Generoso and Lily’s Bovine Ska and Rocksteady: Keith Hudson’s Inbidimts Label 4-12-16

Dennis Alcapone’s I’m Rocking On Imbidimts

Welcome Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Listeners,

The Tuesday, April 12th edition of Generoso and Lily’s Bovine Ska and Rocksteady began with a hearty tribute to Toots and the occasion that he will be on tour again this summer after a three year hiatus due to the jerk who hit him with a bottle for no reason whatsoever. We have always loved Toots and have honored him multiple time during the twenty years of the radio show but this time means something more so we started off the beautiful cut that he and the Maytals recorded in 1964 for Coxsone, Heaven Declare. We stayed on the ska for the first two sets of the show with a highlight being BB Seaton as Bibby with The Astronauts on the Astronaut label from 1964 and Wicked Men.

For our mento set, we began with one of the many tunes featuring a mento band attached to a Jamaican hotel, which was the thing back in the day. Here we have the Montego Beach Hotel Calypsonians on the (you guessed it) Montego Beach Hotel Gift Shop Label and the song, Red Head, from 1959. Thanks as always to Mike from mentomusic.com for the information on many of the mento cuts we play on the show. An invaluable resource for us over the years on the Bovine Ska.

The final set of the first hour started with a version to version of Lloyd Young’s killer reggae from 1972 on Shalimar, Butter and Bread which we followed with The Shalimar All Stars and Bread and Butter. After a few more early reggae cuts, we launched into our spotlight of Keith Hudson’s IMDIBIMTS LABEL!

Often referred to as the Dark Prince of Reggae, Keith Hudson is an amazing figure in Jamaican music. He attended the Boys Town School in Kingston and frequented Coxsone’s Downbeat sound system constantly which would lead to also hanging around Coxsone’s studio musicians, carrying Don Drummond’s trombone to recording sessions. As a teenager, Hudson became very well known for his sense of style and his pragmatic sensibilities when it came to his music

First, Hudson was a newspaper salesman, and afterwards, he became a dental technician, specializing in fitting dentures, and from this work, he used his earnings to fund his first record label, Imbidimits, named for the patois word for dental embedments. Imbidimits featured plenty of stars, including John Holt, who recorded for Keith Hudson in 1969, and who will kick off the spotlight with “Never Will Hurt My Baby”

Zap Pow were a Jamaican reggae band, whose members have included guitarist Dwight Pinkney, singer Beres Hammond and trumpeter David Madden. They existed from 1969 to 1979. In terms of great talents at Imbidimits, the house band for the label was Soul Syndicate, who Hudson somewhat strongarmed into working with. Hudson’s muscle, Derrick Stamma Hobson, was sent to convince the group to record for Imbidimits, and though that almost led to a violent confrontation, Hudson reassured the group that he was simply a fan of the group and would like to work with them

Ken Boothe’s Old Fashioned Way put Keith Hudson on the map as a producer and after that, his collaboration with Dennis Alcapone would launch Alcapone’s career. Speaking of deejays, Hudson would also be integral in the rise of Big Youth, who recorded S90 Skank for the Imbidimts label which had the rhythm of Keith Hudson’s own We Will Make.

Trojan’s imprint Green Door would distribute Hudson productions. By the mid 70s, Hudson stopped producing and transitioned into a career as a singer. He moved to London then New York, where he signed a deal with Virgin records, who hoped he would be the next Bob Marley. Always trying to record something new, Hudson was always trying out something. It’s such a sin that he was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 1984 and passed only three months later. He was an enormous talent

For news on the upcoming spotlights and fun discoveries tied to early Jamaican music, join the group for the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady on Facebook.

XOXO,
Lily and Generoso

You can listen to our April 12th, 2016 Bovine Ska and Rocksteady and our tribute to Keith Hudson’s Imbidimts label right here, right now!

Generoso and Lily’s Bovine Ska and Rocksteady: Gilmore Grant Memorial and The Starline Label 4-5-16

R.I.P. Gilmore Grant Of The Silvertones

It’s been a tough year for entertainment, and we are sad to pass on the news of Gilmore Grant’s of The Silvertones passing. He went to the hospital with severe stomach pains on March 28th and passed away two days later, just a couple of weeks after The Silvertones performed in St. Elizabeth.

Originally a duo of Gilmore Grant and Keith Coley, the Silvertones became a trio with the addition of Delroy Denton. The group saw early success with Duke Reid, and then proceeded to work with Sonia Pottinger, Clancy Eccles, and Coxsone Dodd. In the late sixties, Denton moved to America, and he was replaced by Clinton “Tennessee” Brown, and the group would continue to record together until Brown’s passing in 1999. In 2013, Grant and Coley added Joel Brown, and the group recorded again and performed live as well.

