Welton Irie

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Welton Irie
Birth name Welton Dobson
Origin Jamaica
Genres Reggae
Instruments Vocals

Welton Irie (born Welton Dobson, 1961 in Jamaica), sometimes credited simply as Welton, is a Jamaican reggae deejay, best known for his work in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Jamaica Country in the Caribbean

Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola.

Reggae Music genre from Jamaica

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s.The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’, and ‘Rock Steady’. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.

In Jamaican music, a deejay (DJ) is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and "toasts" to an instrumental riddim.

Contents

Biography

Welton Irie began his career performing as simply 'Welton' on the Sir John the President and Big John's Stereophonic Sound sound systems (the latter later known as Echo Tone Hi Fi), in 1976, initially heavily influenced by Ranking Trevor. [1] After building up a sizeable following, he was able to introduce young talent such as General Echo to the sound system. [1] Welton moved on to the Gemini and Virgo sound systems and began a partnership with Lone Ranger, the two beginning their recording careers together as a duo for Studio One, in a similar vein to Michigan & Smiley with tracks such as "Chase Them Crazy". [1] [2] On Studio One boss Coxsone Dodd's recommendation, he extended his stage name to Welton Irie. [3] The pair's partnership was short-lived with both going on to solo careers. Solo hits soon came with "The Bomb", "Army Life", the Jamaican number one hit "Ballerina" recorded with Sly & Robbie, and "Lambs Bread International". [1]

In Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system is an important part of Jamaican culture and history.

Maxwell Grant, better known as Ranking Trevor and sometimes as Ranking Superstar, was a Jamaican reggae deejay.

Earl Anthony Robinson, better known as General Echo, a.k.a. Ranking Slackness, was one of the first reggae deejays to move away from 'cultural' lyrics towards 'slackness'.

His debut album, Ghettoman Corner, was recorded for producer Glen Brown and was based on rhythms from Sylford Walker's Lamb's Bread album. Walker's album was re-released with the inclusion of six of Irie's deejay versions as Lamb's Bread International by Blood & Fire in 2000.

Glenmore Lloyd "Glen" Brown also known as "God Son" and "The Rhythm Master", is a Jamaican singer, musician, and record producer, working primarily in the genres of reggae and dub. He currently resides in New York.

Sylford Walker is a Jamaican reggae singer who first recorded in the mid-1970s and, with reissues renewing interest in him, returned to recording and performing in the 21st century.

Blood and Fire is a British reggae record label specialising in reissues of 1970s dub.

In the early 1980s he worked with Henry "Junjo" Lawes' Volcano sound system, and in 1983 returned to Gemini, touring internationally with Johnny Ringo and Squiddly Ranking. [1] In the mid-1980s, with the prevalent style of reggae changing, Irie stopped deejaying and worked as a selector for Gemini. He revived his career in the mid-2000s and began performing live once again.

Henry "Junjo" Lawes was a highly influential Jamaican record producer.

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

Albums

Appearances on live albums

Greensleeves Records record label

Greensleeves Records & Publishing is a record label specialising in dancehall and reggae music. The company was founded by Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick and started as a small record store in West Ealing, London, in November 1975 and is based in Britain.

Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, ISBN   0-7535-0242-9
  2. ↑ Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, ISBN   1-84353-329-4
  3. ↑ Henry, Krista (2006) "Welton the first dancehall 'Irie' ", The Sunday Gleaner, 5 November 2006
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