Song:Duke's Cookies
Album:Early Blue Beat Greats Volume 1
Along with Coxsone Dodd, Arthur "Duke" Reid was a very important figure in the early days of Jamaican music. Though mainly known as the owner of Treasure Isle, he occasionally released instrumental singles under his own name. Duke's Cookies is from 1960. He was born July 21 1915 in Portland, Jamaica. His family owned the Treasure Isle grocery store in Kingston. He started out in the 50s as a DJ with a mobile sound system. He started producing his own music in the late 50s. Among the successful artists he produced in those early days were Derrick Morgan and The Jiving Juniors. But he also recorded under his own name. His motivation was keeping one step ahead of his chief rival Dodd. The funny part is the same musicians appeared on instrumentals produced by Reid and Dodd. They didn't care as long as they got paid. Among the musicians would be guys like Roland Alphonso on sax, Ray Harper on trumpet, Rico Rodriguez on trombone, Ernest Ranglin on guitar, Cluett Johnson on bass and Lloyd Knibbs on drums. I don't know who is on Duke's Cookies. It would depend on availability. There is no detailed discography for Jamaican music. You will notice a heavy Chicago blues influence on this record. Apparently Reid was a big jazz and blues fan. This led to the invention of ska with Derrick Morgan a key figure. And Reid continued his success through the 60s. This various artists CD is being released this week. It's a sampling of early 60s Jamaican music. Reid slowed down in the 70s due to health problems. He also did not like the Rastafarian reggae movement. He died on Jan. 1 1975 at age 59. Here's a video of Duke's Cookies by Duke Reid's Group.
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