Just found out that legendary Jamaican producer Joe Gibbs had a heart attack on Feb 21.
He was responsible for a LOT of great music, including this gem from Althea & Donna, Uptown Top Ranking
By the way, I don't know if you ever caught any of these "record player" type videos on You Tube. I couldn't believe my luck in finding them. There are a LOT of reggae videos doing this, showing the original Jamaican singles being played on a turntable. I love seeing what the labels look like. You gotta pay top TOP dollar for authentic Jamaican singles on Ebay.
I've loved watching records spin on a turntable since I was a kid. It's like moving art. So you can say I've actually "played" records. These You Tube videos are so Ace. The camera does a close-up on the single, the turntable starts spinning & it just keeps spinning while the song rolls on and the record plays through. So I'm STILL playing records - or actually someone is playing records for me.
But back to Joe Gibbs. He started selling records in his TV repair shop in Jamaica. The music scene was getting thick, what with Ska & Rocksteady music coming out left & right. So he decided to get into it, and started Amalgamated Records with Bunny "Striker" Lee. "Hold Them" by Roy Shirley was his first success in 1968. In 1970 he put out his first "reggae" record, "Love Of The Common People" by Nicky Thomas, & it was a smash. He was also known for giving famed engineer Niney The Observer his start in the studio.
But just about my favorite thing from him was Culture's lp "Two Sevens Clash". Gibbs worked with just about everyone who's anyone in Jamaica's musical factions: Rocksteady, Roots Reggae, Rockers, Lovers Rock, Dub. Yes, there are specific differences.
His big downfall came in the 80s when he cut "Someone Loves You Honey" for J. C. Lodge. The song was written by Charley Pride, who sued because Gibbs didn't pay royalties (that was common in Jamaica; a LOT of those records never saw light outside the island, hence their rarity). The record was so popular it went to number 1 in Europe; that's how ol' Charley found out. Gibbs couldn't pay the settlement, and went out of business. But in the mid-90s he started reissuing some of his stuff.
So forward to Heaven for Joe Gibbs. Jah Bless.
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