah! I used to go and listen to him and I admired the sounds he put out. He used to play King Tubby`s sound system. That was and is the best. It has everything a system should have . . . "But when you sit down and listened to that man (U. Roy) playing that sound (system) it really blew your mind. The only reason why a Jamaican artist like him don`t keep up to expectations is because of exploitation, right? And victimisation.
"The producers, they`re not giving you any money, right? And you keep on doing stuff for them and making them richer and richer everyday and you`re not getting anywhere. If a man asks you to do a tune you ask for 500 dollars, which is very small, he starts to screw up his face. And if you don`t decide to do it there will be someone else ready to do it for 100 dollars or less. But you can`t go on doing things without any reward. And as soon as you stop, they (the producers) spend money on that one and bring him up `till he becomes very popular".
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 2
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
AL CAPONE`S real name is Dennis Smith. He`s 28 and from Clarendon, Jamaica. He went to Kingston when he was three and grew up there. Among other schools he went to Okeh Training college where the headmaster was Warren Kidd, who became known in the late fifties for spreading his coat on the ground for Queen Elizabeth to walk on. Dennis` first job was as a welder.
"I did welding and played a sound system in my spare time until I realised that I had to give up welding because the discotheque took up a lot of time. I had to run it. Go `round and get things for it; speakers, records, dubs, y`know. The sound system belonged to a friend of mine. We grew up together and we decided we should go into the music business because we really loved it".
The sound system was known as El Paso. Dennis` first record, also titled "El Paso", contained the popular catch phrase: "Ah wah so-el paso" . . .
"The children really turned on to that sound in Jamaica. Everywhere you went the school children were singing `a wah so-el paso . . .` The sound system was such a success that I didn`t even have to start playing. . . . As soon as I touched the needle the place would be full. People came from all over you know. And at that time you had great sound systems like Tubby`s, Sir Percy and Merritone.
"I made `El Paso` then `Spanish Omega` and another tune, and I was going under my real name. They sold, but people didn`t really catch on to me that good apart from those who knew me at the dicotheque".
Dennis` first records were made for producer Keith Hudson while he was still playing the sound system at popular clubs like the VIP and the Sombrero, and at smaller places in the heart of Kingsyon`s residential areas.
"The last place we were playing was a place in Brotherton Avenue, that`s where we came from. I left Keith Hudson and went to Coxsone and did a tune called `Nanny Version`. There and then I changed my name because I realised that most people knew me as Al Capone from when I was small. I did `Home Version` (originally a popular Ken Boothe hit) and `Power Version` ( a version of the Clarendonians` `You Can`t Be Happy`). That tune did very well in Jamaica.
"The treatment financially wasn`t so good so I eased up for a while. I left Coxsone and went down to Bunnie Lee. For him I did a version to Delroy Wilson`s `Better Must Come` called it `It Must Come`. Then Duke Reid asked me to do a tune for him which I called `Mosquito One` and I went under the name of El Paso because they all used to call me El Paso too. The song had the slang "el paso" in it too. That slang was so popular! I did it in three tunes, everybody just loved it . . .
"But none of those records reached number one because of lack of promotion. Exploitation, too. Because the promoters out there, when they don`t want you to know how good your record`s selling they don`t let it reach the top. `Power Version` was a record that sold. When I say sold, it really sold a lot. And it went to number two on both stations and stayed there for quite a while. Actually, at the time, no record was selling like it.
"And `Teach The Children`, you couldn`t stop that one. The reason why it went to the top is because I got payed for it as soon as I finished recording it. It wasn`t even out yet. And in the space of three weeks it was number one on both radio stations for about four weeks. Then I got a tour to Guyana with the Boris Gardner Happenning".
Carl Gayle:
Part 2
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 2
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
AL CAPONE`S real name is Dennis Smith. He`s 28 and from Clarendon, Jamaica. He went to Kingston when he was three and grew up there. Among other schools he went to Okeh Training college where the headmaster was Warren Kidd, who became known in the late fifties for spreading his coat on the ground for Queen Elizabeth to walk on. Dennis` first job was as a welder.
"I did welding and played a sound system in my spare time until I realised that I had to give up welding because the discotheque took up a lot of time. I had to run it. Go `round and get things for it; speakers, records, dubs, y`know. The sound system belonged to a friend of mine. We grew up together and we decided we should go into the music business because we really loved it".
The sound system was known as El Paso. Dennis` first record, also titled "El Paso", contained the popular catch phrase: "Ah wah so-el paso" . . .
"The children really turned on to that sound in Jamaica. Everywhere you went the school children were singing `a wah so-el paso . . .` The sound system was such a success that I didn`t even have to start playing. . . . As soon as I touched the needle the place would be full. People came from all over you know. And at that time you had great sound systems like Tubby`s, Sir Percy and Merritone.
"I made `El Paso` then `Spanish Omega` and another tune, and I was going under my real name. They sold, but people didn`t really catch on to me that good apart from those who knew me at the dicotheque".
Dennis` first records were made for producer Keith Hudson while he was still playing the sound system at popular clubs like the VIP and the Sombrero, and at smaller places in the heart of Kingsyon`s residential areas.
"The last place we were playing was a place in Brotherton Avenue, that`s where we came from. I left Keith Hudson and went to Coxsone and did a tune called `Nanny Version`. There and then I changed my name because I realised that most people knew me as Al Capone from when I was small. I did `Home Version` (originally a popular Ken Boothe hit) and `Power Version` ( a version of the Clarendonians` `You Can`t Be Happy`). That tune did very well in Jamaica.
