Bunny Lee
Encyclopedia
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee (born 23 August 1941) is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer
best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.
's Treasure Isle label in 1962, later performing the same duties for Leslie Kong
. He then moved on to work with Ken Lack
, initially in an administrative role, before taking on engineering duties. Lee then moved into producing (i.e. financing) records himself, his first hit record coming with Roy Shirley
's "Music Field" on WIRL in 1967. Lee then set up his own Lee's label, the first release being Lloyd Jackson's "Listen to the Beat". He produced further hits during 1967-68 by Lester Sterling
and Stranger Cole
, Derrick Morgan
, Slim Smith
and The Uniques
("My Conversation"), Pat Kelly
, and The Sensations
, establishing him as one of Jamaica's top producers. Between 1969 and 1972 he produced classic hits including Slim Smith's "Everybody Needs Love", Delroy Wilson
's "Better Must Come", Eric Donaldson
's "Cherry Oh Baby", and John Holt
's "Stick By Me".
Lee was a pioneer of the United Kingdom
reggae market, licensing his productions to the Palmer Brothers (Pama
) and Trojan Records
in the early 1970s.
The mid-1970s saw Lee work with his most successful singer, Johnny Clarke
, as well as Owen Gray
and Cornell Campbell
, and along with Lee "Scratch" Perry, he broke the dominance of Coxsone Dodd
and Duke Reid
. This era also saw the emergence of the "flying cymbal" sound on Lee's productions, developed by drummer Carlton 'Santa' Davis, with Lee's session band, The Aggrovators
.
Lee was instrumental in producing early dub music
, working with his friend and dub pioneer King Tubby
in the early 1970s. Lee and Tubby were experimenting with new production techniques, which they called "Implements of sound." Working with equipment that today would be considered primitive and limiting, they produced tracks that consisted of mostly the rhythm parts mixed with distorted or altered versions of a song.
Lee encouraged Tubby to mix increasingly wild dubs, sometimes including sound effects such as thunder claps and gunshots. In addition to King Tubby, dub mixers Prince Jammy
and Philip Smart also worked extensively on Lee's productions, with most of Lee's dubs from 1976 onwards mixed by Jammy.
In addition to dub sides and instrumentals, Lee would be one of the first producers to realize the potential of reusing the same rhythm tracks time and time again with different singers and deejay
s, partly out of necessity - unlike some of the other major producers Lee did not have his own studio and had to make the most of the studio time he paid for.
The latter half of the 1970s saw Lee work with some of Jamaica's top new talent, including Linval Thompson
, Leroy Smart
, and Barry Brown
.
By 1977 Joe Gibbs
and Channel One Studios
with the Hookim Brothers
became "the place to be", reducing Lee's prominence. However, during the late 1970s Lee produced almost every deejay, notably Dennis Alcapone
, U-Roy
, I-Roy
, Prince Jazzbo
, U Brown
, Dr Alimantado
, Jah Stitch
, Trinity
, and Tapper Zukie
. Most of these were quick productions, usually to classic Studio One
or Treasure Isle riddim
s. The aim was to get deejay versions on the street quickly and were usually voiced at Tubby's studio in the Waterhouse district of Kingston
. In the early 1980s, Lee purchased Gibbs' studio, and continued producing, albeit on a less prolific basis than in the 1970s.
In 1982 an episode of the Channel 4
documentary
series Deep Roots was dedicated to Lee. Filmed in in the control room of King Tubby
's studio it included a lengthy conversation with him and some of the musicians he has worked with over the years including Delroy Wilson
, Johnny Clarke
, Prince Jazzbo
and Jackie Edwards. It then shows Lee producing a dub while Prince Jammy mixes. The program has been released on DVD in January 2008.
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...
best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.
Biography
Lee began his career working as a record plugger for Duke ReidDuke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
's Treasure Isle label in 1962, later performing the same duties for Leslie Kong
Leslie Kong
Leslie Kong was a Chinese Jamaican record producer.-Career:Leslie and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley's in Orange Street, Kingston...
. He then moved on to work with Ken Lack
Ken Lack
Ken Lack was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae record producer active in the latter half of the 1960s, who also ran the Caltone and JonTom record labels.-Career:...
, initially in an administrative role, before taking on engineering duties. Lee then moved into producing (i.e. financing) records himself, his first hit record coming with Roy Shirley
Roy Shirley
Roy Shirley also known as King Roy Shirley and The High Priest was a Jamaican singer whose career spanned the ska, rocksteady and reggae eras, and whose "Hold Them" is regarded by some as the first ever rocksteady song...
