Greetings, in the name of His Majesty the Imperor Selassié the First, Everliving
Everfaithful Eversure, this is Winston Jarret, original Righteous Flames, speaking…I
was born in the early 50's in the parish of St. Anns, Lime Tree Garden, my mother and my
father was a legend from L.T.G., why they call it L.T.G.? Because is one of the most
beautyful place in Jamaica, it is a garden of flowers, beautyfication, and it's a parish
for health and good, good food; most of the people from L.T.G. is educated people, that's
the place where I was born, that's where Marley was original born. So, my mother took me
to the parish of Kingston, I was in my early childhood, so I grew up in Kingston from the
age of 5, I have been to Halfway Tree School and I grew up in Kingston 12, that is Trench
town…they call it the slum area…Bob Marley and the rest of the Wailers, Bunny
Wailer and Peter Touch ( Winston uses the same name to which are credited some of Peter's
singles), come after Winston Jarret. I was living at # 22, 4th street and they were living
in 5th street.
So, were you in friendship with them all?
Me, Bob, Peter and Bunny is good friend even up till now, right now, at this pointed
time…me and Bunny Wailers were sitting down just two days ago, before you met me at
Sonic Sounds…he come there very regulary, and we smoke a joint together sitting down
and reasoning about the rasta movement, so I am a man of the ghetto…I have an album,
title track: Man of the Ghetto released in 1979, that's why they call me Man of the
Ghetto.
How many album did you released under your name?
Eight albums, I have my little catalog consisting of 8 albums cd and 200 45's released
from early 60's…
Which lables?
All different kind of lables, for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle I used to sing with Alton
Ellis, that's where I started with: Alton and the Flames.
What? Were you one of those wonderful voices providing harmonies in such fabled
song as "Dance Crashers?"
I am the lead singer of the Flames, I found the name the Flames and I find also the
name Righteous Flames…Alton was singing as Alton and Edith, a duo, then Edith Parks
she left to America in the early 60's, so, from that time we take over with Alton.
We sing "Girl I've Got a Date"[he sings it] for Duke Reid's Treasure
Isle...
…and the backing group was then Tommy Mc Cook and the Supersonics, right?
Yes, Tommy and the S., also Lynn Tait and the Jets, we did a lot of songs for T.I.,
"Why Birds Follow the Spring"(I start to sing!), "La, la, la I Love
You", " Let Me Try"…lot of songs for Duke Reid the Trojan; then we
went to Coxone, Studio One, the period was 1966/68, we did "Breaking Up Is Hard"
that was a re-recorded from Teasure Isle for the album the Best of Alton Ellis.
…but those songs were all credited to Alton, the Flames in those records
are not mentioned at all! I really thought the Flames were existing no more in those
times...
Yeah, everything go to Alton Ellis, they didn't talk about Alton and the Flames but we
are the people who do the backtrack on all those songs with Alton Ellis; so, 1970/72 Alton
went to England with Coxone, Jackie Mittoo and the Studio One band, the Soul
Vendors…at that time I started to write and compose songs and the first song I did
for S.O. was "I was born to be loved"[he sings inna very soulful style],
it was credited to me, arranged by Jackie Mittoo played by the Soul Brothers…it's on
a Studio One compilation and it was on a Steely & Clevie album too, a big sound, with
Dawn Penn "I was born to be loved" was on that album too. I re-recorded it over
for Steely & Clevie and it's going good too,you know? It can't stop sell from that
time, it's a good tune…
Excuse me, Winston, I would like to know something about the payment, I heard
from the most part of the jamaican artists I spoke with, that the common practice between
some producers was, I would say, robbing the artist…what do you remember?
Well I'm gonna give you my experience about that and my experience is that, at that
time, n.1 is we did not know our rights, regarding to recording and what you got to do
like registering your songs and n.2 you did not know anything about CCO, you call it the
mechanical copyright…we did not know anything about that thing, about our rights and
people was infringing our rights and expropriating us, the composer and arranger…so
is further long down the road after we get realize and to know our rights.
How much did you usually get payed per copy?
We get what the dog get at that time, you know? And royalty at that time
was…something like 3 cents per copy untill it go to something like 5 cents per copy.
What about the musicians you played with? Which was the reletionship between
the singers and the musicians?
This is a very intelligent question, I'm gonna tell you the truth now, how I am
concerned with that…the musicians and the composer/singer supposed to coordinate as
one family whenever time you go into the studio. For me, when I'm doing my recording
is…I would say, a spiritual works, the vibes, the innaman vibes that you go in the
studio with supposed to be good, if you don't go in the studio with that vibes you can't
be able to come out a the studio with a good sound because you didn't go in the studio
with a goood vibes.
I got to read a chapter of psalms, every man must read a chapter of psalms per day…so
that's what I did, read a chapter of psalms, then I get this spiritual vibes from the
Creator, then I go look for the musicians myself…go to his home and say Winston
Wright I have a session tomorrw 9 o'clock at Leggo Studio and I want you to play…I
would sit down and work out the formula: how many sounds I'm gonna do, how many time I
needed etc.. I used to look for Lester Sterling's brother (Keith Sterling a
keybordist), Bobby Ellis, he play trumpet and I would look for "Boo-Pee"he play
guitar, I would look for guys like Tommy Mc Cook, and that big and fat saxophonist, he
play tenor and alto…can't remember the name, he is popular…
The fattest jamaican sax player I know is Ossie Scott
Ossie Scott, yeah, he used to play with Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, I would look
for Gadston Anderson…so if you listen along the line with the names that I am giving
you those is the type of old musicians comin from Lynn Tait…those is the type of
people I worked along with…I used the Barrett brothers too, before they signed to Bob
Marley…
They were the Hippy Boys before, am I right?