"The treatment financially wasn`t so good so I eased up for a while. I left Coxsone and went down to Bunnie Lee. For him I did a version to Delroy Wilson`s `Better Must Come` called it `It Must Come`. Then Duke Reid asked me to do a tune for him which I called `Mosquito One` and I went under the name of El Paso because they all used to call me El Paso too. The song had the slang "el paso" in it too. That slang was so popular! I did it in three tunes, everybody just loved it . . .
"But none of those records reached number one because of lack of promotion. Exploitation, too. Because the promoters out there, when they don`t want you to know how good your record`s selling they don`t let it reach the top. `Power Version` was a record that sold. When I say sold, it really sold a lot. And it went to number two on both stations and stayed there for quite a while. Actually, at the time, no record was selling like it.
"And `Teach The Children`, you couldn`t stop that one. The reason why it went to the top is because I got payed for it as soon as I finished recording it. It wasn`t even out yet. And in the space of three weeks it was number one on both radio stations for about four weeks. Then I got a tour to Guyana with the Boris Gardner Happenning".
Carl Gayle:
Part 2
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 3
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
BACK WHEN my greatest preoccupation was with a sound systems and their crowds, it was always easy to pick out U. Roy`s and Capone`s tunes. For a long time they were the only two we heard from in force. Capone`s phrases always seemed mediocre and often silly, Roy`s were the hardest to follow. Sometimes, as in "El Paso", "Mosquito One" or "It Must Come" Dennis was great. But even then I and many others tended to resist him on the basis that anyone after U. Roy was a second-rate rip-off. Later on U. Roy began to appear less frequently and a wave of new djs came to the fore--if only for one record at a time. By the time Big Youth became fashionable I myself was out of it . . .
Capone has outlived U. Roy even though he hasn`t released a record in Jamaica for a year or so. The quality of his most recent singles have outstripped Roy`s for improvisation and sheer excitement. In the wake of I. Roy and Big Youth, U. Roy found it difficult to make a satisfactory switch from rock steady to reggae/skank rhythms. He found it hard to adjust to the drum and bass syndrome which I. Roy and particularly Big Youth used as their vehicle at the height of their popularity. Capone has coped in his own inimitable, cheerful, if sometimes self-effacing style which depends too much on the use of nursery rhymes.
Capone`s most popular records in Britain were the initial few--"El Paso", "Mosquito One", "Rub Up A Daughter", "It Must Come", "Guns Don`t Argue" and "Teach The Children". The latter was based on a reggae version of "Mr. Big Stuff" called "Sister Big Stuff". It used female backing vocals and had lines like: "Teacher, teacher, I beg you ring the bell/teach the children, teach them how to spell/r-a-t rat, m-a-t mat, c-a-t cat".
Nothing hard, you understand. I put it to Dennis: that was why the record was so popular, right?
"Yeah, it was educational . . . for the children you know because you have a lot of children they like to listen to music. They will learn the words of a song quicker than learning in school lessons."
**That`s why you use so many nursery rhymes in your songs?**
"Well I`m all for the children and that`s what they love. You see, back home in JA sometimes you do a good tune . . . because I sit down and I hear good tunes done by other artists, and they don`t reach anywhere. You have to do something catchy, something that the children will sing along with and then you`ll have a seller . . ."
**But don`t you ever feel a little ridiculous shouting out nursery rhymes in the studio?**
"Well yeah that is true . . . (laughs). But I love music you know and sometimes I say that I`d like to go to a music school and really get myself hip to it the right way, the professional way. I think it`s time really and I still have that intention."
**How much money did you make on "Teach The Children"?**
"Well you don`t get a lot of money in Jamaica. I think that was the second best deal I got. When I did `Spanish Omega` for Keith Hudson he treated me better than most of them. I made about 350 dollars from `Teach The Children` but it was plenty compared to what some producers out there want to give you for a record. It`s all exploitation out there."
**Do your records still sell well?**
"Not as many as those days. They still sell. But since last October I haven`t released a single in Jamaica. I did an LP for Sydney Crooks ("Belch It Off") which was released up here but not in Jamaica. The last time I released up there was `Wake Up Jamaica`."
**Why the break, the fall off in sales?**
Well that`s one thing but you have to use your head to survive. You can`t just keep going to the people like that. You have to take a break and come back with something appealing. I`ve been doing tunes all along for people without making any bread. So I said I`m gonna take a rest and when I come back it will be for myself, do some producing. Actually Dennis Brown did a tune for me once but it wasn`t a success through lack of promotion. The big promoters even pay the radio stations not to let the small man`s tune play on the radio. And if you can`t give the radio station people some money they won`t play your things. And I don`t have the money to pay them . . ."
**But don`t the radio stations also boycott dj records because they think they`re no good? According to what I`ve heard many people, musicians and the media, are against dj music because they believe it retards the quality of Jamaican music?**
"Well that`s not really the reason why they don`t want to play them. But you see the dj artists have stopped working for the big producers now and anything the big producers say the radio stations follow, right! Myself, U. Roy, and Big Youth, we`ve decided to do something for ourselves. So they won`t make no more bread off us. When they realised that they started hitting out against our records. And the radio stations start to say they don`t want our stuff. But they can`t stop it because you do it outside and the people but it anyway. Still, it would sell more, it would get to the people out in the countryside if it played on the radio."
