REGGAE LOST TWO YESTERDAY

Man, oh man. Two in one day. Johnny Nash and Bunny "Striker" Lee both died yesterday. If you're not into reggae, those two names might not mean anything. Nash was an American singer, best known for his biggest hit "I Can See Clearly Now". He moved to Jamaica in 1965 and started a record label, Jad records, with two partners. After Nash met Bob and Rita Marley in 1966 at a Rastafarian grounation and heard them sing, he and his partners signed them, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Jad would have the Wailers nucleus until 1972. The contract sold to Island Records. The rest is history.

Nash himself had a rocksteady song, "Hold Me Tight", reach #7 in the U.S., a total anomaly in 1968. The LP that contained it had two Bunny Wailer songs. Then, in 1972, he had a hit with "I Can See Clearly Now" a reggae-lite tune that went to #1. On the LP of the same name were three Marley compositions and one that Nash co-wrote with Marley. Nash was an early highly visible reggae booster, notably before Marley exploded.

Bunny "Striker" Lee was a producer. If Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reed were the top dogs (which they were) Lee was right there behind them, coming in a little later but staying a little longer. The tracks he produced with his studio band, the Aggrovators, supplied King Tubby with all the raw dub meat he needed. Shit, just the list of deejays he worked with is a Who's Who: Dennis Alcapone, U-Roy, I-Roy, Prince Jazzbo, U Brown, Dr Alimantado, Jah Stitch, Trinity, and Tapper Zukie. Beat that Coxsonne.

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Listen (Produced by Bunny Lee):
The Aggrovators - Skilful Dub mp3at For the Sake of the Song
The Aggrovators - Babylon Dub mp3 at For the Sake of the Song Go there to get it
John Holt - Riding For a Fall mp3 at Tumblr