Category Archives: Features

It was not uncommon for individuals involved in the Jamaican music industry to occupy both the role of artist and producer. Artist-producers during the ska, rocksteady, and early reggae eras include Prince Buster, Lee Perry, Clancy Eccles, Rupie Edwards, Laurel Aitken, Derrick Morgan, and Lloyd Charmers. This feature highlights one of my favorite artist-producers: Derrick Harriott. His voice is sweet and soulful, and his rocksteady productions rank among some of the best.

Derrick Harriott’s first recordings were cut with the Jiving Juniors, a doo-wop/r&b vocal group that formed in the late 1950s. The Jiving Juniors recorded with Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd, and Chris Blackwell. These early sides were released in Jamaica on a variety of labels (including Dodd’s Muzik City, Coxsone, and All Stars, as well as R & B and Duke Reid’s), and in the UK on the Blue Beat, Island, and Starlite labels.

During the start of the 1960s, Harriott also became involved in producing and releasing records with the launch of his own “Crystal” label. He distributed his records from “Derrick’s One Stop” record shop. Many of his early songs were soulful ballads, a good fit for his falsetto voice, and r&b dance numbers. He produced a handful of Jiving Juniors tracks before leaving the group in 1962 and embarking on a solo career. His first recorded solo release was “I Care,” backed with “Have Faith in Me” (Crystal CR 1005, CR 1006; UK Blue Beat BB 131, 1962). A good selection of his first solo work, as well as two Jiving Juniors tracks, can be found on “The Best of Derrick Harriott,” released on Crystal in Jamaica (CLP 1000) and Island in the UK (ILP 928, 1965). His classic ska hit “Monkey Ska,” produced by Linden Pottinger, was released the same year (Gaydisc LOP 178; UK Ska Beat JB 199, 1965).

Derrick Harriott’s talents, both as a vocalist and a producer, truly shined during the rocksteady era. His voice was perfectly suited for the style: smooth, sweet as honey, and full of emotion. His productions range from moody (Walk The Streets: Crystal DH 001; UK Island WI-3077, 1967) to American sweet soul influenced (The Loser: Crystal CR 1027; UK Island WI-3063, 1967) to hard-hitting heavy rhythms (Tang Tang Festival Song: Crystal CR 1041; UK Island WI-3153, 1968).

Harriott enlisted the talents of other Jamaican artists to bring his productions to life, including Keith and Tex, Lloyd and Glen, Noel “Bunny” Brown, Rudy Mills, The Federals, David Anthony, and Junior Soul (Murvin). Harriott produced the classic Keith and Tex tune “Stop That Train” (Move & Groove DH 010; UK Island WI-3091, 1967), which has been versioned over and over – a classic foundation track. Albums that include some of Harriott’s best rocksteady productions are Derrick Harriott Rock Steady Party (Crystal CLP 1002; UK Island ILP 955, 1967), The Best of Derrick Harriott Volume 2 (Crystal CLP 1003; UK Island ILP 983, 1968), and “Live it Up” (UK Big Shot BBTL4000, 1968).

Derrick Harriott seamlessly transitioned into the reggae era, with more top-notch vocals and productions featuring artists like The Kingstonians. Their album “Sufferer,” released in the UK on Trojan Records (TBL-113, 1970), is filled with classic tunes from the early reggae era.

A personal favorite is “The Sensational Derrick Harriott Sings Jamaica Reggae” (UK Pama Economy SECO 13, 1970), which features his vocal talents on the fantastic “Sitting on Top” (Crystal FDH 7203; UK Songbird SB 1014, 1969) and “Been So Long” (Crystal FDH 7578; UK Big Shot BI 511, 1969) among others.

Derrick Harriott also produced the tracks featured on the Rudy Mills album issued on Pama (Pama Economy SECO 12, 1970), including the early reggae classic “John Jones” (Move & Groove FDH 7589; UK Big Shot BI 509, 1968).

The backing group for Harriott’s rocksteady and early reggae productions was The Crystalites, featuring some of Jamaica’s top session musicians. The Crystalites included (at varying sessions) names such as Winston Wright (organ), Ike Bennett (organ), Gladstone Anderson (piano), Theophilus Beckford (piano), Bobby Ellis (trumpet), Bongo Herman and Les Herman (percussion), Karl Bryan (alto sax), Val Bennett (tenor sax), Boris Gardiner (guitar, bass), Hux Brown (guitar), Jackie Jackson (bass), Desmond Miles (bass), Tony Bennett (drums) and Paul Douglas (drums). Early instrumentals include “Step Softly” (Crystal DH 002; UK Island WI-3077, 1967), “Illya Kuryakin” (a character from the then popular secret agent TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) (Crystal DH 25, Island WI-3134, 1968), and “Alfred Hitchcock” (Crystal DH 26; UK Island WI-3147, 1968). The first Western-themed Crystalites instrumental was “Dollar a Head” (pre DH 15; UK Island WI 3136, 1968), followed by “A Fist Full of Dollars” (Crystal Dyna DH 741-1; UK Explosion EX-2006, 1969). Later Crystalites spaghetti western themed instrumentals featured the voice of an invented undertaker named “Ramon.” Most of the Crystalites western numbers were released in the UK on the Explosion and Songbird labels. The “Undertaker” album came out in 1970 on Trojan (TBL-114).

Derrick Harriott had continued success in subsequent decades, particularly during the Lover’s Rock era. He made enormous contributions to Jamaican music through his many talents – singer, producer, record distributor, and so much more. His incredible musical output should be appreciated worldwide.