Carl Gayle:
Part 4
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 3
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
BACK WHEN my greatest preoccupation was with a sound systems and their crowds, it was always easy to pick out U. Roy`s and Capone`s tunes. For a long time they were the only two we heard from in force. Capone`s phrases always seemed mediocre and often silly, Roy`s were the hardest to follow. Sometimes, as in "El Paso", "Mosquito One" or "It Must Come" Dennis was great. But even then I and many others tended to resist him on the basis that anyone after U. Roy was a second-rate rip-off. Later on U. Roy began to appear less frequently and a wave of new djs came to the fore--if only for one record at a time. By the time Big Youth became fashionable I myself was out of it . . .
Capone has outlived U. Roy even though he hasn`t released a record in Jamaica for a year or so. The quality of his most recent singles have outstripped Roy`s for improvisation and sheer excitement. In the wake of I. Roy and Big Youth, U. Roy found it difficult to make a satisfactory switch from rock steady to reggae/skank rhythms. He found it hard to adjust to the drum and bass syndrome which I. Roy and particularly Big Youth used as their vehicle at the height of their popularity. Capone has coped in his own inimitable, cheerful, if sometimes self-effacing style which depends too much on the use of nursery rhymes.
Capone`s most popular records in Britain were the initial few--"El Paso", "Mosquito One", "Rub Up A Daughter", "It Must Come", "Guns Don`t Argue" and "Teach The Children". The latter was based on a reggae version of "Mr. Big Stuff" called "Sister Big Stuff". It used female backing vocals and had lines like: "Teacher, teacher, I beg you ring the bell/teach the children, teach them how to spell/r-a-t rat, m-a-t mat, c-a-t cat".
Nothing hard, you understand. I put it to Dennis: that was why the record was so popular, right?
"Yeah, it was educational . . . for the children you know because you have a lot of children they like to listen to music. They will learn the words of a song quicker than learning in school lessons."
**That`s why you use so many nursery rhymes in your songs?**
"Well I`m all for the children and that`s what they love. You see, back home in JA sometimes you do a good tune . . . because I sit down and I hear good tunes done by other artists, and they don`t reach anywhere. You have to do something catchy, something that the children will sing along with and then you`ll have a seller . . ."
**But don`t you ever feel a little ridiculous shouting out nursery rhymes in the studio?**
"Well yeah that is true . . . (laughs). But I love music you know and sometimes I say that I`d like to go to a music school and really get myself hip to it the right way, the professional way. I think it`s time really and I still have that intention."
**How much money did you make on "Teach The Children"?**
"Well you don`t get a lot of money in Jamaica. I think that was the second best deal I got. When I did `Spanish Omega` for Keith Hudson he treated me better than most of them. I made about 350 dollars from `Teach The Children` but it was plenty compared to what some producers out there want to give you for a record. It`s all exploitation out there."
**Do your records still sell well?**
"Not as many as those days. They still sell. But since last October I haven`t released a single in Jamaica. I did an LP for Sydney Crooks ("Belch It Off") which was released up here but not in Jamaica. The last time I released up there was `Wake Up Jamaica`."
**Why the break, the fall off in sales?**
Well that`s one thing but you have to use your head to survive. You can`t just keep going to the people like that. You have to take a break and come back with something appealing. I`ve been doing tunes all along for people without making any bread. So I said I`m gonna take a rest and when I come back it will be for myself, do some producing. Actually Dennis Brown did a tune for me once but it wasn`t a success through lack of promotion. The big promoters even pay the radio stations not to let the small man`s tune play on the radio. And if you can`t give the radio station people some money they won`t play your things. And I don`t have the money to pay them . . ."
**But don`t the radio stations also boycott dj records because they think they`re no good? According to what I`ve heard many people, musicians and the media, are against dj music because they believe it retards the quality of Jamaican music?**
"Well that`s not really the reason why they don`t want to play them. But you see the dj artists have stopped working for the big producers now and anything the big producers say the radio stations follow, right! Myself, U. Roy, and Big Youth, we`ve decided to do something for ourselves. So they won`t make no more bread off us. When they realised that they started hitting out against our records. And the radio stations start to say they don`t want our stuff. But they can`t stop it because you do it outside and the people but it anyway. Still, it would sell more, it would get to the people out in the countryside if it played on the radio."
Carl Gayle:
Part 4
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 4
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
**WHAT ABOUT the singers, who also put down dj tunes?**
"Well that is true. When the djs took over the singers didn`t have much chance because . . . You see when U. Roy came along there was nothing really coming from the singers at that time. And the rhythm they were using wasn`t getting to the people because at that time the reggae rhythm had just changed from rock steady. The people still loved the rock steady. And the rhythm that U. Roy worked from was rock steady. People still wanted it, the dance hall people loved the old rhythm. We, the djs thought it was a good idea because when you were doing your thing over that rhythm in the dance hall it`s like . . . the people got wild! They kept asking you to do it, so the best thing was to put it on a record. You just couldn`t keep it up on the microphone."
**What is your reply then to those people who criticise all dj records?**
"Well everyone should get a fair chance, right? I agree that dj records are not of a great standard because we all know that singing is best, right? But take, for instance, soul tunes . . . you have Americans who talk on records. But they don`t lower the standard of American music, everybody lives. But the reason why they were all hitting out at Jamaican dj records is because they were really killing the singing tunes. People forget the singers and lived on the djs."
