Song:Whip Them Jah Jah
Album:Money In My Pocket:Antholgy 1970-1995
Until his premature death at age 42, Dennis Brown was one of Jamaica's most prolific recording stars and known as the Crown Prince Of Reggae. He was also Bob Marley's favourite singer. He was born Feb. 1, 1957 in Kingston, Jamaica. He grew up on Orange Street in the heart of the Jamaican music scene and by the time he was a teen, he was already recording with producer Coxsone Dodd. The turning point for Brown was when he went to record for Joe Gibbs in 1972. The idea was to work with legendary producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. But Perry had left and was replace with 20 year old engineer Niney "The Observer" Holness. Brown & Holness really hit it off and worked together extensively through the 70s. Brown would go elsewhere but the magic was missing and he would return to Holness. Whip Them Jah Jah is from Brown's landmark 1977 album Wolves And Leopards and very typical of Brown's wonderful vocal style. Brown attempted to start his own label in 1978 but he wasn't successful. He continued to have great success in Jamaica until A & M Records came calling in 1981. His music for A & M was watered down and when he was dropped, he also left Joe Gibbs. This 2CD comp from Trojan has a lot of his hits. Brown continued to record a lot through the 90s and the pressure to keep that up may have led to cocaine addiction. Dennis Brown was rushed to hospital on July 1, 1999 where he died of a collapsed lung at age 42. Another great artist taken from us way too soon. But there's plenty of great Dennis Brown music to listen to. Here's Dennis Brown performing Whip Them Jah Jah at Heartland Reggae 1978.
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