Radcliffe ‘Dougie’ Bryan dies at 78
Guitarist Radcliffe “Dougie” Bryan, who played on many hit songs by Toots and The Maytals, The Sensations and Gregory Isaacs, died at 78-years-old in Florida on October 16.
Bassist Jackie Jackson, his colleague in the Maytals for nearly 50 years, confirmed his death in an interview with Observer Online.
In July 2024, Bryan was presented with seven Grammy certificates from the Recording Association of America for playing on three Grammy-winning albums and four others that were nominated for that award.
The ceremony took place at Island SPACE Museum in Plantation, South Florida. Making the presentation was Kennedy Mensah, managing director of Back 2 Da Future Music Ltd, a London-based music publishing company which represents the veteran musician.
Bryan received certificates for playing on Black Uhuru’s Anthem, Crucial! Roots Classics by Bunny Wailer and Got to be Tough by Toots and The Maytals which won best reggae album Grammys in 1985, 1995 and 2021, respectively.
His work on Light Your Light and Ska Father by Toots And The Maytals, Hanging Fire by Jimmy Cliff and The Messiah by Sizzla, was also recognised.
“I’m a bit excited, but not overly excited. I always say, who knows the truth, knows it and will always know it. Those who pretend not to know it, good for them also,” Bryan told Observer Online at the time.
Born in Trelawny, Bryan moved to Kingson in his early teens and began playing guitar in the mid-1960s. Later that decade, he became a member of The Sensations, a harmony group that had success at Treasure Isle with songs like Those Guys and Everyday is A Holiday.
His riffs can be heard on classic songs like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and General Penitentiary (Black Uhuru), Soon Forward (Gregory Isaacs), Monkey Man, Funky Kingston, Pressure Drop and Sweet And Dandy by Toots and The Maytals.
Along with Jackson, drummer Paul Douglas, guitarist Hux Brown and organist Winston Wright, Bryan was the nucleus of The Maytals band.
During the 1970s, he was a member of The Revolutionaries, house band at Channel One. That is where he recorded many songs with Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaacs and Jimmy Riley, which were produced by Joseph Hoo Kim and Sly and Robbie.
— Howard Campbell