**You were talking about the way producers treated you, the real dj artists, financially. They would use whoever they could get at a minimal expense which meant that suddenly there were too many dj artists and only a handful of genuine ones?**
"Yeah, they would use whoever they could get. That is another thing that really messed up the business because you have good djs out there in Jamaica. Djs like U. Roy, Big Youth, I. Roy . . . and Jazzbo doesn`t sound too bad. I`ll listen to him, and there`s myself, right? But the others, they are not really djs. They just do all kinds of rubbish because they can get a little money. But you really have to feel it when you`re doing dj music. The good djs demand the money, the producers don`t want to pay it so they just use anybody. Sometimes the producers themselves talk on it and put it out under a different name. That`s what really killed out the business . . . too many of them. That`s why I gave it a rest for a time. It was like you get mixed up in something that was . . . Everywhere you went you heard some new dj, things got really complicated out there."
Carl Gayle:
Part 4
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 4
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
**WHAT ABOUT the singers, who also put down dj tunes?**
"Well that is true. When the djs took over the singers didn`t have much chance because . . . You see when U. Roy came along there was nothing really coming from the singers at that time. And the rhythm they were using wasn`t getting to the people because at that time the reggae rhythm had just changed from rock steady. The people still loved the rock steady. And the rhythm that U. Roy worked from was rock steady. People still wanted it, the dance hall people loved the old rhythm. We, the djs thought it was a good idea because when you were doing your thing over that rhythm in the dance hall it`s like . . . the people got wild! They kept asking you to do it, so the best thing was to put it on a record. You just couldn`t keep it up on the microphone."
**What is your reply then to those people who criticise all dj records?**
"Well everyone should get a fair chance, right? I agree that dj records are not of a great standard because we all know that singing is best, right? But take, for instance, soul tunes . . . you have Americans who talk on records. But they don`t lower the standard of American music, everybody lives. But the reason why they were all hitting out at Jamaican dj records is because they were really killing the singing tunes. People forget the singers and lived on the djs."
**You were talking about the way producers treated you, the real dj artists, financially. They would use whoever they could get at a minimal expense which meant that suddenly there were too many dj artists and only a handful of genuine ones?**
"Yeah, they would use whoever they could get. That is another thing that really messed up the business because you have good djs out there in Jamaica. Djs like U. Roy, Big Youth, I. Roy . . . and Jazzbo doesn`t sound too bad. I`ll listen to him, and there`s myself, right? But the others, they are not really djs. They just do all kinds of rubbish because they can get a little money. But you really have to feel it when you`re doing dj music. The good djs demand the money, the producers don`t want to pay it so they just use anybody. Sometimes the producers themselves talk on it and put it out under a different name. That`s what really killed out the business . . . too many of them. That`s why I gave it a rest for a time. It was like you get mixed up in something that was . . . Everywhere you went you heard some new dj, things got really complicated out there."
Carl Gayle:
Part 4
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 5
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
RIGHT UP to October of last year the prolific Dennis Al Capone kept pouring out hits like "Jumping Jack", "Horse And Buggy", "Ripe Cherry", "Tell It Like It Is", "Master Key", "Out Of This World", "Swining Along", "What Did You Say". "Rock To The Beat", "Cassius Clay", "Belch It Off", "DJ`s Choice", "Wake Up Jamaica" and many more.
Unlike most djs, Dennis` phrases are usually clearly audible--which makes their mediocrity all the more obvious. They rarely preach any sort of philosophy, like I. Roy`s, or talk with any real conviction, like Big Youth`s. They`re merely rhymes, after the U. Roy style, but Dennis lacks Roy`s speed of tongue. He usually compensates with nursery rhymes, but notable exceptions were "Master Key", "Out Of This World" and "Cassius Clay", where it didn`t matter what he shouted out since the background music was so good and his infectious wailings skipped in and out of the singing perfectly. Dennis was right on top of the world in "Cassius Clay". The timing was excellent, the rhythm a knockout and the deejaying made a lot of sense. Everything synchronised as well as ever before.
**Do you write out your lyrics before going into the studio?**
"Well sometimes when I`m playing the sound system I improvise something to the version side of the record there in the dance hall. And I watch the people`s reactions. When they keep asking for it then I know that I must record it. Like "It Must Come", I just did one cut of that because I already had the idea from inside the dance hall. As soon as it was released it was an instant success.
Other tunes now, like if I have to cut a tune and I don`t really know the rhythm. I have to listen to it in the studio and then write down some things, especially if I have to go in between the vocals. Or you might be walking along and you see or hear something and you just write it down and build your ideas. I`ll tell you . . . about 95% of the tunes I do were not written down."
**What are your immediate plans?**
"Well, I aim to start producing. I will still do some deejaying but I want to do my own productions otherwise there`s no money for you. Right now I have a tune out with Delroy Wilson called `In The Village` which I did in June . . . My next idea on record is to preach the word of God. So I`ll be coming definitely from Revelations on record. And I`ll be doing some Psalms."
**ALBUMS:**
"Version Galore Vol. Three" (Trojan TBL 175) with U. Roy.
"Guns Don`t Argue" (Trojan TBL 187)
"Belch It Off" (Attack ATLP 1005)
"Soul To Soul DJ`s Choice" (Trojan TRLS 74) with Lizzie and Natural Youth.
