‘Clive was a great record man’: Native’s guitarist recalls music mogul’s unfulfilled reggae venture
Clive Davis’ death at age 94 on June 22 closed another chapter in the history of popular music. Along with Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, Berry Gordy of Motown Records and Herb Alpert of A&M Records, he was responsible for developing the careers of superstars. In his case, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys.
In the late 1970s, Davis signed a fledgling reggae band called Native to Arista Records, the company he started in 1974 after leaving Columbia Records. His brief association with Jamaican music was not successful.
Wayne Jobson, Native’s guitarist/vocalist, told Observer Online that Arista was supposed to release an album the band recorded with producer Lee “Scratch” Perry and singer Joe Higgs at Perry’s Black Ark Studio in Kingston.
Jobson remembers those songs exciting several influential persons, including Johnny Rotten, leader of The Sex Pistols, then the top punk band in the world. They also impressed another big name.
“The great British writer Vivien Goldman suggested I sign with Arista Records and linked me with them. Clive Davis approved the deal and I went to New York to meet with him,” Jobson recalled.
Davis was a giant in the music industry. While at Columbia, he signed acts like Janis Joplin, Santana, Chicago, Pink Floyd and Springsteen.
When he and Columbia parted ways, Davis started Arista which had success with acts like Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Ray Parker Jr, and Air Supply. While he worked magic with rock and R&B acts, Jobson said Davis lacked reggae expertise.
“Clive was a great record man and definitely knew what a hit record was. But I don’t think he had the magic ears and credibility of the Jamaican genius Chris Blackwell, or the American genius Berry Gordy, the two greatest record men of all time,” he stated.
Arista never released the Native project. Jobson said they took the album from the company and pitched it to RCA Records, which released the self-titled set in 1980.
Native — which included Jobson’s brother Brian on bass and Peter Couch on keyboards — recorded six albums. There was a follow-up for RCA, as well as another released by A&M Records.
Clive Davis. (Photo via Clive Davis’ Instagram)