's "Music Field" on WIRL in 1967. Lee then set up his own Lee's label, the first release being Lloyd Jackson's "Listen to the Beat". He produced further hits during 1967-68 by Lester Sterling
Lester Sterling
Lester Sterling is a Jamaican trumpet and saxophone player.-Biography:Like many Jamaican musicians of his generation, Sterling attended the Alpha Boys School....
and Stranger Cole
Stranger Cole
Stranger Cole, also known as StrangeJah Cole is a Jamaican singer whose long recording career dates from the early days of ska in 1962 through to the 2000s.-Biography:...
, Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan is a musical artist popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff in the rhythm and blues and ska genres, and he also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae.-Biography:In 1957 Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent...
, Slim Smith
Slim Smith
Slim Smith was a ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book Reggae: The Rough Guide , Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge in the rocksteady era".-Biography:Smith first came to prominence as a member of the Victors Youth Band, who were highly...
and The Uniques
The Uniques (Jamaican group)
The Uniques were a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal group, formed in 1966 and active with varying line-ups until the late 1970s.-History:...
("My Conversation"), Pat Kelly
Pat Kelly (musician)
Pat Kelly is a reggae singer whose career began in the late 1960s.- The Techniques :Kelly was born in Kingston in 1949. After leaving school, he spent a year studying electronics in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States during 1966, before returning to Jamaica...
, and The Sensations
The Sensations
The Sensations were an American doo wop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The group formed in 1954 under the name the Cavaliers, soon after changing to the Sensations. The group scored two hits on the US R&B chart in 1956 with the Atco Records singles "Yes Sir That's My Baby" and "Please Mr....
, establishing him as one of Jamaica's top producers. Between 1969 and 1972 he produced classic hits including Slim Smith's "Everybody Needs Love", Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer.-Biography:Wilson released his first single "Emy Lou" in 1961 for record producer, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, at the age of thirteen...
's "Better Must Come", 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...
's "Cherry Oh Baby", and John Holt
John Holt (singer)
John Holt is a reggae singer and songwriter.-Biography:Holt was born in Kingston in 1947. By the age of 12, he was a regular entrant in talent contests run at Jamaican theatres by Vere Johns...
's "Stick By Me".
Lee was a pioneer of the United Kingdom
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 market, licensing his productions to the Palmer Brothers (Pama
Pama Records
Pama records was a United Kingdom record label active during the 1960s and 1970s. Initially focused on soul music, it became one of the major outlets for reggae in the UK.-History:...
) and Trojan Records
Trojan Records
Trojan 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...
in the early 1970s.
The mid-1970s saw Lee work with his most successful singer, Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke , Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.-Biography:Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the...
, as well as Owen Gray
Owen Gray
Owen Gray also known as Owen Grey is one of Jamaica's 'Foundation' singers whose work spans the R&B, ska, rocksteady, and reggae eras of Jamaican music, and he has been credited as Jamaica's first home-grown singing star....
and Cornell Campbell
Cornell Campbell
Cornell Campbell aka Don Cornell or Don Gorgon is a reggae singer, best known for his trademark falsetto voice, and his recordings at Studio One in the late 1960s and his later work with Bunny Lee in the 1970s.-Biography:Cornel has one of the sweetest falsettos of any Jamaican vocalist and uses it...
, and along with Lee "Scratch" Perry, he broke the dominance of Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
and Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
. This era also saw the emergence of the "flying cymbal" sound on Lee's productions, developed by drummer Carlton 'Santa' Davis, with Lee's session band, The Aggrovators
The Aggrovators
The Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
.
Lee was instrumental in producing early dub music
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, working with his friend and dub pioneer King Tubby
King Tubby
King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...
in the early 1970s. Lee and Tubby were experimenting with new production techniques, which they called "Implements of sound." Working with equipment that today would be considered primitive and limiting, they produced tracks that consisted of mostly the rhythm parts mixed with distorted or altered versions of a song.
With all the bass and drum ting now, dem ting just start by accident, a man sing off key, an when you a reach a dat you drop out everything an leave the drum, an lick in the bass, an cause a confusion an people like it...
Lee encouraged Tubby to mix increasingly wild dubs, sometimes including sound effects such as thunder claps and gunshots. In addition to King Tubby, dub mixers Prince Jammy
King Jammy
Lloyd James , 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...
and Philip Smart also worked extensively on Lee's productions, with most of Lee's dubs from 1976 onwards mixed by Jammy.