By Carl Gayle:
Picture of Dennis Al Capone by Dennis Morris:
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
Peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
DENNIS AL CAPONE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DJ CULT: - PT. 5
Picture by Dennis Morris:
By Carl Gayle:
RIGHT UP to October of last year the prolific Dennis Al Capone kept pouring out hits like "Jumping Jack", "Horse And Buggy", "Ripe Cherry", "Tell It Like It Is", "Master Key", "Out Of This World", "Swining Along", "What Did You Say". "Rock To The Beat", "Cassius Clay", "Belch It Off", "DJ`s Choice", "Wake Up Jamaica" and many more.
Unlike most djs, Dennis` phrases are usually clearly audible--which makes their mediocrity all the more obvious. They rarely preach any sort of philosophy, like I. Roy`s, or talk with any real conviction, like Big Youth`s. They`re merely rhymes, after the U. Roy style, but Dennis lacks Roy`s speed of tongue. He usually compensates with nursery rhymes, but notable exceptions were "Master Key", "Out Of This World" and "Cassius Clay", where it didn`t matter what he shouted out since the background music was so good and his infectious wailings skipped in and out of the singing perfectly. Dennis was right on top of the world in "Cassius Clay". The timing was excellent, the rhythm a knockout and the deejaying made a lot of sense. Everything synchronised as well as ever before.
**Do you write out your lyrics before going into the studio?**
"Well sometimes when I`m playing the sound system I improvise something to the version side of the record there in the dance hall. And I watch the people`s reactions. When they keep asking for it then I know that I must record it. Like "It Must Come", I just did one cut of that because I already had the idea from inside the dance hall. As soon as it was released it was an instant success.
Other tunes now, like if I have to cut a tune and I don`t really know the rhythm. I have to listen to it in the studio and then write down some things, especially if I have to go in between the vocals. Or you might be walking along and you see or hear something and you just write it down and build your ideas. I`ll tell you . . . about 95% of the tunes I do were not written down."
**What are your immediate plans?**
"Well, I aim to start producing. I will still do some deejaying but I want to do my own productions otherwise there`s no money for you. Right now I have a tune out with Delroy Wilson called `In The Village` which I did in June . . . My next idea on record is to preach the word of God. So I`ll be coming definitely from Revelations on record. And I`ll be doing some Psalms."
**ALBUMS:**
"Version Galore Vol. Three" (Trojan TBL 175) with U. Roy.
"Guns Don`t Argue" (Trojan TBL 187)
"Belch It Off" (Attack ATLP 1005)
"Soul To Soul DJ`s Choice" (Trojan TRLS 74) with Lizzie and Natural Youth.
By Carl Gayle:
Picture of Dennis Al Capone by Dennis Morris:
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
Peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
stepping razor
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:53 pm
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
ERIC DONALDSON - FESTIVAL MAN:
Carl Gayle talks to Eric Donaldson, whose "Cherry Oh Baby" remains one of the biggest-selling Jamaican records of all time . . .
HE SINGS in a sweet, aching, high tenor that bears little or no resemblance to the black singers you`ve heard before. Smooth yet earthy. A voice which, high as it is, comes from way down in his gut. Eric Donaldson`s voice does something to you.
It overawed the audience in the final of the Jamaican Song Festival in 1971. West Indians everywhere bought his Festival winner and fell in love with it and him. "Cherry Oh Baby" was a gigantic hit, a massive seller. People knew the song by heart. You didn`t even have to buy it. You just had to turn on the radio or go to a dance.
Donaldson had arrived: a remarkable talent with a voice and style of writing that put him in a category all by himself in the unwritten history of Jamaican music. He was here to stay, he didn`t even have to do anything else. But he did, for a while at least anyway. Then he disappeared for a year or so . . .
Donaldson grew up in a small village outside of Bog Walk, Jamaica and still lives in the country. Eric is 27. He says he began singing in `62 but never actually recorded anything until 1968 when he became lead singer with a vocal group called the West Indians which, however, lasted little over a year. The group made "Right On Time" in `68 for the JJ label (a popular song among West Indians in Britain). They did "Bring It On Home To Me" and "Wonderful World" in 1969, and "Come A Little Closer" in 1970 for producer Derrick Harriott. In 1970 they made "Whispering" for producer Lee Perry. All were written by Eric either solo or jointly. None were very successful.
"All the recording producers used to have auditions on Sundays you know," said Eric. "So if you check this one with a song and he likes it he tells you to come back next week. Well we went to J J with `Right On Time`. He liked it an we recorded it."
He also recorded a solo number called "Lonely Night" for the CG label but it wasn`t released until after he won the festival the next year. Up to then also, his tenor voice wasn`t quite so high. In 1971 he decided to enter the Song Festival.
"Well I really had a song called `Blue Boot` for the Festival. But it was like I just woke up one morning and found myself singing `Cherry Oh Baby`. So I just changed it. I sang it instead of `Blue Boot`. I think I would still have won if I`d sung `Blue Boot`.
"The first time when I won if you had asked me what I thought about the Festival I would say it was cool. But man, I went to enter the next year with `Blue Boot` and I don`t see no reason why they never picked it. So I just don`t dig Festival you know. And `Blue Boot` came and sold more than all the Festival songs that year."
Eric recorded "Cherry Oh Baby" with the Inner Circle band (who also backed him on his first LP) when he was chosen as one of the final six.
