Bob AndyText by Harry Hawks |
Bob Andy is one of the finest singers and songwriters ever and his work, both lyrically and rhythmically, forms an integral part of reggae's musical vocabulary.
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| Date Added: May 19, 2010, Date Updated: May 24, 2017 Copyright (C) 2024 Dub Store Sound Inc. |
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| Real Name: |
Keith Anderson |
| 1944 - |
| Place of Birth: |
Jamaica |
Related Artist(s):
Paragons
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Born Keith Anderson in Kingston, Jamaica in 1944 Bob Andy started his musical career alongside Tyrone 'Don' Evans and Howard Barrett as one of the original Paragons. Bob chose the songs, played the piano at rehearsals, worked out the harmonies and kept The Paragons together but when John Holt was brought in as "a strong lead singer" he decided to leave the group. Bob was not prepared "to spend the rest of my life oh ahhing" and, although Vic Taylor was drafted in as a temporary replacement for John Holt, things did not work out the way Bob wanted. John Holt returned and Vic Taylor and Bob Andy left The Paragons.
Bob embarked on a solo career at Studio One with Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd(CS Dodd) and his Brentford Road recordings, beginning in 1966 with the repatriation anthem 'I've Got To Go Back Home' with The Wailers on harmonies, are certified classics and have become part and parcel of the very fabric of Jamaican music. Bob Andy's songs and rhythms for Studio One are constantly updated and versioned in whatever the current style happens to be. 'Desperate Lover', 'Feeling Soul', 'Let Them Say', 'My Time', 'Too Experienced', 'Unchained' and many more of the same exalted status are collected together on the epochal 'Bob Andy's Song Book' album which remains one of the few truly 100% essential long playing sets in any genre of music. Working closely with Jackie Mittoo Bob also contributed to many of the timeless recordings then emanating from Studio One including Ken Boothe's 'Don't Want To See You Cry' and his work with Marcia Griffiths, such as 'Always Together', is of particular note.
He then recorded 'Young Gifted & Black' with Marcia Griffiths for up and coming record producer Harry 'Harry J' Johnson(Harry Johnson). Released in the U.K. on Trojan with an added string arrangement courtesy of Johnny Arthey it soared to Number 5 in the U.K. National Charts in March 1970. Bob and Marcia travelled to London to promote the record and subsequently toured the U.K. and Europe. The follow up 'Pied Piper' reached Number 11 in the U.K. National Charts in the summer of the following year. The pair were signed to CBS but, unfortunately, at that time no one really knew how to manage or promote either reggae music or reggae artists: there were no further crossover hits and the association did not last.
On his return to Jamaica Bob resumed his solo career and created further classical sides including the apocalyptic 'Fire Burning' for Lloyd Charmers, the assertive 'The Way I Feel' for Rupie Edwards, the joyous 'Salary Is Thin' aka 'Sun Shines For Me' for the Khouris at Federal, the philosophical 'Life' and the angst ridden 'You Don't Know' for Harry J. These impeccable songs further enhanced his reputation as one of Jamaica's most incisive and consistent songwriters. He also worked with Sonia Pottinger on the 'Lots Of Love And I' album, released on High Note in 1977, which featured the perennially popular and smoothly sensuous 'Feel The Feeling', a Jamaican favourite, alongside one of the deepest and most penetrating social commentary songs ever written 'Ghetto Stays In The Mind'. That same year he reunited with Marcia Griffiths for the 'Kemar' (aka 'Really Together') album. But Bob was not content to be just a player in the music business and he then attempted to establish a Caribbean Copyright Association to protect artists' works from the machinations of unscrupulous middlemen.
During a five year break from the music business Bob became involved in acting and starred in the feature film 'Children Of Babylon' and many theatre productions but the call of music proved too strong. In 1983 he returned with an album 'Friends' and a single 'Honey' both of which reached Number One in the UK Reggae Charts. He has since toured the world headlining the first Reggae Sunsplash in Japan in 1985 and appearing in such unlikely places as the Youth Festival in Moscow in 1985 and Gdansk Shipyards in Poland in 1989 at an anti-apartheid concert sponsored by Solidarity. He relocated to Florida in 1992 where his 1997 album 'Hanging Tough' was recorded at producer Willie Lindo's Heavy Beat Studios in Miami. In 2005 he toured Africa for the first time where he performed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the Bob Marley 60th Birthday concert, sang at the Presidential Palace and gave benefit concerts for the Twelve Tribes Of Israel Rastafarian settlement in Shashamane. He hit again in the new Millennium with 2000's 'Zion' and 2001's 'There Is A God' and he continues to make music of importance.
In October 2006 the Jamaican government conferred the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander to Bob Andy for his contribution to the development of Jamaican music. His work as a songwriter and singer has finally begun to be accorded its true status and significance and he is rightly regarded as a genuine genius of Jamaican music. |
| May 19, 2010 (May 24, 2017 Update) Text by Harry Hawks
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