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The Tennors | |
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| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae |
| Labels | Studio One Burning Sounds Secret Records |
| Past members | Ronnie Davis, Nehemiah Davis, George Dekker, Howard Spencer, and Hilton Wilson |
The Tennors is a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal group in the 1960s and '70s. Among the band's hits was "Ride Yu Donkey" in 1968. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 film Broken Flowers .
The group was formed in Kingston in the mid-1960s by singer George "Clive" Murphy who formed a duo with Maurice "Professor" Johnson. They called themselves the Tennor Twins. They auditioned a song called "Pressure and Slide" in 1967 while sitting in the back of a taxicab for arranger Jackie Mittoo of Studio One. Murphy and Johnson were then joined by Norman Davis, and the trio recorded the song backed by Mittoo. This, their first single, was one of the major Jamaican hits for the year 1967,. [1]
The Tennors then went on to form their own label that grew its own stable of artists. The accidental death of Johnson reduced the trio back to a duo, and Murphy and Davis continued as songwriters. They offered their song, "Ride Yu Donkey", to many artists, but ended up recording it themselves after it was turned down. The song was released in 1968 and was a huge hit.
Other songs by the Tennors included "Cleopatra (I've Got to Get You Off My Mind)", "Grandpa", "Massi Massa", "Girl You Hold Me" and "Rub Me Khaki", "Sufferer", "Sign of the Times", "Biff Baff" (aka "Traitor"), "Bow Legged Girl", "Little Things", "Cherry" and "Oh My Baby".
The group became a trio again with the addition of Ronnie Davis in 1968. Other singers who were in the Tennors included Nehemiah Davis, George Dekker, Howard Spencer, and Hilton Wilson. The trio backed singer Jackie Bernard on "Another Scorcher", and moved towards reggae with the song "Reggae Girl".
Under Sonia Pottinger, they recorded "Gee Whiz" and "Give Me Bread". In 1970, The Tennors worked with Treasure Isle producer Duke Reid on the song "Hopeful Village". It was a hit and won the group the Best Performer title at that year's Jamaican Independence Song Festival. The band worked again with Reid in 1973 on "Weather Report", adapted from "The Only Living Boy In New York" by Simon and Garfunkel.
After that, the group folded. Murphy emigrated to the United States and started a solo career under the name Clive Tennors. He released a solo album, Ride Yu Donkey, in 1991.
In March 2012, after a near 35 year hiatus, The Tennors reunited with George Murphy aka "Clive Tennors", Ronnie Davis. Currently Ronnie Davis works with The Tennors only when officially contracted and Sadiki left the group in 2012.
New stereo recordings of the original songs has been released for 2019 and released on Burning Sounds Records which is the early material recorded by The Tennors that has been revisited to create this unique collection. The sixteen classic cuts, curated and recorded under the aegis of heavyweight reggae producer Delroy Wilson. Includes a Booklet containing Interview with Clive Tennor
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish reggae, including harmony groups such as the Techniques, the Paragons, the Heptones and the Gaylads; soulful singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bob Andy, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon; musicians such as Jackie Mittoo, Lynn Taitt and Tommy McCook. The term rocksteady comes from a popular (slower) dance style mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rocksteady", that matched the new sound. Some rocksteady songs became hits outside Jamaica, as with ska, helping to secure the international base reggae music has today.
Alton Nehemiah Ellis was a Jamaican singer-songwriter. One of the innovators of rocksteady, he 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.
Donat Roy Mittoo, better known as Jackie Mittoo, was a Jamaican-Canadian keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a member of The Skatalites and musical director of the Studio One record label.
Kenneth George Boothe OD is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appealed to both reggae fans and mainstream audiences.
The Ethiopians were one of Jamaica's best-loved harmony groups during the late ska, rocksteady and early reggae periods. Responsible for a significant number of hits between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group was also one of the first Jamaican acts to perform widely in Britain.
Lloyd Daley also known as Lloyd's the Matador was a Jamaican electronic technician, sound system pioneer, studio engineer and reggae producer.
Leroy Sibbles is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s.
John Kenneth Holt CD was a Jamaican reggae singer who first found fame as a member of The Paragons, before establishing himself as a solo 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-1960s.
The Pioneers are a Jamaican reggae and soul vocal trio], whose main period of success was in the 1960s. The trio has had different line-ups, and still occasionally performs.
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.
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period, including Bob Marley & The Wailers, on their first single "Simmer Down." They reformed in 1983 and have played together ever since.
Dandy Livingstone is a British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae musician and record producer, best known for his 1972 hit, "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and for his song, "Rudy, A Message to You", which was later a cover hit for The Specials. "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number 78 in Australia. In the early 1960s, Livingstone recorded some of the bestselling UK-produced ska singles of the era.
Delroy Thompson, better known by his stage name Pinchers, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist.
Ronnie Davis was a Jamaican reggae singer who was a member of The Tennors, The Itals, and the group Ronnie Davis & Idren. He lately performed as a solo artist.
Gladstone Anderson, also known by his nickname "Gladdy", was a Jamaican pianist, keyboard player, and singer, who played a major part in the island's musical history, playing a key role in defining the ska sound and the rocksteady beat, and playing on hundreds of recordings as a session musician, a solo artist, and as leader of Gladdy's All Stars, featuring bassist Jackie Jackson, drummer Winston Grennan, guitarist Hux Brown, and keyboardist Winston Wright. As Harry J All Stars the band had a massive hit in Jamaica and United Kingdom with the instrumental song "The Liquidator" 1969.
Sydney "Luddy" Crooks is a founder and original member of the Jamaican vocal trio The Pioneers.
Eddie Lee Cornelius Jr. is a gospel singer, songwriter, speaker and author.
The Kingstonians were a Jamaican rocksteady/reggae vocal group best known for their late 1960s recordings for producer Derrick Harriott.
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