"Everything, melody, arrangements were my ideas. Bunnie Lee and Tommy Cowen were both involved. They liked the song when I took it to them. But they never produced it, they only helped to promote it".
Eric`s next single was "Just Can`t Happen This Way", another original. A brooding love song with as much hook and melody as "Cherry Oh Baby". It went to number three in the JA charts and we wondered if Eric could keep up this peak of melodic and lyrical intimacy. His inimitable voice for sure, would never let him down.
"Then I did `Love Of The Common People`. That was a number one hit. Then `I`m Indebted` and `Sylvia`s Mother` both number ones. `Little Did You Know` reached number five.
"The people really dug my type of music in Jamaica you know because for one thing they say my voice is kind of different. It`s my normal voice. But not all my songs have been in that high pitched tone. The ealier ones were in a lower pitch and I could sing like that now. It just depends on the type of song."
"Miserable Woman", and "Blue Boot" (both chart toppers) were the only other singles released in 1972 before Eric `cooled out` for a year. They`re both originals, really fine songs that reveal a unique writing style specifically because they are so totally Jamaican in construction and concept.
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
ERIC DONALDSON - FESTIVAL MAN:
Carl Gayle talks to Eric Donaldson, whose "Cherry Oh Baby" remains one of the biggest-selling Jamaican records of all time . . .
HE SINGS in a sweet, aching, high tenor that bears little or no resemblance to the black singers you`ve heard before. Smooth yet earthy. A voice which, high as it is, comes from way down in his gut. Eric Donaldson`s voice does something to you.
It overawed the audience in the final of the Jamaican Song Festival in 1971. West Indians everywhere bought his Festival winner and fell in love with it and him. "Cherry Oh Baby" was a gigantic hit, a massive seller. People knew the song by heart. You didn`t even have to buy it. You just had to turn on the radio or go to a dance.
Donaldson had arrived: a remarkable talent with a voice and style of writing that put him in a category all by himself in the unwritten history of Jamaican music. He was here to stay, he didn`t even have to do anything else. But he did, for a while at least anyway. Then he disappeared for a year or so . . .
Donaldson grew up in a small village outside of Bog Walk, Jamaica and still lives in the country. Eric is 27. He says he began singing in `62 but never actually recorded anything until 1968 when he became lead singer with a vocal group called the West Indians which, however, lasted little over a year. The group made "Right On Time" in `68 for the JJ label (a popular song among West Indians in Britain). They did "Bring It On Home To Me" and "Wonderful World" in 1969, and "Come A Little Closer" in 1970 for producer Derrick Harriott. In 1970 they made "Whispering" for producer Lee Perry. All were written by Eric either solo or jointly. None were very successful.
"All the recording producers used to have auditions on Sundays you know," said Eric. "So if you check this one with a song and he likes it he tells you to come back next week. Well we went to J J with `Right On Time`. He liked it an we recorded it."
He also recorded a solo number called "Lonely Night" for the CG label but it wasn`t released until after he won the festival the next year. Up to then also, his tenor voice wasn`t quite so high. In 1971 he decided to enter the Song Festival.
"Well I really had a song called `Blue Boot` for the Festival. But it was like I just woke up one morning and found myself singing `Cherry Oh Baby`. So I just changed it. I sang it instead of `Blue Boot`. I think I would still have won if I`d sung `Blue Boot`.
"The first time when I won if you had asked me what I thought about the Festival I would say it was cool. But man, I went to enter the next year with `Blue Boot` and I don`t see no reason why they never picked it. So I just don`t dig Festival you know. And `Blue Boot` came and sold more than all the Festival songs that year."
Eric recorded "Cherry Oh Baby" with the Inner Circle band (who also backed him on his first LP) when he was chosen as one of the final six.
"Everything, melody, arrangements were my ideas. Bunnie Lee and Tommy Cowen were both involved. They liked the song when I took it to them. But they never produced it, they only helped to promote it".
Eric`s next single was "Just Can`t Happen This Way", another original. A brooding love song with as much hook and melody as "Cherry Oh Baby". It went to number three in the JA charts and we wondered if Eric could keep up this peak of melodic and lyrical intimacy. His inimitable voice for sure, would never let him down.
"Then I did `Love Of The Common People`. That was a number one hit. Then `I`m Indebted` and `Sylvia`s Mother` both number ones. `Little Did You Know` reached number five.
"The people really dug my type of music in Jamaica you know because for one thing they say my voice is kind of different. It`s my normal voice. But not all my songs have been in that high pitched tone. The ealier ones were in a lower pitch and I could sing like that now. It just depends on the type of song."
"Miserable Woman", and "Blue Boot" (both chart toppers) were the only other singles released in 1972 before Eric `cooled out` for a year. They`re both originals, really fine songs that reveal a unique writing style specifically because they are so totally Jamaican in construction and concept.
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
stepping razor
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:53 pm
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974: Vol. 2 / Issue 13
ERIC DONALDSON - FESTIVAL MAN: PT. 2
Carl Gayle talks to Eric Donaldson, whose "Cherry Oh Baby" remains one of the biggest-selling Jamaican records of all time . . .
