Ben Harper
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| - | '''Ewart Beckford''' (21 September 1942 – 17 February 2021), known by the stage name '''U-Roy''', was a Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of [[Toasting (Jamaican music)|toasting]]. U-Roy is noted for a melodic style of toasting applied with a highly developed sense of timing. | + | '''Benjamin Chase Harper''' (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. |
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| - | He is best known for his song "[[Wake the Town]]" (1970) featuring the lyrics "Wake the town and tell the people, 'bout this musical disc coming your way". | + | |
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| - | ==Early life== | + | |
| - | Ewart Beckford was born in Jones Town, Saint Andrews Parish, [[Kingston, Jamaica]], on 21 September 1942. He was raised within a religious and musical family; his mother was an organist for the choir at a local [[Seventh-day Adventist]] church. The sobriquet U-Roy originated from a younger member of his family who found it difficult to pronounce his first name. Beckford attended Denham Town High School in Kingston.As a young man Beckford listened to the music of [[Louis Prima]], [[James Brown]], [[Ruth Brown]], [[Fats Domino]], [[Rufus Thomas]], [[Smiley Lewis]] and was especially influenced by the vocal phrasing of [[Louis Jordan]]. | + | |
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| - | ==Career== | + | |
| - | Inspired by [[Count Matchuki]] he started his professional career as a [[DJ]] in 1961 on Dickie Wong's sound system (originally called Doctor Dickies later changed to Dickies Dynamic) moving later to the Sir George the Atomic sound system. Beckford then worked on [[Sir Coxsone Dodd]]'s sound system where he ran the number two set while [[King Stitt]] "The Ugly One" ran the main set. This was followed by a period with Sir Percy before he moved to [[King Tubby]]'s Hometown Hi-Fi sound system. Beckford's first single "Dynamic Fashion Way" (1969) was a [[Keith Hudson]] production. It was followed by the [[Lee "Scratch" Perry]] production "Earth's Rightful Ruler" with [[Peter Tosh]]. | + | |
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| - | In 1970, Jamaican singer [[John Holt (singer)|John Holt]] (lead vocalist of [[the Paragons]]) heard Beckford toasting over a [[Duke Reid]] track at a dance. Holt told Reid about the performance and on his recommendation Reid asked Beckford to come and see him and an informal recording deal was arranged. Beckford's first two singles released on Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label, "[[Wake the Town]]" (1970) and "Wear You to the Ball" (1970), were Jamaican hits and established his reputation as one of Jamaica's most popular toasters. Beckford then went on to work with other major producers on the island including [[Lee "Scratch" Perry]], [[Bunny Lee]], [[Phil Pratt]], [[Sonia Pottinger]], [[Rupie Edwards]], [[Alvin Ranglin]] and [[Lloyd Daley]]. 1971 saw the release of Beckford's DJ version of The Paragons' "[[The Tide Is High]]". Beckford first toured the UK in 1972 with the artists [[Roy Shirley]] and [[Max Romeo]]. The tour was organized by Rita and Benny King; the owners of R & B Records based in [[Stamford Hill]], London. | + | |
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| - | Beckford's album ''Dread in a Babylon'' was released in the US, Europe and Jamaica by [[Virgin Records]] in 1975. The album achieved significant sales in the UK which was due in part to the ongoing expansion of the Virgin label and stores. The track "Runaway Girl" from the album was released as a single in Europe that same year. The success of ''Dread in a Babylon'' led to a series of Tony Robinson produced albums: ''Natty Rebel'' (1976), ''Rasta Ambassador'' (1977) and ''Jah Son of Africa'' (1978). Beckford's international popularity led to the album ''Natty Rebel'' being released in 1976 on Virgin's imprint Front Line label in Nigeria as well as in France on Virgin and [[Polydor]]. | + | |
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| - | Beckford started his own sound system in 1978, which he named Stur Gav after his sons. The sound system would launch the careers of a younger generation of toasters and singers including [[Ranking Joe]], Jah Screw, Charlie Chaplin and Josey Wales. The pop group [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] had a world-wide hit with the reggae track "The Tide Is High" in 1980, which prompted Virgin to re-release the original Paragons' track from 1967 and the 1971 U-Roy version as a single that same year. His album ''Pray Fi Di People'' was released in 2012. | + | |
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| - | Beckford was featured on the album [[True Love (Toots & the Maytals album)|''True Love'']] by [[Toots and the Maytals]], which won the [[Grammy Award]] in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including [[Willie Nelson]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Jeff Beck]], [[Trey Anastasio]], [[Gwen Stefani]] / [[No Doubt]], [[Ben Harper]], [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Manu Chao]], [[The Roots]], [[Ryan Adams]], [[Keith Richards]], [[Toots Hibbert]], [[Paul Douglas (musician)|Paul Douglas]], [[Jackie Jackson]], [[Ken Boothe]], and [[The Skatalites]]. | + | |
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| - | Beckford was awarded the [[Order of Distinction]] in 2007 by the Jamaican government for his contribution to music. | + | |
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| - | He died on 17 February 2021 at a hospital in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]]. He was 78, and suffered from diabetes, hypertension, and problems with his kidneys prior to his death, and had been undergoing surgery at that hospital. | + | |
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| - | ===U-Roy's music and Rastafarianism=== | + | |
| - | [[Rastafarianism]] has been a feature of Beckford's lyrics from his earliest singles to his latest album ''Pray Fi Di People''. Beckford's second single "Earth's Rightful Ruler" (1969) opens with a profession of Rastafarian faith given in the Ethiopian language [[Amharic language|Amharic]]: | + | |
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| - | <blockquote><poem> | + | |
| - | Kibir amlak (Glory to Jah) | + | |
| - | Qedamawi ras fetari (First creator) | + | |
| - | Qedamawi iyesus kristos (Holy Jesus Christ) | + | |
| - | Lebdama mabrak isad | + | |
| - | Tenayistilgn (Greetings) | + | |
| - | </poem></blockquote> | + | |
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| - | Beckford's "Joyful Locks" (1975) is a DJ version of [[Linval Thompson]]'s "Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks"; an encouragement to others to keep their dreadlocks and to "let it grow". The original song and Beckford's DJ version both allude to the biblical [[Samson]] who as a Nazarite was expected to make certain religious vows including the ritual treatment of his hair as described in Chapter Six of the [[Book of Numbers]]: | + | |
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| - | <blockquote>All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
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| - | ==Death== | + | |
| - | Beckford's death was confirmed on 17 February 2021 when his partner, Marcia Smikle, told the Jamaica Gleaner. [[Trojan Records]] was also informed about his death. As of 19 February, no cause of death has been made public. | + | |
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| - | ==Legacy== | + | |
| - | Beckford was preceded by the toasters [[Count Matchuki]], [[King Stitt]] and [[Sir Lord Comic]] who themselves were influenced by the ''[[jive talk]]'' of the US [[disc jockeys]] that they heard on American radio stations whose broadcasts reached the Caribbean. Beckford was the first toaster to popularize the form through a series of successful releases on the Duke Reid label gaining a wider audience for toasting. This approach to production and the remixing of previously recorded tracks with a new vocal influenced the early [[hip-hop]] pioneers. [[Kool Herc]] states: | + | |
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| - | <blockquote>"Hip-hop….the whole chemistry of that came from Jamaica…..In Jamaica all you needed was a drum and a bass. So what I did was go right to the ‘yoke’. I cut off all the anticipation and just played the beats. I’d find out where the break in the record was and prolonged it and people would love it. So I was giving them their own taste and beat percussion wise….cause my music is all about heavy bass." | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
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Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Ben Harper" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
