Respected historian and musicologist Garth “G White” White died on September 4 at University Hospital of the West Indies.

He was 77 years old.

Jerry Small, his brother-in-law, confirmed his death in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

He said White had been ill in recent years, losing his right leg to diabetes in 2018.

For many years his vast knowledge on the early years of Jamaican popular music and Rastafari was utilised by Institute of Jamaica, Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, the Reparation Committee, and the African-Caribbean Institute of Jamaica.

“He was very affable, soft-spoken, had a wide knowledge base. He was always willing to share his knowledge from he was a boy and, because of that, people gravitate around him,” said Small.

The eldest of three children, White was from the Corporate Area community of Kencot.

He won a place to Jamaica College (JC) in 1958 as a Code Scholar (a student who was first in their parish pre-Common Entrance Exams) and made his mark in eight years at that institution. While there he was a member of the Manning Cup football team, a hurdler at Boys’ Championships, a member of the choir, and leader of the Cadet Corps. He notably led the band that welcomed Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I to JC in April 1966.

After leaving JC, White became the first Rastafarian student enrolled at The University of the West Indies. It was at The UWI that he began expressing his awareness of music.

“He was the first person to write about the rude bwoy phenomenon and ska music culture. Garth had a deep understanding of people outside the working class,” said Small.

White wrote voluminously about Jamaican music, including the 1982 book, The Development of Jamaican Popular Music With Special Reference to the Music of Bob Marley: A Bibliography.

In the 1970s he was a member of the Ethiopian World Federation, which became the Twelve Tribes of Israel; and the Workers Liberation League, a precursor to the Workers Party of Jamaica.

Minister of Culture and Entertainment Olivia Grange, in expressing regret at his passing, said White was “like an encyclopaedia that I could always consult on matters related to Jamaican music; he was so knowledgeable”.

She added that he also served on the Reggae Gold Awards Committee, which selected the first 50 Reggae Gold awardees.

In recognition of his writings on Jamaican music, Minister Grange awarded him the Reggae Gold Media Award.

Garth White is survived by two children, grandchildren, his mother Carmen, sisters Sandra and Dawn. Two of his children predeceased him.