DONALDSON`S only album so far, simply titled "Eric Donaldson" is one of the best on the reggae market. It contains the hit singles "Cherry Oh Baby", "Love Of The Common People", "Just Can`t Happen This Way" and "Miserable Woman". The other songs, "Got To Get You Off My Mind", "Go Away", a beautiful version of "Never On Sunday", and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" all stand out too. But no more so than the two slow, soul based ballads, "Please Let Me Love You" and "Build My World" both of which are very moving songs in spite of their somewhat sentimental lyrics.
"Sylvia`s Mother", "I`m Indebted", "Blue Boot" and "Miserable Woman" again, all appear on the Trojan compilation album "16 Dynamic Reggae Hits", a real bargin for £1.
"Little Did You Know" was Donaldson`s last single before he took a one year break from recording:
"I have a way of just cooling out," he said. "Like after I do four or five tunes straight I just rest for a little while. I just need time to do some more writing and arranging."
"What A Festival" was Eric`s first release after the long pause. It was issued around the time of the 1973 Song Festival, which it attacked.
"The public was complaining the Festival last year you know, that the winning song didn`t deserve it and things like that. People said man, `Cherry Oh Baby`, you know if you use the rhythm and do another tune off it, it will mash up the place! So Lloyd Charmers, he brought the idea to me and said `man make we put a thing together` y`know. So we just come together and just wrote it in the studio and recorded it. Just voiced it over.
"Right now I have a song, `Ain`t Too Proud To Beg` which I do in my style. Those guys (The Temptations) really had some good lyrics you know. I`ve always loved that type of music. And I have about fourteen songs all recorded and voiced which will be on my album coming out next month on Dynamic."
Eric`s only other releases have been "The Way You Do The Things You Do" (another Temps number) and an original called "Watch What You Are Doing To Me" which comes nearest to anything like the potency of 1971-72 successes.
"I think I`m a hundred per cent better off now than when I firsat started singing. As a newcomer in the Island, singing, man you have to go through a whole lot of things. When I used to check a guy for money he`d say `boy the tune don`t sell y`know`. And at that time they just exported all the records. All the tunes would sell over here or in America or somewhere. So if you don`t hear it in Jamaica man you have to just cool out!
"I`d just like to study some more and play the organ and piano. I can`t even play the guitar that much. I just want to keep going on and on and on . . ."
Carl Gayle:
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
ERIC DONALDSON - FESTIVAL MAN: PT. 2
Carl Gayle talks to Eric Donaldson, whose "Cherry Oh Baby" remains one of the biggest-selling Jamaican records of all time . . .
DONALDSON`S only album so far, simply titled "Eric Donaldson" is one of the best on the reggae market. It contains the hit singles "Cherry Oh Baby", "Love Of The Common People", "Just Can`t Happen This Way" and "Miserable Woman". The other songs, "Got To Get You Off My Mind", "Go Away", a beautiful version of "Never On Sunday", and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" all stand out too. But no more so than the two slow, soul based ballads, "Please Let Me Love You" and "Build My World" both of which are very moving songs in spite of their somewhat sentimental lyrics.
"Sylvia`s Mother", "I`m Indebted", "Blue Boot" and "Miserable Woman" again, all appear on the Trojan compilation album "16 Dynamic Reggae Hits", a real bargin for £1.
"Little Did You Know" was Donaldson`s last single before he took a one year break from recording:
"I have a way of just cooling out," he said. "Like after I do four or five tunes straight I just rest for a little while. I just need time to do some more writing and arranging."
"What A Festival" was Eric`s first release after the long pause. It was issued around the time of the 1973 Song Festival, which it attacked.
"The public was complaining the Festival last year you know, that the winning song didn`t deserve it and things like that. People said man, `Cherry Oh Baby`, you know if you use the rhythm and do another tune off it, it will mash up the place! So Lloyd Charmers, he brought the idea to me and said `man make we put a thing together` y`know. So we just come together and just wrote it in the studio and recorded it. Just voiced it over.
"Right now I have a song, `Ain`t Too Proud To Beg` which I do in my style. Those guys (The Temptations) really had some good lyrics you know. I`ve always loved that type of music. And I have about fourteen songs all recorded and voiced which will be on my album coming out next month on Dynamic."
Eric`s only other releases have been "The Way You Do The Things You Do" (another Temps number) and an original called "Watch What You Are Doing To Me" which comes nearest to anything like the potency of 1971-72 successes.
"I think I`m a hundred per cent better off now than when I firsat started singing. As a newcomer in the Island, singing, man you have to go through a whole lot of things. When I used to check a guy for money he`d say `boy the tune don`t sell y`know`. And at that time they just exported all the records. All the tunes would sell over here or in America or somewhere. So if you don`t hear it in Jamaica man you have to just cool out!
"I`d just like to study some more and play the organ and piano. I can`t even play the guitar that much. I just want to keep going on and on and on . . ."
Carl Gayle:
BLACK MUSIC DECEMBER 1974
peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
stepping razor
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:53 pm
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1975: Vol. 2 / Issue 14
GINGER WILLIAMS - SHY GINGER:
Ginger Williams` very first record turned out to be one of this year`s biggest reggae hits. Trouble is she`s shy . . .
GINGER WILLIAMS is more than a good singer. Whatever it is about a singer`s voice that persuades you to stop and take notice, Ginger Williams has got it. The West Indian music audience stopped and listened to Ginger`s voice when "I Can`t Resist Your Tenderness" was released in April this year. They liked it. And they still haven`t stopped listening.
