Enos McLeod is a Jamaica

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...

 whose career dates to the mid-1960s.

Biography

McLeod was born in 1946 in Trenchtown

Trenchtown

Trench Town is a neighborhood located in the parish of St. Andrew which shares municipality with Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. In the 1960s Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town boasts the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum, a visitor friendly...

, Kingston, Jamaica

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 before his career in music he trained as a cabinet-maker and a boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. His debut release was "Mackie", which was produced by Sid Bucknor, who at the time was the resident engineer at Studio One. Under Bucknor's tutelage, McLeod learned the basics of record production, soon having success with late 1960s releases such as "Young Love" by Lloyd Clarke. His production work included recordings with some of Jamaica's top singers, including 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....

, Ken Boothe

Ken Boothe

Ken Boothe OD is a Jamaican recording artist.-Biography:Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school...

, and The Gaylads

The Gaylads

The Gaylads were one of the top Rocksteady vocal groups active in Jamaica between 1963 and 1973. The group, formed in Kingston, originally consisted of singers Harris "B.B." Seaton, Winston Delano Stewart and Maurice Roberts; Seaton and Stewart had previously been successful as the duo Winston &...

. McLeod also produced the first recording by Michael Williams credited to Prince Far I

Prince Far I

Prince Far I was a Jamaican reggae deejay, producer and a Rastafarian. He was known for his gruff voice and critical assessment of the Jamaican government. His track "Heavy Manners" used lyrics against measures initiated towards violent crime.-Biography:He was born Michael James Williams in...

, previous recordings being issued under the name King Cry Cry, with the new stage name given to Williams by McLeod. McLeod also produced Augustus Pablo

Augustus Pablo

Horace Swaby , known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s onwards. He popularized the use of the melodica in reggae music...

's 1975 album Thriller. McLeod continued to work as a singer, having hits in Jamaica with singles such as "Tel Aviv", "Hi-Jacking", and "If You Love Jah", and the combination hits "Jestering" (with Shorty the President) and "Jericho" (with The Mighty Diamonds

The Mighty Diamonds

Mighty Diamonds are a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group, which comprised Donald "Tabby" Shaw, Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson, and Lloyd "Judge" Ferguson, was formed in 1969, and remains together as of 2010...

).

In the mid-1970s, McLeod's boxing skills saw him employed by 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...

 as a bouncer at the latter's recording studio on Retirement Crescent, also working on recording sessions with resident engineer Errol Thompson, with McLeod vocal sides from this era including "Money Worries", and his biggest hit, "By the Look", a version of the 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...

 hit, "Cheater". He also recorded several singles under the name Preacher including "Black Moses", "Psalms of David" and "Rhythm Bible".

McLeod continued recording sporadically, and became based in Europe from the 1990s.

Discography

• By the Look in Your Eyes (1978) Soul Beat
• Ram Jam Party (1996) President
• Dance Hall Style (1997)
• Love of My Life (2005) Orbit

Compilations:

• Telaviv (1981) Orbit
• Goodies Best (1995) Century
• Enos in Dub (1995) Century
• The Genius of Enos (1996) Pressure Sounds
  Pressure Sounds
  Pressure Sounds is a British record label, specializing in releasing reggae music. It is run by Pete Holdsworth although Adrian Sherwood was involved at the inception of the imprint...
  
  
• Reggae Mix-Tures (2003) Century (Enos McLeod & Friends)

External links

• Enos McLeod at Roots Archives