Judy Mowatt
Encyclopedia
Judy Mowatt was born in the year 1948 in Gordon Town, St. Andrew Jamaica
. She is an internationally acclaimed reggae artist who rose to fame as 1/3 of the trio the I THREE who were the Back-Ground vocalists for Bob Marley.
, Otis Redding
, Curtis Mayfield
, Dionne Warwick
, Bob Marley
, Marcia Griffiths
, The Staple Singers
and The Soulettes. A coincidental meeting with two teenage girls who were earlier in her dance troupe led to the formation of the Gaylettes, in 1967.
Judy Mowatt associated with Bunny Livingston/Wailer in the early 1970s, and she has written some of the tracks recorded by Bunny Wailer. At that time, for legal reasons in the music business, she used alternate names as Juliann and Jean Watt. On The Wailers LP Burnin' (1973), two songs with Bunny Wailer as lead singer was written by Judy Mowatt under the pseudonym Jean Watt: "Hallelujah Time" and "Pass It On". Furthermore, the Wailers recorded a single, "Reincarnated Soul", also written by Jean Watt and sung by Bunny Wailer. This song – with the name changed to "Reincarnated Souls" – was included two years later on Bunny Wailers first solo album Blackheart Man (1976).
In 1974, she got her big break by joining Bob Marley
's backing vocal trio the "I-Threes".
Her Black Woman LP (1980) is considered by many critics to be the greatest reggae LP done by a female artiste. It was also the first reggae LP recorded by a woman acting as her own producer.
She became the first female singer nominated for a Grammy in the category of reggae music when her Working Wonders LP was nominated in 1985.
Formerly a member of the Rastafari movement
, in the late 1990s she converted to Christianity and now sings Gospel music
.
1980 Black Woman (Shanachie)
1982 Only A Woman (Shanachie)
1985 Working Wonders (Shanachie)
1986 Love Is Overdue (Shanachie)
1986 I Three / Beginning (Tuff Gong/EMI) with Rita Marley and Marcia Griffiths
1991 Look At Love (Shanachie)
1993 Rock Me (Pow Wow)
1998 Love (African Love/Jet Star)
2002 Something Old, Something New (Judy M Music/Tuff Gong International)
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...
. She is an internationally acclaimed reggae artist who rose to fame as 1/3 of the trio the I THREE who were the Back-Ground vocalists for Bob Marley.
Biography
13 years old, Judy Mowatt became a member of a dance troupe which toured Jamaica and other islands in the Caribbean. Her ambition was to become a registered nurse, but instead she dedicated her life to nurse and restore healing to the hearts and soul of mankind through her music. Her earliest influences were Aretha FranklinAretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
, Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, Marcia Griffiths
Marcia Griffiths
Marcia Llyneth Griffiths is a successful female singer, also called the "Queen of Reggae". One reviewer described her noting "she is known primarily for her strong, smooth-as-mousse love songs and captivating live performances".Griffiths started her career in 1964...
, The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
and The Soulettes. A coincidental meeting with two teenage girls who were earlier in her dance troupe led to the formation of the Gaylettes, in 1967.
Judy Mowatt associated with Bunny Livingston/Wailer in the early 1970s, and she has written some of the tracks recorded by Bunny Wailer. At that time, for legal reasons in the music business, she used alternate names as Juliann and Jean Watt. On The Wailers LP Burnin' (1973), two songs with Bunny Wailer as lead singer was written by Judy Mowatt under the pseudonym Jean Watt: "Hallelujah Time" and "Pass It On". Furthermore, the Wailers recorded a single, "Reincarnated Soul", also written by Jean Watt and sung by Bunny Wailer. This song – with the name changed to "Reincarnated Souls" – was included two years later on Bunny Wailers first solo album Blackheart Man (1976).
In 1974, she got her big break by joining Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
's backing vocal trio the "I-Threes".
Her Black Woman LP (1980) is considered by many critics to be the greatest reggae LP done by a female artiste. It was also the first reggae LP recorded by a woman acting as her own producer.
She became the first female singer nominated for a Grammy in the category of reggae music when her Working Wonders LP was nominated in 1985.
Formerly a member of the Rastafari movement
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
, in the late 1990s she converted to Christianity and now sings Gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
.
Discography
1975 Mellow Mood (Tuff Gong)1980 Black Woman (Shanachie)
1982 Only A Woman (Shanachie)
1985 Working Wonders (Shanachie)
1986 Love Is Overdue (Shanachie)
1986 I Three / Beginning (Tuff Gong/EMI) with Rita Marley and Marcia Griffiths
1991 Look At Love (Shanachie)
1993 Rock Me (Pow Wow)
1998 Love (African Love/Jet Star)
2002 Something Old, Something New (Judy M Music/Tuff Gong International)