"I Can`t Resist your Tenderness" has been selling in the reggae shops as fast as records like "Everything I Own", "Here I Am Baby" and "Ire Feeling"--all three of them Black Music chart toppers--despite never actually reaching the top spot. But it`s still way up there.
And it`s more than a good record. Whetever it is about a record that compels you to stop and listen. "I Can`t Resist Your Tenderness", vocals aside, has got it. There are no high falutin` musical tricks, no surprising rhythmic ideas, no river-deep mountain-high vocal performance. But it`s one of those that you want to hear a second time.
It has a simple, tender emotional charm which is poignantly expressed in Ginger`s sensitive, sincere vocals. The music follows the same pattern: simple and tuneful, with a danceable if soft rhythm. It`s a moody sentimental song for couples to dance closely to.
According to Count Shelly, alias Ephraim Barrett, of Shelly Records (Ginger`s record company), the record has so far sold in excess of 31,000 copies to West Indians alone. And it`s still selling very well. In fact (at the time of writing) they`re out of pressings. Shelly predicts that the record will be selling steadily for the next two years. And of course the label complains that "Tenderness" ought to be in the pop charts. They are right. If there was a fair "crossover" system (from reggae to pop markets), then "Tenderness" would hit the pop charts like a bullet.
Ginger`s only other release, "In My Heart There Is A Place", is just as good and very similar in mood and structure to "Tenderness". It came straight into our charts at number three on release. Ginger`s music obviously appeals to west Indians of all ages. This is because first of all she sings about sentimental love in an authentic Jamaican musical style, and secondly because she`s a really fine singer.
Ginger Williams lives in Tottenham with her three kids. She`s twenty, attractive, and very shy. Her shyness is surprising and might be her only problem. She finds it difficult to talk about herself and her musical involvement and aspirations. She often seemed disinterested or else surprised about being interviewed. Once, she stopped to say to the photographer: "Don`t take pictures of me when I`m smiling".
And on being asked why she thought so many people bought and liked her records she had to be goaded into saying: "I dunno, I don`t like to praise myself but I suppose it`s the voice."
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1975
peace
GINGER WILLIAMS - SHY GINGER:
Ginger Williams` very first record turned out to be one of this year`s biggest reggae hits. Trouble is she`s shy . . .
GINGER WILLIAMS is more than a good singer. Whatever it is about a singer`s voice that persuades you to stop and take notice, Ginger Williams has got it. The West Indian music audience stopped and listened to Ginger`s voice when "I Can`t Resist Your Tenderness" was released in April this year. They liked it. And they still haven`t stopped listening.
"I Can`t Resist your Tenderness" has been selling in the reggae shops as fast as records like "Everything I Own", "Here I Am Baby" and "Ire Feeling"--all three of them Black Music chart toppers--despite never actually reaching the top spot. But it`s still way up there.
And it`s more than a good record. Whetever it is about a record that compels you to stop and listen. "I Can`t Resist Your Tenderness", vocals aside, has got it. There are no high falutin` musical tricks, no surprising rhythmic ideas, no river-deep mountain-high vocal performance. But it`s one of those that you want to hear a second time.
It has a simple, tender emotional charm which is poignantly expressed in Ginger`s sensitive, sincere vocals. The music follows the same pattern: simple and tuneful, with a danceable if soft rhythm. It`s a moody sentimental song for couples to dance closely to.
According to Count Shelly, alias Ephraim Barrett, of Shelly Records (Ginger`s record company), the record has so far sold in excess of 31,000 copies to West Indians alone. And it`s still selling very well. In fact (at the time of writing) they`re out of pressings. Shelly predicts that the record will be selling steadily for the next two years. And of course the label complains that "Tenderness" ought to be in the pop charts. They are right. If there was a fair "crossover" system (from reggae to pop markets), then "Tenderness" would hit the pop charts like a bullet.
Ginger`s only other release, "In My Heart There Is A Place", is just as good and very similar in mood and structure to "Tenderness". It came straight into our charts at number three on release. Ginger`s music obviously appeals to west Indians of all ages. This is because first of all she sings about sentimental love in an authentic Jamaican musical style, and secondly because she`s a really fine singer.
Ginger Williams lives in Tottenham with her three kids. She`s twenty, attractive, and very shy. Her shyness is surprising and might be her only problem. She finds it difficult to talk about herself and her musical involvement and aspirations. She often seemed disinterested or else surprised about being interviewed. Once, she stopped to say to the photographer: "Don`t take pictures of me when I`m smiling".
And on being asked why she thought so many people bought and liked her records she had to be goaded into saying: "I dunno, I don`t like to praise myself but I suppose it`s the voice."
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC JANUARY 1975
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
Kenneth Nwagbara
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
Hi, I am have a very passionate love for regae musics of all kinds particualrly from Jamica. Please send me all that you can.
Thanks.
Ken.
Thanks.
Ken.
-
Anthony Barnes
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
Hi Chris,
just for your information Hugh Francis was not the leader of the Band 90 degrees inclusive it was a joint effort hence the name, Webster Dyer the key Board player was killed in Jamaica some many years ago and Henry Barnes has set up his Recording Studio in Trinidad & Tobago
Kinds Regards
AB
just for your information Hugh Francis was not the leader of the Band 90 degrees inclusive it was a joint effort hence the name, Webster Dyer the key Board player was killed in Jamaica some many years ago and Henry Barnes has set up his Recording Studio in Trinidad & Tobago
Kinds Regards
AB