Hippy Boys, Yeah! You remember good, they played for "Scratch" Perry
too…I do a lot of songs for Perry, about 7 to 8 songs for Perry and I recordee for
Prince Buster too.
Have you got your own label?
Yes, "Actual label" is my own and have another label named Shaflames is a
coorporative label…I have another album named Solid Foundation, on Doctor Bird.
In your opinion who relly started Ska music?
It happened at Coxone's, they were just improvising, playing mostly covers of american
R&B, we said "skavoovie/skavoovoo" for improvising on the tempo and they
come out with a new beat. So that's how the name Ska come about.
So we had many fases, the second was Rocksteady…all together producer and musicians
and said we want a change and was Roland Alphonso who said "slow down the rhythm and
see what we could get" and everybody say: let's try...and the impact that we really
get from that, by slowing down the tempo, it was amazing, to some musicians and they said:
"it sound good!.
At that time it was a four track studio…coming from two.
Two it means recording, musicians and singer, in one time, right?
Yeah, it means that if you, the singer, don't concentrate you don't go with the
musicians, them lick on your head! And say: " Go out the studio, you're not
ready..!"
You have to know when to stop sing because of solo, it's solo time, you know? So you have
4 bars for the solo, 2 fe the intro and when you sang, actually finishing, you go out, you
go back from top and go out; so if you not concentrating and you don't know when the solo
come and you don't know when to start, if you're listening at most of the record you can
hear the musicians: "One!, two!, one two!" and there the drum roll, you know?
That's the time you must go in; so if you are not concentrating dem don't record you at
all, they call somebody else, so if you are not inside, you have to stay out…and, I
tell you, we go on same way with that rocksteady style and it was very great…
Yeah!, a great mood indeed…
The mood!, every song got a different mood. And every song tell a different story so
when the song is finished, you know? And released - those days we did have pre-release
record with no label, it was blank label and we sell it for ten pound to the sound men dem
have sound system who want a copy fe play and when dem get that new copy mash up the place
at the dance in the night because he's the only man have a new copy of that pre-release
and that pre-release was selling for four and six to 5 shilling for a copy and the outside
people like in the States, would pay 1 pound for that fresh release 45.
Coxone was used to scratch the label from the records…
I heard that the d.js were used to play the same record more time in a night...
Yes, play 5, 6 times for people who requested it back. I have a girl and go to dance
and that song that you hear playing is one of your favourite, you gonna request the
selecter for play it back again or two more time because you have your nice girl, you
know, and when at the first time you go to dance you wanna hear your favourite song
playing…
I also read that there was really a war between the different sound
systems…is it true that there were the so called dance crashers?
Many rude buoys then come a dance a night time, many rude buoys an' bring knife,
ratchet knife…that's what dem fight with; so those days was better days because you
could walk, from 12 o'clock in the night till 6 in the morning and nobody trouble you as
long as you don't trouble nobody and people more respect one another, in those days, you
know? Little fight happened, you can't go against that but people used to fight and people
was spartan and two people were fighting shakin' together after and say dem sorry and
thing you know? Mostly for the beautiful girl…while you were spinning your girl dem
just comin' and cut you and take away the girl...
I am astounded, I cannot utter a word thinkin' about such a nice
behaviour…
That's how it used to be, now it's different…
There's also a different music and to be franc, I don't like it that much…
This music is vampire music, and this music, the producers dem don't have no title
behind dem don't have a diploma as a producer so me, Winston Jarret call him
"reducer" that means you takin'out too much music outta de music and bring down
to pocomania style: only drum'n'bass and you have no melody…no arrangment. So you see
the young people I know you know where dem come from? Mars!, dem a come from Mars, dem ear
is deaf, dem don't have no,no soul ina dem, dem have no feelings…only a bag of noise
so me callin noise - breaker because there's no melody and there's no heart beat you don't
feel the bass inna your chest because the computer rise sound like a dry peace of wood,
DRY! That's not my taste…they are killing good Reggae music…dem do raggamuffin
businness, me don't like that becuse they do not know the history of the record industry
and why dem do not know? Because dem say "Jamaica is paradise for reggae music",
so they don't study the history of it! They don't know the value of reggae music…
I totally agree with you; tell me in your opinion who really did the first
reggae tune?
You know a guy named Larry Marshall?
Yeah, they say his "Nanny Goat" is it
Him was the first man who bring up the name, the experience me have in those
days…the music started before me even take part…the men before my time, Don
Drummond and all those people who create the businness and the history of the music.
Is it true that the producer Lloyd the Matador he was very honest?
Him was one of that man, producers, who payed good money to tha musicians and singer
and number 2 was Beverly's, run by Leslie Kong he was the top man inna the businness who
payed the most money to singer and musicians, he was rich, so when you where selected as a
composer and him say him want you to do whatever like an album a 45 him pay good money!
Well, Winston, it's time for us to go to the airport…would you be so kind
to do a salutation to our visitors?
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