Little Roy
| Little Roy | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Earl Lowe |
| Born | Early 1950s |
| Origin | Witfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae, dancehall |
| Years active | Late 1960s–present |
| Labels | Tafari, On-U Sound |
Little Roy (born Earl Lowe, early 1950s, Witfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae artist.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Little Roy launched his career in the rocksteady age, recording a few singles for Coxsone Dodd and Prince Buster, none of which made much headway.[1][2] As reggae itself unfolded, Roy switched to Lloyd Daley's recording studio. He then had a number one hit in 1969 with "Bongo Nyah", which topped the charts in Jamaica,[1] and was important for being the first commercially successful song to sing directly about the Rastafari movement. Then followed several other recordings under Daley's watchful eye, but occasionally Little Roy recorded for other record producers, including Lee "Scratch" Perry, who oversaw the "Don't Cross the Nation" in 1970, and brought in the Wailers to help out on the session.
In 1972, Roy teamed up with Maurice "Scorcher" Jackson, and later Maurice's brother Munchie, launching the Tafari and Earth record labels, homes for a stream of the singer's self-produced cultural singles. Roy had further hits in the 1970s with tracks such as "Tribal War" and "Prophecy". When the "Prophecy" rhythm was re-recorded by Steely & Clevie in 1990, forming the basis for a hit by Freddie McGregor, interest in the original prompted Roy to issue a collection of his old material, Prophesy.[2] A new album, Live On, was released in 1991, and he worked with Adrian Sherwood on the 1996 album Long Time.[2]
Even though Roy is not a prolific singer, he did release a new album in 2005, Children of the Most High.
In May 2011 Little Roy collaborated with Prince Fatty and the Mutant Hi-Fi to record Sliver/Dive cover of Nirvana's early single. An album of Nirvana songs, Battle for Seattle, is due for release in September 2011 on Ark Recordings.[3]
[edit] Albums
- Tribal War (1976)
- Columbus Ship (1981), Tafari/Copasetic
- Live On (1991)
- Long Time (1996), On-U Sound
- More From A Little (1999)
- Children of the Most High (2005)
- Heat (2011), Pharos
- Battle for Seattle (2011), Ark (UK chart peak: #111)[4]
- Compilations
- Prophesy (1989), Tafari
- Tafari Earth Uprising (1996), Pressure Sounds
- Packin' House (1999), Pressure Sounds - (Little Roy & Friends)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Bush, Nathan "Little Roy Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-14
- ^ a b c Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, p. 172
- ^ United Reggae, "Interview: Little Roy", retrieved 2011-06-29
- ^ http://zobbel.de/cluk/110917cluk.txt
