CLASSIC reggae of the 1960s and 70s is often more venerated in Europe and America than Jamaica. Whilst working-class Jamaicans are caught up in the latest dancehall tunes and the middle-classes love their soca, Europeans are avid consumers of the reggae of an earlier era. And it is proof how seriously that era of reggae is taken in Britain that a glossy ‘coffee table’ book was published last week in London which solely features the artwork on Studio One album covers.

Studio One is, for many people, the greatest of early reggae record producers. It was the creation of the legendary Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd. When asked about the nickname by which he became universally known, Coxsone replied simply, “It was the name of a British cricketer. He played the same position I did when I was at All Saints School”. But while Coxsone may have been named for a British sporting hero his music became the soundtrack of post-Independence Jamaica.

Coxsone was born in Kingston. As a young man he went to Florida as an agricultural worker where he was introduced to American R & B music. On his return he ran a popular sound system. He went into recording music to make sure he had exclusive crowd-pleasing tracks to play.

From 1963 he was based at Brentford Road in Kingston. Coxsone famously gave the Wailers their first recording break but he also recorded and released music by most of the top reggae recording artistes of the era, including the Skatalites, The Ethiopians, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Burning Spear, Toots and the Maytals, John Holt, Horace Andy, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Dennis Brown, and Alton Ellis.

Coxsone was responsible for everything about Studio One. He recorded the music, pressed the records printed and distributed them. Apparently he even took photographs for some of the early album covers. It meant that Studio One had a coherent artistic vision. So the cultural context and the ethos of the music were reflected in the album covers. They often used a distinctive silk screen design as well as contemporary photographs. It is the unique look of the Studio One album covers that makes them worth reproducing as an expensive art publication.

The violence of the 1980s drove Coxsone out of Jamaica and he migrated to America. But he still remained immersed in Jamaican music. He set up a recording studio and record shop in Brooklyn called Coxsone’s Music City. There he sold records from Studio One’s heyday and reminisced with other reggae old timers. The shop was decorated with rows of photographs of the album covers which feature in the new book.

Coxsone died in 2004, but he remains a legend and the Studio One label is a guarantee of some of the finest reggae of the era.

Reggae is a precious Jamaica cultural inheritance. It is noteworthy that a genius like Sir Coxsone died in relative obscurity, whilst reggae made other people millionaires. Anything which gives the work of reggae pioneers their due respect should be welcomed. So an artwork devoted to Studio One album covers is clearly a good thing.

The Album Cover Art of Studio One Records is published by Soul Jazz Books and sells at £30. There will also be an accompanying CD, The Legendary Studio One Records.