G Cole salutes Ernie Smith on new track, ‘There Goes That Man’
For the generation of Jamaican singer-songwriters who emerged during the past 20 years, Ernie Smith is one of the gold standards. Smith, who died on April 16 in Miami at age 80, was an inspiration for artistes like G Cole.
On There Goes That Man, he salutes the talented Smith, whose many hit songs include Pitta Patta, Life is Just For Living and I For Jesus. Released on April 28, the song is produced by G Cole and Ed Robinson.
“I first met Ernie in 2023, and you’d swear we’ve known each other for years. That was one of his great attributes,” said G Cole, who like Smith, was raised in St Ann.
He wrote and recorded There Goes That Man within days of Smith’s death. They last performed together in December at a fundraising show in Riviera Beach in southeastern Florida.
“I spoke to him via phone after that. The very last time I saw him was the day before he passed, I visited him in the hospital,” G Cole disclosed. “He had a favourite song of mine, Old Days, which I was supposed to have performed for him at his birthday party, but the party got canceled. I sang it for him while he was in his hospital bed.”
Smith died at the University of Miami Hospital, two weeks after he was admitted there for surgery.
He was one of the acts who defined the singer-songwriter in Jamaica during the 1970s when he was the leading artiste at Federal Records in Kingston. His folksy songs, which also included Sunday Morning Coming Down and Duppy Gunman, earned him a diverse following in the era of roots-reggae.
G Cole, a longtime South Florida resident, has released three albums. His fourth collection of songs is scheduled for release this summer.
His admiration for Smith transcended music.
“As an artiste, he was an enigma. Big voice, awesome storyteller, his smile was as big as his voice, and he lived for that stage. No doctor, no management could keep him off it,” he said. “A true showman, and he loved his fans as much as they loved him.”
The thanksgiving service for Ernie Smith takes place on May 16 at Metropolitan Baptist Church in Davie, South Florida.
