First recorded by The Sharks at Studio One in 1968, How Could I Live stormed reggae charts when Dennis Brown covered it as How Could I Leave nine years later.

Guitarist/singer, Ian “Beezy” Coleman, is the latest artiste to put his stamp on the classic.

His self-produced version was released in late August.

Coleman told the Jamaica Observer that the idea to cover How Could I Leave came during downtime in the recording studio.

“I was sitting in the studio with no clue of what to do, and then the song came right to my face, so I just do it right there. I made no changes [to the original],” he said.

In addition to guitar, Coleman played percussion and provided backing vocals. Drummer Squiddly Cole, bassist Devon Bradshaw, and keyboardist Chadian Monroe accompanied him on the song.

A veteran of the Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers and Stephen Marley bands, Coleman said he was drawn to the spiritual aspect of How Could I Leave, which was written by Dwight Pinkney, guitarist for The Sharks.

The song was inspired by the Old Testament verse (Genesis 2:24) that says, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: And they shall be one flesh.”

The original was a minor rocksteady hit for The Sharks, but Brown’s version for producer Joe Gibbs shot to #1 in 1977. It was accompanied by a rousing toast (
Bubbling Love) by Prince Mohamed (aka George Nooks) who, along with Brown, were members of Gibbs’ red-hot camp in the late 1970s.

In 1994, trumpeter Micky Hanson released a flamenco-flavoured instrumental version of How Could I Leave.