Coxsone Dodd

Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd (Kingston, Jamaica, January 26 1932 – May 5 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of reggae and other forms of Jamaican music in the 1950s, 60s and later. He has been called "the most significant man in reggae music". His gained his nickname "Coxsone" at school from a member of the famous Yorkshire cricket team of the '40s, due to his teenage talent as a cricketer.

Recording career

When the American R&B craze ended in the United States Dodd and his rivals were forced to begin recording their own Jamaican music in order to meet the local demand for new music. Initially these recordings were exclusively for a particular sound system but the records quickly developed into an industry in their own right. In 1959 he founded a record company called World Disc. In 1963 he opened Studio One in Brentford Road, Kingston. It was the first black-owned recording studio in Jamaica (see 1963 in music). He held regular Sunday evening auditions in search of new talent, and it was here he discovered Bob Marley, singing as a part of The Wailers. He gave them a five year exclusive contract with 20 pounds for each song recorded. Their song Simmer down, a Dodd production of a Bob Marley song, was number one in Jamaica in February 1964. Marley was invited to sleep in a back room at the studio for a while until Marley left Studio One in 1968.

Related Topics:
1959 - 1963 - Studio One - 1963 in music - Bob Marley - 1964 - 1968

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During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Studio One sound was virtually synonymous with the sound of rocksteady, and he attracted some of the best of Jamaican talent to his stable over this time. Without the rock steady and ska that he was so involved with there could have been no reggae music. He has worked with many reggae legends, including Winston "Burning Spear" Rodney, Delroy Wilson, Horace Andy and Sugar Minott. He is considered to be the first producer to really bring forward the Rastafarian faith in reggae music.

Related Topics:
Rocksteady - Ska - Winston "Burning Spear" Rodney - Delroy Wilson - Horace Andy - Sugar Minott - Rasta

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He continued to be active in the music business and on Friday 1st May 2004 Kingston´s Brentford Road was renamed Studio One Boulevard in a ceremony which paid tribute to his accomplishments as a producer. He then suddenly died four days later of a heart attack while working at Studio One.

Related Topics:
1st May - 2004 - Heart attack

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