We send many condolences and respect to Gilmore Grant’s family. We honored Gilmore with our opening set of the group he helped form, The Silvertones.

Starline is a subsidiary of Melodisc that produced Jamaican rhythm and blues and ska. The label predominantly released Byron Lee productions along with a few from Laurel Aitken, who produced and performed his own tracks for the label.
It is no surprise that Laurel Aitken has recordings on Starline. As an artist whose work was readily distributed on the well known Melodisc subsidiary Blue Beat in England, Laurel Aitken naturally had the ability to record and produce at Starline. Born in Cuba, Laurel began his career in music as a mento performer for the Jamaican Tourist Board and as a performer in plenty of Jamaica’s talent shows. He first recorded for Stanley Motta and then LR DePass, a businessman who released and sold a few mento and calypso records from his shop which also sold furniture, music instruments, records, and appliances. After he made the move to England in 1960, he continued to record, and when he returned to Jamaica in 1963, Laurel was still productive, recording the body of work that would earn him the nickname and title of the Godfather of Ska.

For news on the upcoming spotlights and fun discoveries tied to early Jamaican music, join the group for the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady on Facebook.

XOXO,
Lily and Generoso

Here is our April 5th, 2016 Bovine Ska and Rocksteady which featured a memorial for Gilmore Grant and a spotlight on the Starline Label.

Generoso and Lily’s Bovine Ska and Rocksteady: Jimmy Riley Memorial Show 3-29-16

R.I.P. Jimmy Riley

It is with sadness that we must share the new that Jimmy Riley passed away on March 23 from bone cancer at the age of 61.

Jimmy Riley is a chameleon of music. As a singer, he performed with the Uniques and the Sensations prior to becoming a solo artist, and additionally he emerged as a producer as reggae grew. Furthermore, he is also the father of the noted musician Tarrus Riley. Jimmy will be remembered as a fine singer, a talented producer, a caring father, and a dedicated mentor to musicians. We are so very sad to hear of his passing, and tonight, we will spotlight each facet of Jimmy Riley’s career. We send much respect to his family and all who worked with him.

To start off, we will began with recordings from the group that he helped form: The Sensations. Jimmy Riley went to school at Kingston Senior High School with Slim Smith, and he very much wanted to be a member of the Slim’s group, The Techniques, but the group already had four members, so adding a fifth did not make sense, even though Jimmy did his best to join the band, helping to carry clothes to and from shows and rehearsing with them as well. As a result, Jimmy formed the Sensations with Cornell Campbell, Aaron Davis, and Buster Riley, creating a group that had great talent in their own right. The quartet auditioned for Gladdy Anderson at Treasure Isle and were accepted on the spot. King Sporty came by the studio and brought Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers’, “Juvenile Delinquent,” and the Sensations began to rehearse their own version of it. The group’s version of that iconic track was their first recording, and they saw success with it at the dances in Jamaica. Next, we’ll hear The Sensations’ “Juvenile Delinquent,” the track that marks the strong beginning of Jimmy Riley’s career as a recording artist.

After the Techniques disbanded, Slim Smith founded the Uniques with Franklyn White and Roy Shirley. That first version of the Uniques separated after their early recordings failed to take off, and Slim took some time to record as a soloist. Well, the Sensations would disband during this time, and upon this, Jimmy reunited with Slim Smith along with Jackie Parris and Lloyd Charmers as a vocalist for the second version of the Uniques. The Uniques saw great success, defeating Bob Marley and Wailers to win the Battle of the Groups at the Ward Theater. We’ll heard Jimmy Riley with the Uniques next. “Lesson of Love” was written by Jimmy Riley.

After the Uniques split up, Jimmy Riley began to record as a soloist, first for Bunny Lee. Born as Martin James Norman Riley, Jimmy is credited as a recording artist and a producer as either Martin or Jimmy Riley. While most know Jimmy as a soloist for his track, “Love and Devotion,” which he recorded for Sly and Robbie, his early solo works are excellent, and you’ll hear them next.

As a producer, Jimmy Riley created his own labels, which included PEE, the subject of one of our label spotlights, along with Yes and Full Moon later in reggae. Plenty of his productions also made their way to England, to be distributed by some of our favorite English imprints. To kick off this hour of Jimmy Riley productions, we’ll start of with three tracks from the mighty PEE label.

For a younger generation, many know Jimmy as the father of Tarrus Riley, and the two of them would often perform as a duo, including most recently at Central Park’s Summer stage last year. We send much respect and many condolences to Tarrus.

For news on the upcoming spotlights and fun discoveries tied to early Jamaican music, join the group for the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady on Facebook.

XOXO,
Lily and Generoso

Here is our March 29th, 2016 Bovine Ska and Rocksteady Jimmy Riley Memorial Radio Show