SAXOPHONIST Headley ‘Deadly Headley’ Bennett, who played on Judge Not, Bob Marley’s first song, is appealing for assistance as his health continues to deteriorate.

The Jamaica Observer first highlighted his plight last February. His condition has worsened since.

“I have terrible back pains, it just doesn’t seem to go,” said the ailing musician.

His neighbour and friend Margaret Williams says Bennett has been diagnosed with colon and spine cancer.

“Every four months he has to go to Dr (Robert) Wan at the Winchester Business Centre for a special injection and that cost a pretty penny,” she told the Observer.

Williams, who accompanies Bennett to his medical appointments, ensures he is fed but added:

“He needs a lot more help, each time I take him to the doctor we have to take a taxi as he can no longer take the bus.”

Musicologist and Kool FM disc jockey Michael Barnett reached out to Bennett when he read the Observer story. He spoke of his contribution to the development of reggae.

“He has done a lot as a musician, backing singers and he is basically forgotten,” said Barnett.

A past student of the Alpha Boys’ School, Headley Bennett started his professional career playing in bands on the Kingston live show circuit of the early 1950s. He became a session musician later that decade.

In 1962, he played on the Leslie Kong-produced Judge Not, a song by a 17-year-old singer from St Ann named Bob Marley.

Bennett played on a number of hit songs for producer Clement Dodd including an unforgettable solo on singer Delroy Wilson’s Dancing Mood. He got the nickname ‘Deadly’ during the 1980s when he was a session player with the Roots Radics Band, and backing acts like Bunny Wailer and Gregory Isaacs.

Headley Bennett was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in 2006.

— Cecelia Campbell-Livingston