Died On This Date (July 10, 2010) Sugar Minott / Reggae Legend

Lincoln “Sugar” Minott
May 25, 1956 – July 10, 2010

Sugar Minott was a reggae pioneer who began his career during the late ’60s as a member of the African Brothers.  Their early recordings are noted to have shown the Rastafaris’ influence on the development of reggae music.  Minott soon went to work at Coxsone Dodd’s legendary Studio One as a back up musician, singer and overall apprentice, eventually branching out to make his first solo records there.  His recordings of the late ’70s and early ’80s are considered some of the biggest influences on reggae’s dancehall scene.  He also released several UK charting roots and lovers rock style records throughout the ’80s.  Meanwhile, Minott operated one of Jamaica’s most popular sound systems which was set up in public parks and afforded countless young reggae artists their first opportunities to perform in front of an audience.  He also produced records by the likes of Daddy Freddy, Horace Andy and Barrington Levy.  Others with which he collaborated were  Sly & Robbie and Mikey Dread, to name a couple.   Sugar Minott was 54 when he died in a Kingston hospital.  Cause of death was likely due to a heart conditioned he suffered from.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number 1 Albums for the assist.

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Nice It Up - The Best of Sugar Minott - Sugar Minott

Died On This Date (May 11, 1981) Bob Marley / Reggae Icon

Bob Marley
February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981

Bob Marley was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter who is widely recognized for bringing reggae music to the rest of the world.  He is arguable the most beloved performer of reggae.  His greatest hits album, Legend, is the biggest selling reggae album of all times, selling a staggering 20 million copies.  in 1963, producer Coxsone Dodd discovered Marley in a group that also included Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.  They would soon become the Wailers.  Over the next several years, Marley would release a string of albums that would help define a sound and movement.  Those classic albums included Catch A Fire, Burnin’, Rastaman Vibration, and of course, Exudus.  In July of 1977, Marley was diagnosed with a form of malenoma in his big toe.  Citing his Rastafarian belief that the body most remain whole, Marley refused to receive any form of surgical treatment.  Instead, he sought more controversial and holistic forms of treatment, but the cancer had already progressed too far.  Bob Marley passed away in a Miami hospital at the age of 36.

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Exodus (Remastered) - Bob Marley

 

Died On This Date (May 5, 2004) Coxsone Dodd / Legendary Reggae Producer

Clement “Coxsone” Dodd
January 26, 1932 – May 5, 2004

coxsoneCoxsone Dodd was the pioneering Jamaican DJ and producer that many credit for early development of reggae and ska.  Dodd’s career in music began at an early age when he would spin records at this parents’ store.   He grew that into a popular sound system business, employing the likes of Lee “Scratch” Perry an U-Roy to run the sound systems.  Having spent some time in the United States, Dodd featured early American R&B records, first introducing many Jamaicans to the music.   Realizing that he couldn’t keep up with the local demand for new music with imports from the States, Dodd decided to start his own record label and shortly thereafter, open his Studio One recording studio.  Over the next two decades, Dodd would produce and release some of reggae’s greatest songs and albums from such artists as Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Sugar Minott, Ras Michael and Horace Andy.  To many, he was to reggae what Berry Gordy was to R&B, and his “studio one sound” would become the blueprint for ska and rocksteady.  Dodd died of a heart attack at the age of 74.

Died On This Date (January 20, 2010) Lyn Tait / Influential Reggae Guitarist

Lyn Taitt
June 22, 1934 – January 20, 2010

Lyn Taitt was a reggae guitarist best known for his work on rocksteady recordings.  As a child, Taitt first learned to play the steel drum, but by his mid teens he switched over to guitar.  His style was percussive and inventive, making him one of the first stand-outs of ska and rocksteady.  Over the course of his career, he played on hundreds of records, and worked with producers like the great Joe Gibbs and Coxsone Dodd.  His guitar work has graced records by the likes of Lee Scratch Perry, Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker and Ken Boothe.  In 1968, he moved to Canada where he stayed an active part of the Montreal reggae scene well into the 21st century.  Lyn Tait died of cancer on January 10, 2010.  He was 75.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number 1 Albums for the assist.

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Lyn Taitt & The Jets

Died On This Date (November 14, 1984) Keith Hudson / Dub Pioneer

Keith Hudson
1946 – November 14, 1984

keith-hudsonKnown as the “Dark Prince of Reggae,” Keith Hudson was a reggae musician, singer, songwriter and producer who helped usher in the practice of “dub.”  As a child growing up in Kingston, Hudson was a schoolmate of such future legends as Bob Marley, Ken Boothe and Delroy Wilson.  Even at an early age, he gravitated toward the riddems that would eventually be called ska and reggae.  He soon became a disciple of Coxsone Dodd, the legendary Jamaican producer.  In 1960, Hudson produced his first record by a group of musicians who would soon become members of the Skatalites.  His first hit as a producer came in the late ’60s thanks to “Old Fashioned Way,” a record he made with Boothe.  He went on to work with Wilson, Alton Ellis and U-Roy.  He began making his own records during the ’70s and began experimenting with dub.  His albums at the time were critical hits in Jamaica.  His 1975 Pick A Dub is considered a masterpiece and is widely regarded as the very first deliberately thematic dub album.  Hudson moved to New York City not long after the release of Pick A Dub and eventually started his own label.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer during the summer of 1984, and was 38 when he died of it four months later.

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Rasta Communication - Keith Hudson