Alvin Ranglin
Encyclopedia
Alvin 'GG' Ranglin is a Jamaica
n reggae
singer and record producer
.
Church background. As a radio
and television
technician involved in the jukebox
industry, he soon acquired his own sound system
he named "GG". By the mid 1960s, he opened his own TV repair shop in May Pen
and started to produce
records
with artists
such as Trevor Brown; and as a singer with Vernon Buckley (later of The Maytones
) as "Vern & Alvin" and with Lloyd Flowers under the name of "Flowers & Alvin". He soon developed his business by buying jukeboxes and opening his first record shop
.
He took over the Gloria label from a family member in 1969 and had his first hit with The Maytones
' (of which he was an early member) single "Loving Reggae". He worked with the vocal duo until they split in 1980 and enjoyed different hits
mainly with love songs in the early 1970s. He started his GG's label in 1970 and had a big hit with "Man from Carolina" by his studio
band
named GG Allstars, an organ-led reworking of the Folkes Brothers
hit "Oh Carolina". Among all the artists he worked with are Eric Donaldson
in 1970 ("Lonely Night"...), Max Romeo
, Billy Dyce, The Ethiopians
in 1972, U-Roy
in 1973, Prince Mohammed with the hit "Hallelujah I Love Her So", Cynthia Richards
, Gregory Isaacs
from 1974 to 1977 (including his debut In Person album, and the two Best of volumes), The Starlites featuring Stanley Beckford ("Soldering
" in 1975), Jah Thomas in the mid 1970s ("Midnight Rock"), Dennis Brown
in 1975, I-Roy
in 1977, Dennis Alcapone
, Mike Brooks
in 1977 ("Guiding Star" launched his career), between 1977 and 1978 Jah Stone & Freddie McKay
("The Right Time"), in 1979 Lone Ranger ("Barnabas Collins" became a #1 in the UK
reggae chart in 1980) plus Barrington Levy
, with whom he enjoyed a string of hits in the early 1980s. Isaacs gave Ranglin his first international hit with "Love is Overdue", and in the four year period that the two worked together in the 1970s, Isaacs status rose to that of a superstar. Ranglin worked with him again in 1995 on the Dreaming album, and again in 2002 on I Found Love.
During his long career, Ranglin set up different record labels such as GG's, Hit, and Typhoon, and record stores in places such as Kingston
, Half Way Tree, Old Harbour, Brooklyn
and London
.
He currently lives in Kingston
and owns GG Records, a recording studio
and a pressing plant.
Compilations
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singer and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Biography
Ranglin started to sing in public in his teens with an AdventistAdventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
Church background. As a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
technician involved in the jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
industry, he soon acquired his own sound system
Jamaican sound system
In the context of Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music...
he named "GG". By the mid 1960s, he opened his own TV repair shop in May Pen
May Pen
May Pen is the capital and largest town in the parish of Clarendon in the Middlesex County, Jamaica. It is located on the Rio Minho river , and is a major market centre for the Parish...
and started to produce
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
with artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
such as Trevor Brown; and as a singer with Vernon Buckley (later of The Maytones
The Maytones
The Maytones are a Jamaican reggae vocal duo who were active between the late 1960s and until 1980.-History:...
) as "Vern & Alvin" and with Lloyd Flowers under the name of "Flowers & Alvin". He soon developed his business by buying jukeboxes and opening his first record shop
Record shop
A record shop or record store is an outlet that sells recorded music. Although vinyl records and audio cassettes are no longer sold in the majority of music stores, in favour of compact discs and home video recordings products, people in some countries, like the UK, still use the term "record...
.
He took over the Gloria label from a family member in 1969 and had his first hit with The Maytones
The Maytones
The Maytones are a Jamaican reggae vocal duo who were active between the late 1960s and until 1980.-History:...
' (of which he was an early member) single "Loving Reggae". He worked with the vocal duo until they split in 1980 and enjoyed different hits
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
mainly with love songs in the early 1970s. He started his GG's label in 1970 and had a big hit with "Man from Carolina" by his studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
named GG Allstars, an organ-led reworking of the Folkes Brothers
Folkes Brothers
The Folkes Brothers were a Jamaican mento group, composed of John, Mico, and Junior Folkes. Their 1960 single "Oh Carolina" was the first hit record produced by Prince Buster, and is regarded as a landmark in the history of ska and reggae music....
hit "Oh Carolina". Among all the artists he worked with are Eric Donaldson
Eric Donaldson
Eric Donaldson is a Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter.-Biography:Donaldson has won the Jamaican Festival Song Competition six times, in 1971, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1993 and 1997. His winning 1971 entry, "Cherry Oh Baby", launched him into the limelight, although he had been composing and recording...
in 1970 ("Lonely Night"...), Max Romeo
Max Romeo
Max Romeo is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless...
