Song:Denham Town
Album:Trojan Reggae Duets Box Set
In the 60s, Jamaican record producers seemed to put together duets at random. Most of them were short lived but occasionally a song would be a hit and sometimes lead to bigger things. The 1967 song Denham Town was a hit in Jamaica and England and today is considered an essential to Rude Boy culture and ska. It helps that Denham Town is one of the roughest areas in Kingston and the song is a warning to Rudies to behave themselves. I'm sure most fans are familiar with the legendary reggae group The Pioneers. They were formed in 1962 by Sydney Crooks, his brother Derrick and Winston Hewitt. In 1965, they were recording for producer Leslie Kong. When Hewitt and Derrick Crooks left The Pioneers, Crooks recruited welder Jackie Robinson and they recorded the 1967 hit Gimme Some Loving. But he was looking for a third singer to round out the group. George Agard was a tailor who wanted to get into the music business. Apparently he's the half brother of Jamaican music legend Desmond Dekker. He also recorded as Johnny Melody. Leslie Kong suggested to Agard that he might do better as a member of a group so he introduced him to Crooks. Agard and Crooks wrote Denham Town and the song was produced by Kong. The song was a hit and I guess it was sort of an audition as Agard soon joined The Pioneers and the rest is Jamaican music history as The Pioneers is one of the most successful groups to ever come from Jamaica. You can get Denham Town on this various artists box set that collects all the random duets in one place. Here's a video for Denham Town by Winston & George.
No comments:
Post a Comment