Many great artistes are usually identified by a single work — something they try to avoid. In the case of Bob Andy, it is Songbook, the album of songs he recorded at Studio One during the 1960s.

His son, Godfrey Anderson, is determined to prove his father’s extensive catalogue goes beyond that 1970 set.

On October 28 he makes his case with ‘The Life’s Work of A Lyrical Genius’, an event at Rub A Dub Tuesdayz in St Andrew.

“For the previous generation, the name Bob Andy had unfairly been synonymous with one thing, the Bob Andy
Songbook. However, his body of work has had at least 65 covers by others, including international artistes such as Taj Mahal and Eddie Lovette,” the younger Anderson told the Jamaica Observer. “For this generation, whenever they hear songs like Too Experienced, which has been deemed a classic by reggae lovers and music connoisseurs alike, they automatically think Barrington Levy. This celebration is partly to edutain them.”

Bob Andy, who died in March 2020 at age 75, is one of reggae’s great songwriters. A founding member of The Paragons, who had success with the Treasure Isle label, he went on to have a remarkable stint at Studio One with producer Clement Dodd.

He wrote and recorded songs such as I’ve Got to Go Back Home, Unchained, Going Home, My Time, and Let Them Say. Those songs are on Songbook, which is a collectors’ item.

Bob Andy also wrote several songs for other artistes, notably Marcia Griffiths, with whom he was in a romantic relationship. He composed Truly and Feel Like Jumping, two of her biggest hits.

With Griffiths, Andy covered Nina Simone’s Young, Gifted And Black, which entered the British national chart in 1970. He had solo hits with Fire Burning and Check it Out.

Godfrey Anderson says “legal constraints” prevented him promoting events showcasing his father’s classic songs until now.
The Life’s Work of A Lyrical Genius, he promised, is a sign of things to come.

— Howard Campbell