General Trees

Last updated

General Trees
Birth nameAmos Edwards
Born (1960-12-13) 13 December 1960 (age 60)
Origin Kingston, Jamaica
Genres Reggae
Years active1980s–present

Amos Edwards (born 13 December 1960) [1] [2] [3] [4] better known by his stage name General Trees, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay who was considered one of the most popular deejays of the 1980s, best known for his hits in the latter half of the decade.

Contents

Biography

Born in Drews Land, Kingston, on December 13, 1960, General Trees is widely regarded as the best Jamaican speed rapper of his era, the "fast style" of delivery commonly accepted as arriving in Jamaica from the UK, through London-born Phillip Papa Levi. [5] In his early years after working as a shoemaker in his father's shop, he first found fame as a sound system star, working on Maurice Johnson's Black Scorpio system, which he had followed since the 1970s, his brother having preceded him as a deejay on the system. [1] [2] [6] His name was given to him by Barry G, who thought he sounded like "a General with three voices in one". [7] His fellow deejay Lord Sassafrass was known as "The Horseman", with the Black Scorpio system also known as the "Horseman" sound system, and when Trees joined he was known as "the younger horseman" and dressed as a jockey to perform. [6]

When Johnson opened his own studio, also named Black Scorpio, he began producing recordings, including those by artists that had performed with his sound system, including Trees and Lord Sassafrass. [1] General Trees' had a string of hits followed, including "Heel And Toe", "Monkey And Ape", "Ghost Rider", and "Crucifixion", although his best-remembered song is "Mini Bus", which lamented the demise of the "jolly bus", [8] and which was awarded the title "Song Of The Year" in 1986 from the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. [5] The award raised his profile and he went on to record for a variety of producers in Jamaica.

Further hits followed with "Gone A Negril" (#2 in 1986) [9] and "Calling All Higglers", and he contributed to a "clash" album, Battle Of The Generals, that featured versions of "Lambada" and "Think Twice". [5] Trees also recorded combination hits including "Coke Pipe" with Fancy Black, and "Nightmare" with Little John. In the early 1990s he again worked with Johnson, who also acted as his manager, [5] but a falling-out between the two led Trees to work for other producers. [2] Although he never repeated his earlier popularity, he had some success with "Eye Nah See", "Great Jamaican Jockeys" and "Goodie Goodie". [5] He was less active during the late 1990s, although he recorded "Lik Him But Nuh Kill Him" for Linval Edwards in 1999. [2] After that he was largely silent until he reunited again with Johnson in 2005, recording new songs including "Run di Place Again", "Mother of the Land", and "She Says She Loves Me". [2] A tour of Europe with the Black Scorpio sound system followed in December 2005. [2] He then began working with the Stur-Gav sound system. [7] In late-2019, Trees suffered numerous strokes that has hindered his vocal performance. [10] (specifically vocal-cord paresis) This is not the only time a medical condition has effected a deejay, such like Yellowman's skin cancer, subsequent surgery and disfigurement of his jaw, and Tiger's motorcycle accident causing vocal-cord damage.

Discography

Related Research Articles

Bounty Killer Musical artist

Rodney Basil Price, known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair for gun talk". He is considered one of the best dancehall lyricists of all-time.

The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles.

There are several subgenres of reggae music including various predecessors to the form.

Merciless, born Leonard Bartley 1 July 1971 in the Turner district of Chapelton, Clarendon, Jamaica, is a ragga and dancehall artist.

Half Pint Musical artist

Half Pint, and sometimes credited Lindon Andrew Roberts) is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae singer.

Macka B Musical artist

Christopher MacFarlane, better known as Macka B, is a British-born Jamaican reggae artist, performer and activist with a career spanning thirty years in the United Kingdom and Jamaica. According to AllMusic.com "Macka B was one of Britain's most influential dancehall DJs."

Lady G Musical artist

Janice Fyffe, known as Lady G, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae deejay. She is widely recognised as a dancehall veteran and pioneer.

Papa San Musical artist

Tyrone Thompson, better known as Papa San, is a Jamaican reggae, dancehall and gospel singer.

Peter Metro is a reggae deejay, who released five albums in the 1980s.

Johnny Ringo was a reggae/dancehall deejay active from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

Mega Banton is a Jamaican dancehall deejay who came to prominence in the early 1990s.

Captain Sinbad was the deejay alter ego of Jamaican record producer Carl Dwyer.

Robert Ffrench is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.

Michael Alexander Johnson, better known as Daddy Screw, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay best known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s.

Norman Washington Jackson, better known as Tiger, is a Jamaican dancehall musician active since the late 1970s. He is known for his growling style of deejaying, often imitated by other dancehall deejays since his initial rise to fame.

Lieutenant Stitchie Musical artist

Cleveland Laing, better known as Lieutenant Stitchie, is a Jamaican deejay who originally worked in the dancehall style but switched to gospel reggae in 1997 after surviving a car crash, thereafter working under the shorter name Stitchie.

Black Scorpio Musical artist

Black Scorpio is a Jamaican sound system and record label run by Maurice "Jack Scorpio" Johnson.

Yellowman Jamaican reggae singer

Winston Foster, better known by the stage name Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, also known as King Yellowman. He was popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, coming to prominence with a series of singles that established his reputation.

Richard Patrick Bennett OD, better known by the stage name Charlie Chaplin, is a Jamaican dancehall and ragga singer and deejay. It was common for Jamaican deejays of the era to name themselves after film stars or characters. Bennett, however, had been nicknamed after the comedian since his youth. His career began in 1980 when he began working with U-Roy's Stur-Gav Hi-Fi collective. He became extremely popular throughout Jamaica, memorable for his focus on cultural and social themes instead of the "slack" lyrics that were popular at the time. His popularity as a live performer prompted Roy Cousins to produce some recording sessions with the young DJ. Chaplin's debut album was the Cousins-produced Presenting Charlie Chaplin in 1982, with several albums following for the producer over the next three years.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton (2004) The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn, Rough Guides, ISBN   1-84353-329-4, p. 284.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Patrick Foster (2005) "General Trees back on the local bus [ permanent dead link ]", Jamaica Observer , 16 December 2005.
  3. ↑ David V. Moskowitz (2006) Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae,Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN   0-313-33158-8, p. 120.
  4. ↑ Other sources, e.g. the Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Moskowitz, state that his real name is Anthony Edwards.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Colin Larkin The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Muze Ltd
  6. 1 2 Lesser, Beth (2008) Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, Soul Jazz, ISBN   978-0-9554817-1-0, p. 81.
  7. 1 2 Krista Henry (2007) "GLORY DAYS: General Trees pulls music from the deck", Jamaica Gleaner , 9 September 2007,
  8. ↑ Mel Cooke (2008) "General Trees makes, marks history with 'Minibus'", Jamaica Gleaner , 23 November 2008.
  9. ↑ Mel Cooke (2008), "Story of the song: General Trees' 'Gone a Negril'", Jamaica Gleaner , 30 November 2008.
  10. ↑ Loop News (2020), "Rebel Salute 2020: General Trees makes return to stage after stroke", Loop News, 18 January 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.