, Billy Dyce, The Ethiopians
The Ethiopians
The Ethiopians were a ska, rocksteady, and reggae vocal group, founded by Leonard Dillon , Stephen Taylor and Aston Morris.-History:...
in 1972, U-Roy
U-Roy
U-Roy , OD, is a Jamaican musician, also known as The Originator. He is best known as a pioneer of toasting.-Biography:...
in 1973, Prince Mohammed with the hit "Hallelujah I Love Her So", Cynthia Richards
Cynthia Richards
Cynthia Richards is a Jamaican singer whose career began in the 1960s.-Biography:Born in Disney Land, Kingston, Jamaica, in 1944, Richards attended the Denham Town Primary School where after impressing teachers with a performance at an end-of-term concert she was encouraged to appear on the Vere...
, Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Anthony Isaacs was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in the New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae". His nicknames include Cool Ruler and Lonely Lover....
from 1974 to 1977 (including his debut In Person album, and the two Best of volumes), The Starlites featuring Stanley Beckford ("Soldering
Soldering (song)
"Soldering" is a song, by Ewart Beckford & Alvin Ranglin, that has been recorded by artists including Desmond Dekker, The Specials, and Hall & Oates...
" in 1975), Jah Thomas in the mid 1970s ("Midnight Rock"), Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown 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 sub-genre of reggae...
in 1975, I-Roy
I-Roy
Roy Samuel Reid better known as I-Roy was a Jamaican DJ who had a very prolific career during the 1970s.-Biography:...
in 1977, Dennis Alcapone
Dennis Alcapone
Dennis Alcapone is a reggae DJ and producer.-Career:Smith initially trained as a welder and worked for the Jamaica Public Services...
, Mike Brooks
Mike Brooks (singer)
Mike Brooks aka Mikey Brooks, Prince Michael is a reggae singer whose career stretches back to the early 1970s.-Biography:...
in 1977 ("Guiding Star" launched his career), between 1977 and 1978 Jah Stone & Freddie McKay
Freddie McKay
Freddie McKay was a Jamaican singer, whose career spanned the rocksteady and reggae eras.-Biography:...
("The Right Time"), in 1979 Lone Ranger ("Barnabas Collins" became a #1 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
reggae chart in 1980) plus Barrington Levy
Barrington Levy
Barrington Levy is a reggae and dancehall artist from Jamaica.-Career:In 1976, Levy formed a band with his cousin, Everton Dacres, called the Mighty Multitude; the pair released "My Black Girl" in 1977...
, with whom he enjoyed a string of hits in the early 1980s. Isaacs gave Ranglin his first international hit with "Love is Overdue", and in the four year period that the two worked together in the 1970s, Isaacs status rose to that of a superstar. Ranglin worked with him again in 1995 on the Dreaming album, and again in 2002 on I Found Love.
During his long career, Ranglin set up different record labels such as GG's, Hit, and Typhoon, and record stores in places such as Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, Half Way Tree, Old Harbour, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
He currently lives in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
and owns GG Records, a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
and a pressing plant.
Partial discography
The GG All Stars- Man From Carolina - 1970 - TrojanTrojan RecordsTrojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica...
- Ganja Plane - 1970 - TrojanTrojan RecordsTrojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica...
- The Three Dreads From Zion - 1978 - GG's
Compilations
- Various Artists - Reggae Flight 404 - 1970 - Trojan
- Various Artists - Reggae Reggae Volume 2 - 1972 - Trojan
- Various Artists - Atlantic 1 - 1975 - Horse/Trojan
- Various Artists - Street Corner Ital Food - 1979 - GG's
- Various Artists - From Chapter To Version - 1970-1974 - 1998 - Jamaican GoldJamaican GoldJamaican Gold is an independent record label from Netherlands specialized in Jamaican music reissues.Aad Van Der Hoek founded the label in 1992 and has since been working closely with Jamaican producers and sound engineers, transferring usually the music directly from the original mastertape in...
- Various Artists - From GG's Reggae Hit Stable Vol 01 - 1968-1973 - Jamaican Gold (1998)
- Various Artists - From GG's Reggae Hit Stable Vol 02 - 1969-1973 - Jamaican Gold (1998)
- Various Artists - Holy Ground - Heartbeat RecordsHeartbeat RecordsHeartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington , Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of Linton Kwesi Johnson's Dread Beat an' Blood...
(1990)
External links
- Alvin Ranglin at Roots Archives