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Me and You come from a musical family, discovered by Dennis Brown, they began their career in 1974, he, Alton Ellis, Castro Brown and Granville Blake produced two albums, Natty Dread and Natty Dread Version which have recently been released for the first time. They then continued their career in 1979 signing with the DEB Music label run by Castro Brown and Dennis Brown. [1] (DEB stands for Dennis Emmanuel Brown). Their debut "This Love" reached the top 10 of the reggae charts and was followed by "You Never Know What You Got (Til It’s Gone)" produced by Dennis Brown and Castro Brown and backed by the We The People Band, which topped the reggae chart and was also a crossover success reaching number 31 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1979. [1] These two tracks were taken from the From Me To You album produced by Dennis Brown and Castro Brown and backed by the We The People Band. They toured as part of the DEB showcase and in 1980 were voted among the best newcomers in the Black Echoes awards. [1] They continued to enjoy reggae chart hits with singles such as "Let Me Go", "Casual Affair", "Who Told You So" and "Back Together Again" all taken from the album Let Me Go, and "Rock This Rub-A-Dub". [1]
They were then mentored for several years by Alton Ellis whom they met producing songs for their Natty Dread and Natty Dread Version albums and then again doing backing vocals for him at DEB Music.[ citation needed ] The soulful group has worked with legendary collaborators - musicians such as Bob Marley's The Wailers Band, Lee Perry's The Upsetters, Soul Syndicate, Earl "Chinna" Smith's High Times Band, The Studio One Band and We The People.[ citation needed ] Producers include Coxsone Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, King Tubby, King Jammy, Sly and Robbie, Steely & Clevie, Bobby Digital and Dennis Bovell.[ citation needed ]
Contrary to popular belief, there are actually three members of the group two sisters and a brother. They were only marketed as a duo because DEB Music their then record company run by Dennis Brown and Castro Brown already had several other trios in the stable e.g. Carlton & The Shoes, Tamlins, 15, 16, 17 and Black Harmony.
Also, although acknowledged as purveyors of classic love songs, when they started in the mid-1970s the first songs they sang were actually roots reggae reflecting the social consciousness in Jamaica at the time and comprising half of the two albums, Natty Dread and Natty Dread Version. Songs such as There Is A Land based on Abyssinians' Satta Massa Gana, Can't Stop Natty Dread and Dreadlocks In Moonlight written and produced by Lee Perry are backed by various bands such as The Revolutionaries, The Aggrovators, Sly & Robbie, The Upsetters and The Original Wailers band. Love songs include Hand It Over (with The Horsemouth Wallace Band) and Natural High (with The Wailers Band), Gee Baby (with Skin Flesh & Bones and I Wanna Know (with Chinna's High Times Band).
Their music encompasses and often fuses many genres within reggae (e.g. roots, dancehall, ragga, ska, dub and rock steady), as well as R&B, soul, garage and pop. With international hits in Jamaica, the Far East (where they are considered a soul group), US and Europe, they have developed a large and loyal fan base worldwide.[ citation needed ]
The group is still going strong and has never stopped recording. They have released 16 albums to date and more are due. Some of their singles are shown below.
They also produce other artists which include garage/house/dub fusion outfit AshbaCrew and reggae/dancehall band MegaMovement.
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm". In reggae, dancehall, calypso, soca, grime, and reggaeton parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. These genres consist of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure is distinctive in many ways. A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances.
Alton Nehemiah Ellis was a Jamaican singer-songwriter. One of the innovators of rocksteady who was given the informal title "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.
Studio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios; it has been described as the Motown of Jamaica. The record label was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall.
Ernest Ranglin is a Jamaican guitarist and composer who established his career while working as a session guitarist and music director for various Jamaican record labels including Studio One and Island Records. Ranglin played guitar on many early ska recordings and helped create the rhythmic guitar style that defined the form. Ranglin has worked with Theophilus Beckford, Jimmy Cliff, Monty Alexander, Prince Buster, the Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Eric Deans Orchestra. He is noted for a chordal and rhythmic approach that blends jazz, mento and reggae with percussive guitar solos incorporating rhythm 'n' blues and jazz inflections.
Jacob Miller was a Jamaican reggae artist and a Rastafari. His first recording session was with the famous Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd in the late 1960s. While pursuing a prolific solo career, he became the lead singer for the reggae group Inner Circle. Miller recorded and toured with Inner Circle until he and his son died in a car accident in 1980. Miller was only 27 years old.
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a subgenre of reggae. Bob Marley cited Brown as his favourite singer, dubbing him "The Crown Prince of Reggae", and Brown would prove influential on future generations of reggae singers.
Lloyd James, who is better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub master at King Tubby's recording studio. His dubs were known for their clear sound and use of effects.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Blood and Fire is a British reggae record label specialising in reissues of 1970s dub.
Little Roy is a Jamaican reggae artist.
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady into reggae with their three-part harmonies. The Heptones were contemporaries of the Wailers and the Maytals, and every bit their equal in the mid-60's.
The Wailing Souls are a Jamaican reggae vocal group whose origins date back to the 1960s. The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years with Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald the only constant members. They have been nominated for Grammy Awards three times.
Willi Williams is a Jamaican reggae and dub musician and producer. He is known as the "Armagideon Man" after his hit, "Armagideon Time", first recorded in 1977 at Studio One in Kingston. The song was covered by The Clash as the flipside of their "London Calling" single.
Carlton "Santa" Davis is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Andrew Tosh, Wailing Souls, Ini Kamoze, Big Mountain, Michael Rose, and Ziggy Marley.
Hugh Mundell was a Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter.
Steely & Clevie was a Jamaican dancehall reggae production duo that was composed of members Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne. The duo worked with artists such as the Specials, Gregory Peck, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man, and No Doubt.
Dub Store Records is a Japanese reggae record label specializing in Jamaican music reissues. The label is also known as Studio One Japanese official agency.
Alberto D'Ascola, better known by his stage name Alborosie, is an Italian-Jamaican reggae artist. He is sometimes called the "Italian Reggae Ambassador."
Soul Syndicate, originally called the Rhythm Raiders, were one of the top reggae session bands in Jamaica from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.
