Lloyd Charmers (born Lloyd Tyrell, 1938, 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...

, 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...

) is a ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

 and 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, keyboard

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

 player 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...

.

Career

Lloyd Charmers' professional career began in 1962, when he performed as The Charmers with Roy Willis on Vere Johns

Vere Johns

Vere Everette Johns was a Jamaican journalist, impresario, radio personality, and actor, who helped to launch the careers of many Jamaican musicians through his popular talent contests.-Biography:...

' Talent Hour, starting a recording

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 career soon after. When The Charmers split, he joined 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 Jimmy Riley

Jimmy Riley

Jimmy Riley is a Jamaican singer who in addition to recording solo has also been a member of the Sensations and The Uniques.-Biography:...

 in The Uniques

The Uniques

The Uniques may refer to:*The Uniques , a Jamaican vocal group*The Uniques , a rock group including Joe Stampley in the 1960s*The Uniques , a rock group founded including Duane in Gregg Allman in the 1960s...

. Charmers subsequently moved on to a solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 career, releasing two album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

s in 1970, and also recording x-rated tracks such as "Birth Control", and the album Censored, these more risqué outings appearing under his real name or as 'Lloydie and The Lowbites'.

He was also a member of The Messengers, along with 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...

, B. B. Seaton and Busty Brown.

He set up his own 'Splash' record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in the early 1970s, and moved into production. Productions by him were notable for their sophisticated arrangements. With his session

Session musician

Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

 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...

, The Now Generation, he produced artists such as Ken Boothe (including some of Boothe's most successful solo releases of the period, including his cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of David Gates

David Gates

David Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...

' "Everything I Own

Everything I Own

"Everything I Own" is a song written by David Gates. Originally recorded by Gates's band Bread for their 1972 album Baby, I'm a Want You, the single was recorded by The Connells, Jack Jones, Ken Boothe, Olivia Newton-John, Georgie Fame, Boy George, *NSYNC, Jude, Rod Stewart, Crystal Gayle, Nicole...

"), B. B. Seaton, 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 &...

, and Lloyd Parks

Lloyd Parks

Lloyd Parks is a reggae vocalist and bass player.-Biography:Parks' interest in music was fuelled by his uncle Dourie Bryan, who played in a calypso band, and Parks became the band's singer...

.

Tyrell's influence can be heard in The Specials

The Specials

The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...

' song "Too Much Too Young", which borrows the melody and structure of "Birth Control".

Albums

• Reggae Charm (1970, 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...
  
  ) (with Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
  Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
  Byron Lee and the Dragonaires are a Jamaican ska, calypso and soca band. The band played a crucial pioneering role in bringing Caribbean music to the world...
  
  )
• Reggae Is Tight (1970, Trojan)
• Censored (1972, Lowbite) (as Lloydie and The Lowbites)
• Charmers In Session (1973, Trojan)
• Wildflower Original Reggae Hits (1974, Trojan)
• Too Hot To Handle (1975, Wildflower)
• Golden Days (1980, Sarge)
• Sweet Memories (1982, Echo)

External links

• Lloyd Charmers at Roots Archives