The Congos
Encyclopedia
The Congos are a reggae
vocal group from Jamaica
active on and off from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "Scratch" Perry.
(tenor) (b. Roydel Johnson, 1947, Hanover, Jamaica) and Cedric Myton
(falsetto) (b. 1947, Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica
), later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett
(baritone) (b.early 1950s, Port Antonio
, Jamaica
). Myton had previously been a member of The Tartans
in the late 1960s (along with Prince Lincoln Thompson, Devon Russell
and Lindburgh Lewis), and Ras Michael
's group, and had recorded with Thompson's Royal Rasses in the mid-1970s. He formed the Congos, initially as a duo with Johnson, recording the single "At the Feast" for Lee "Scratch" Perry. Perry expanded the group to a trio with the addition of Burnett, this line-up recording the classic roots reggae
album Heart of the Congos
in 1977 at Perry's Black Ark studio. The album featured illustrious backing singers such as Gregory Isaacs
, The Meditations
, and Barry LLewellyn and Earl Morgan of The Heptones
. The album has been described as "the most consistently brilliant album of Scratch's entire career".
Perry's previous productions by Max Romeo
and Junior Murvin
had been huge commercial successes thanks to a deal with Island Records
, but Perry was in dispute with Island at the time the Congos' album was finished, so it was released on his own Black Ark
label, limiting its success overseas, and causing a rift with the group. The Congos went their own way, organizing a limited pressing of the album themselves. United Kingdom label Go Feet
eventually reissued the album in 1980, and although the group had recorded new material since leaving Perry, Heart of the Congos proved a hard act to follow and their other releases suffered as a consequence. Albums such as Congo Ashanti were sparser and sounded ordinary compared to Perry's kitchen-sink-and-all massive productions.
Burnett quit the group, soon followed by Johnson, who embarked on a solo career. Myton continued to record as The Congos with various other musicians until the mid-1980s.
In the mid-1990s, The Congos reformed, with Myton and Burnett joined by Lindburgh Lewis, several albums following in subsequent years. In 2005 Myton recorded Give Them the Rights with a host of backup singers and star session players such as Sly and Robbie
and Earl "Chinna" Smith, very much in the spiritual 70s roots vein.
In 2006, the UK reggae revival label Blood and Fire released the album Fisherman Style featuring a remixed version of the classic cut "Fisherman" from Heart of the Congos plus such legends as Horace Andy
, Big Youth
, Dillinger
, Prince Jazzbo
, Luciano
, Freddie McGregor
, Gregory Isaacs
, Max Romeo
, Mykal Rose, Dean Fraser
, Sugar Minott
, and U-Roy
doing their own new versions over the original rhythm.
In 2008, The Congos appeared in the independent feature film, Wah Do Dem
which captures them performing "Fisherman," and "Congoman Chant," under a full moon at Helshire Beach outside Kingston.
In 2009, Myton, Burnett, and Johnson reunited with Perry to record the album Back in the Black Ark, which, despite its title, was recorded at Myton's studio in Portmore and at Mixing Lab, Kingston.
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...
vocal group from 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...
active on and off from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "Scratch" Perry.
History
The Congos formed as the duo "Ashanti" Roy JohnsonRoydel Johnson
Roydel Anthony Johnson , better known as Congo Ashanti Roy is a Jamaican reggae singer best known as a member of The Congos but who also recorded solo and as a member of Ras Michael's Sons of Negus.-Biography:...
(tenor) (b. Roydel Johnson, 1947, Hanover, Jamaica) and Cedric Myton
Cedric Myton
Cedric Myton born in Jamaica is a Reggae musician and Rastafarian. Myton played with Prince Lincoln Thompson in The Tartans in the early 1970s until they apparently fell out. Cedric Myton claims he was one of the backing harmony vocals on Prince Lincoln's Humanity album recorded in 1975, but he is...
(falsetto) (b. 1947, Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica
Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica
St Catherine is a parish located in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parish because of its many resources. It includes the first capital of Jamaica, Spanish Town, originally known as San Jago de la...
), later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett
Watty Burnett
Watty Burnett, also known as King Burnett is a reggae artist who had a long association with Lee Perry.-Biography:...
(baritone) (b.early 1950s, Port Antonio
Port Antonio
Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about 60 miles from Kingston. It had a population of 12,285 in 1982 and 13,246 in 1991...
, 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...
). Myton had previously been a member of The Tartans
The Tartans
The Tartans were a rocksteady group who came together in 1967 in Kingston, Jamaica. The members were initially Prince Lincoln Thompson, Cedric Myton, Devon Russell and Lindberg Lewis....
in the late 1960s (along with Prince Lincoln Thompson, Devon Russell
Devon Russell
Devon Russell was a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer and record producer who recorded between the 1960s and the 1990s, both as a solo artist and as a member of The Tartans and Cultural Roots.-Biography:...
and Lindburgh Lewis), and Ras Michael
Ras Michael
Ras Michael is a Jamaican reggae singer and Nyabinghi specialist. He also performs under the name of Dadawah.-Biography:...
's group, and had recorded with Thompson's Royal Rasses in the mid-1970s. He formed the Congos, initially as a duo with Johnson, recording the single "At the Feast" for Lee "Scratch" Perry. Perry expanded the group to a trio with the addition of Burnett, this line-up recording the classic roots reggae
Roots reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...
album Heart of the Congos
Heart of the Congos
Heart of the Congos is a roots reggae album by The Congos, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry at his Black Ark studio with a studio band including Boris Gardiner on bass and Ernest Ranglin on guitar. The album was released in 1977...
in 1977 at Perry's Black Ark studio. The album featured illustrious backing singers such as 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....