In addition to dub sides and instrumentals, Lee would be one of the first producers to realize the potential of reusing the same rhythm tracks time and time again with different singers and deejay
Deejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...
s, partly out of necessity - unlike some of the other major producers Lee did not have his own studio and had to make the most of the studio time he paid for.
The latter half of the 1970s saw Lee work with some of Jamaica's top new talent, including Linval Thompson
Linval Thompson
Linval Thompson is a Jamaican reggae and dub musician and record producer.-Biography:Thompson was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, but spent time with his mother in Queens, New York, and his recording career began around the age of 20 with the self-released "No Other Woman," recorded in Brooklyn, New...
, Leroy Smart
Leroy Smart
-Biography:Smart was born in 1952 and orphaned aged 2. He was raised at Maxfield Park Children's Home and educated at Alpha Boys School, where he studied singing, drums and dancing....
, and Barry Brown
Barry Brown (singer)
Barry Brown was a Jamaican reggae singer, initially coming to prominence in the 1970s with his work with Bunny Lee, but remaining popular throughout his career.-Biography:...
.
By 1977 Joe Gibbs
Joe Gibbs (record producer)
Joe Gibbs born Joel A. Gibson was a Jamaican reggae producer.-Biography:Joe Gibbs worked as an electronics engineer in the United States before his career in music started. Gibbs eventually returned to Kingston, Jamaica and opened an electrical repair shop with television repairs and sales as its...
and Channel One Studios
Channel One Studios
Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica. The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and has had a profound influence on the development of reggae music....
with the Hookim Brothers
Joseph Hoo Kim
-Career:Shortly after the Jamaican government banned gaming machines in the early 1970s, Joe Joe Hookim and his brother Ernest, abandoned their jobs as machine operators, and jumped into the music business. By 1973, the Hookims had opened their own studio, Channel One, with Joe Joe as its hands-on...
became "the place to be", reducing Lee's prominence. However, during the late 1970s Lee produced almost every deejay, notably 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...
, 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:...
, 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:...
, Prince Jazzbo
Prince Jazzbo
Prince Jazzbo is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer.Prince Jazzbo began recording with Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label in the early 1970s...
, U Brown
U Brown
U Brown aka New Roy, Hugh Brown, Nuroy is a reggae deejay who released eleven albums between 1976 and 1984.-Biography:...
, Dr Alimantado
Dr Alimantado
Dr Alimantado, born Winston James Thompson, also known as The Ital Surgeon is a Jamaican reggae singer, DJ, and producer.-Biography:Thompson was born in Kingston in 1952, where he adopted the Rastafarian faith at an early age...
, Jah Stitch
Jah Stitch
Jah Stitch is a reggae deejay best known for his recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:...
, Trinity
Trinity (musician)
Trinity aka Junior Brammer is a reggae deejay and producer, whose career began in the mid-1970s and continued into the 1990s.-Biography:Born in 1954, Brammer was educated at the Alpha Boys School...
, and Tapper Zukie
Tapper Zukie
Tapper Zukie is a reggae deejay and producer.-Biography:Tapper was the nickname given to him by his grandmother in his youth, while Zukie was a name that came from his friends' association as a young boy - their gang was called 'The Zukies'.In 1973 his mother, concerned with Zukie's tendency to...
. Most of these were quick productions, usually to classic Studio One
Studio One (recording studio)
Studio One was a recording studio, located in the northern Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Doraville.The studio was constructed and designed in 1970 by audio engineer Rodney Mills, with the support of music publisher Bill Lowery and future Atlanta Rhythm Section manager Buddy Buie...
or Treasure Isle riddim
Riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...
s. The aim was to get deejay versions on the street quickly and were usually voiced at Tubby's studio in the Waterhouse district of 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...
. In the early 1980s, Lee purchased Gibbs' studio, and continued producing, albeit on a less prolific basis than in the 1970s.
In 1982 an episode of the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
series Deep Roots was dedicated to Lee. Filmed in in the control room of King Tubby
King Tubby
King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...
's studio it included a lengthy conversation with him and some of the musicians he has worked with over the years including Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer.-Biography:Wilson released his first single "Emy Lou" in 1961 for record producer, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, at the age of thirteen...
, Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke , Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.-Biography:Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the...
, Prince Jazzbo
Prince Jazzbo
Prince Jazzbo is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer.Prince Jazzbo began recording with Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label in the early 1970s...
and Jackie Edwards. It then shows Lee producing a dub while Prince Jammy mixes. The program has been released on DVD in January 2008.
External links
- CD Times meets Bunny Lee
Further reading
- Cox and Warner, eds. Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. Continuum: 2004. ISBN 978-0826416155.