Giving the greats their due
It has been 19 years since he first promoted Tribute To The Greats, but Kingsley Goodison still gets emotional after each show.
Last Saturday’s event at Curphey Place in St Andrew was another salute to music industry stalwarts, some of whose contributions have been overlooked.
For Goodison, Bernard Collins of roots-reggae group The Abyssinians and the Browne family, led by 89-year-old matriarch Sylvia, held pride of place.
“The sincerity of the awardees in terms of acknowledgement, especially Bernard Collins and the Brownes, shows the kind of respect there is for Tribute To The Greats,” Goodison told the Jamaica Observer.
Collins, co-writer of the seminal 1971 song Satta Massagana, was grateful for the recognition after 48 years in the business.
“After all this time, it’s an honour. I never really work fi no award because this is Rasta music, but wi still give thanks,” he said.
Sylvia Browne, a music teacher who taught her five sons, said she was “honoured and humbled to receive this award” while still alive.
Her youngest child, Danny, thanked the promoters and lauded his mother and older brothers (Glen, Dalton, Noel and Cleveland) for their contribution to reggae and dancehall.
“So often many persons leave us without being acknowledged. Mom was very patient, always tolerant…She never gave up on us. It was effortless on her part,” said Browne, founder of the Bloodfire Posse and Main Street Records.
Drummer Hector ‘Bunny’ Williams, an acclaimed session drummer who played on countless hit songs at Studio One, such as Alton Ellis’s Girl I’ve Got A Date and No, No, No by Dawn Penn, welcomed his award.
“We need to highlight more of us who people don’t know,” he said.
The other awardees were singer Desmond Young; singer/songwriter Anthony ‘Sangie’ Davis; George Ximines of the Black Prince sound system; and trumpeters Oswald ‘Baba’ Brooks and Raymond Harper (posthumously).
Following the presentation of awards, there were performances from Collins, Racquel Sellers, Orville ‘Bagga’ Case and Clancy Eccles Jnr. They were backed by the Rhythm Masters Band.
— Howard Campbell