, The Meditations
The Meditations
The Meditations are a reggae vocal harmony group from Jamaica formed in late 1974. They have released several studio albums and are still performing in the 2000s and today.-History:...
, and Barry LLewellyn and Earl Morgan of The Heptones
The Heptones
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady with their three-part harmonies.-History:Leroy Sibbles, Earl...
. The album has been described as "the most consistently brilliant album of Scratch's entire career".
Perry's previous productions by 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...
and Junior Murvin
Junior Murvin
Junior Murvin is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is best known for the single "Police and Thieves", produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1976. Murvin's soaring voice and the infectious rhythm made "Police and Thieves" into an international hit during the summer of that year. It peaked at #23 in the...
had been huge commercial successes thanks to a deal with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, but Perry was in dispute with Island at the time the Congos' album was finished, so it was released on his own Black Ark
Black Ark
The Black Ark was the recording studio of reggae and dub producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, built in 1973 and located behind his family's home in the Washington Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica...
label, limiting its success overseas, and causing a rift with the group. The Congos went their own way, organizing a limited pressing of the album themselves. United Kingdom label Go Feet
Go Feet Records
Go Feet Records was an English record label founded by, and predominantly used to release recordings by, the ska revival band The Beat . The band had some chart success in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The label also released a few recordings by other bands...
eventually reissued the album in 1980, and although the group had recorded new material since leaving Perry, Heart of the Congos proved a hard act to follow and their other releases suffered as a consequence. Albums such as Congo Ashanti were sparser and sounded ordinary compared to Perry's kitchen-sink-and-all massive productions.
Burnett quit the group, soon followed by Johnson, who embarked on a solo career. Myton continued to record as The Congos with various other musicians until the mid-1980s.
In the mid-1990s, The Congos reformed, with Myton and Burnett joined by Lindburgh Lewis, several albums following in subsequent years. In 2005 Myton recorded Give Them the Rights with a host of backup singers and star session players such as Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie is the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare who joined in the mid 1970s after having established themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians...
and Earl "Chinna" Smith, very much in the spiritual 70s roots vein.
In 2006, the UK reggae revival label Blood and Fire released the album Fisherman Style featuring a remixed version of the classic cut "Fisherman" from Heart of the Congos plus such legends as Horace Andy
Horace Andy
Horace Andy is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "Angel", "Five Man Army" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....
, Big Youth
Big Youth
Manley Augustus Buchanan , better known as Big Youth , is a Jamaican deejay, mostly known for his work during the 1970s....
, Dillinger
Dillinger (musician)
Dillinger is a reggae artist.-Biography:As a young man growing up in Kingston, Dillinger would hang around Dennis Alcapone's El Paso sound system...
, 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...
, Luciano
Luciano (singer)
Luciano is a Jamaican second generation roots reggae artist and poet....
, Freddie McGregor
Freddie McGregor
Freddie McGregor has been variously a singer, musician and producer. According to Allmusic he is one of reggae's most durable and soulful singers, with a steady career that started in the 1960s, when he was just seven years old.-Biography:In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to...
, 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....
, 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...
, Mykal Rose, Dean Fraser
Dean Fraser
Dean Fraser is a Jamaican saxophonist who has contributed to hundreds of reggae recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the Musgrave Medal by the Jamaican government in 1993 in recognition of his services to music.-Biography:Fraser started to play the clarinet at the age of 12...
, Sugar Minott
Sugar Minott
Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott was a Jamaican reggae singer, producer and sound-system operator.-Biography:...
, and 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:...
doing their own new versions over the original rhythm.
In 2008, The Congos appeared in the independent feature film, Wah Do Dem
Wah Do Dem
Wah Do Dem is an American independent movie from 2009.The major roles are played by Kevin Bewersdorf , Sean Bones and Carl Bradshaw , who played in the 1972 film The Harder They Come....
which captures them performing "Fisherman," and "Congoman Chant," under a full moon at Helshire Beach outside Kingston.
In 2009, Myton, Burnett, and Johnson reunited with Perry to record the album Back in the Black Ark, which, despite its title, was recorded at Myton's studio in Portmore and at Mixing Lab, Kingston.
Album discography
- Heart of the CongosHeart of the CongosHeart of the Congos is a roots reggae album by The Congos, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry at his Black Ark studio with a studio band including Boris Gardiner on bass and Ernest Ranglin on guitar. The album was released in 1977...
(1977) Black ArkBlack ArkThe Black Ark was the recording studio of reggae and dub producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, built in 1973 and located behind his family's home in the Washington Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica... - Congo Ashanti (1979) Congo Ashanty/CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
- Image of Africa (1979) Congo Ashanty/EpicEpic RecordsEpic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
/CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... - Face The Music (1981) Go Feet
- Best Of Congos vol. 1 (1983) Tafari
- Natty Dread Rise Again (1997) RASRAS RecordsRAS Records, also known as Real Authentic Sound, is a reggae record label.-History:RAS Records was founded in 1979 by Doctor Dread. In his travels to Jamaica he created a network within the reggae artist community there. By the early to mid 1980s RAS had signed artists such as Black Uhuru, Inner...
- Revival (1998) VPVP RecordsVP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:...
- Live at Maritime Hall: San Francisco (2000) 2B1
- Lion Treasure (2001) JDC/M10
- Give Them the Rights (2005) Young Tree
- Fisherman Style (2006) Blood and Fire
- Cock Mouth Kill Cock (2006) Explorer Music also issued as Feast (2006) Kingston Sounds
- Swinging Bridge (2006) Mediacom/Nocturne
- Back in the Black Ark (2009) Mediacom