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Winston Jarrett
(The Man of the Ghetto)
After a little bit of "culture" visiting the National Gallery of Kingston where my friends and me saw - beside the others - a nice painting titled "Rude Buoy") and after our last lunch on the Green Island (peppered steak for me!), we ate some fruit thanks to a gentle greengrocer by the magniloquent name of Anthony Everton Mc Carthy.
I think he really enjoyed himself a lot offering us such incredible fuits to taste and asking us ripetitively, before offering the next strange one: "Do you got this one, in Europe?" or: "…and this one?".
I think he was really proud of his country's fruits ( exactly as me for the "stuff" made in Sicily) and he seemed happy to see these three "buoys"in a place not famous for beeing for tourists; while we were talking it comes out that the street where we were was Orange street.
13 days before we met Prince Buster not that far from we were now but then we were with our driver and actually, from inside the car, Orange street seemed us very rough; so I asked Anthony if he though it would have been dangerous to us having a walk down there. "They say Kingston is rough and tough but you see it's not as bad as they say…go, nobody won't trouble you,believe me" said Anthony with such a sureness that immedially made us walking without any worry.
No one really disturbed us. We arrived inside the Techniques record shop still run by Winston Riley less than half an our later. I noticed that rastaman nearby the door and after a while he approched me saying he already saw us some hours before, near the National Gallery and he was curious to know the reason why three white were in Downtown.
He rightly supposed it was music the main and only reason to be there…he introduced himself as Winston Jarret of the Righteous Flames fame, "entertainer" he said.
Well, all of you "skabadippers" should have heard of Alton Ellis and the Flames as one of the most talented vocal group of the ska 'n' rocksteady period, if you do not know who the hell they were, don't miss this chance to improve your ska knowledges with the interview we did during our last hours in Kingston Jamaica with the only true rasta we had the pleasure to meet: Winston Jarret, the Flame, the Man of the ghetto.
Without any question, Winston starts talking…
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Greetings, in the name of His Majesty the Imperor Selassié the First, Everliving Everfaithful Eversure, this is Winston Jarret, original Righteous Flames, speaking…I was born in the early 50's in the parish of St. Anns, Lime Tree Garden, my mother and my father was a legend from L.T.G., why they call it L.T.G.?
Because is one of the most beautyful place in Jamaica, it is a garden of flowers, beautyfication, and it's a parish for health and good, good food; most of the people from L.T.G. is educated people, that's the place where I was born, that's where Marley was original born. So, my mother took me to the parish of Kingston, I was in my early childhood, so I grew up in Kingston from the age of 5, I have been to Halfway Tree School and I grew up in Kingston 12, that is Trench town…they call it the slum area…Bob Marley and the rest of the Wailers, Bunny Wailer and Peter Touch ( Winston uses the same name to which are credited some of Peter's singles), come after Winston Jarret. I was living at # 22, 4th street and they were living in 5th street.
So, were you in friendship with them all?
Me, Bob, Peter and Bunny is good friend even up till now, right now, at this pointed time…me and Bunny Wailers were sitting down just two days ago, before you met me at Sonic Sounds…he come there very regulary, and we smoke a joint together sitting down and reasoning about the rasta movement, so I am a man of the ghetto…I have an album, title track: Man of the Ghetto released in 1979, that's why they call me Man of the Ghetto.
How many album did you released under your name?
Eight albums, I have my little catalog consisting of 8 albums cd and 200 45's released from early 60's…
Which lables?
All different kind of lables, for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle I used to sing with Alton Ellis, that's where I started with: Alton and the Flames.
What? Were you one of those wonderful voices providing harmonies in such fabled song as "Dance Crashers?"
I am the lead singer of the Flames, I found the name the Flames and I find also the name Righteous Flames…Alton was singing as Alton and Edith, a duo, then Edith Parks she left to America in the early 60's, so, from that time we take over with Alton.
We sing "Girl I've Got a Date"[he sings it] for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle...
…and the backing group was then Tommy Mc Cook and the Supersonics, right?
Yes, Tommy and the S., also Lynn Tait and the Jets, we did a lot of songs for T.I., "Why Birds Follow the Spring"(I start to sing!), "La, la, la I Love You", " Let Me Try"…lot of songs for Duke Reid the Trojan; then we went to Coxone, Studio One, the period was 1966/68, we did "Breaking Up Is Hard" that was a re-recorded from Teasure Isle for the album the Best of Alton Ellis.
…but those songs were all credited to Alton, the Flames in those records are not mentioned at all! I really thought the Flames were existing no more in those times...
Yeah, everything go to Alton Ellis, they didn't talk about Alton and the Flames but we are the people who do the backtrack on all those songs with Alton Ellis; so, 1970/72 Alton went to England with Coxone, Jackie Mittoo and the Studio One band, the Soul Vendors…at that time I started to write and compose songs and the first song I did for S.O. was "I was born to be loved"[he sings inna very soulful style], it was credited to me, arranged by Jackie Mittoo played by the Soul Brothers…it's on a Studio One compilation and it was on a Steely & Clevie album too, a big sound, with Dawn Penn "I was born to be loved" was on that album too. I re-recorded it over for Steely & Clevie and it's going good too,you know? It can't stop sell from that time, it's a good tune…
Excuse me, Winston, I would like to know something about the payment, I heard from the most part of the jamaican artists I spoke with, that the common practice between some producers was, I would say, robbing the artist…what do you remember?
Well I'm gonna give you my experience about that and my experience is that, at that time, n.1 is we did not know our rights, regarding to recording and what you got to do like registering your songs and n.2 you did not know anything about CCO, you call it the mechanical copyright…we did not know anything about that thing, about our rights and people was infringing our rights and expropriating us, the composer and arranger…so is further long down the road after we get realize and to know our rights.
How much did you usually get payed per copy?
We get what the dog get at that time, you know? And royalty at that time was…something like 3 cents per copy untill it go to something like 5 cents per copy.
What about the musicians you played with? Which was the reletionship between the singers and the musicians?
This is a very intelligent question, I'm gonna tell you the truth now, how I am concerned with that…the musicians and the composer/singer supposed to coordinate as one family whenever time you go into the studio. For me, when I'm doing my recording is…I would say, a spiritual works, the vibes, the innaman vibes that you go in the studio with supposed to be good, if you don't go in the studio with that vibes you can't be able to come out a the studio with a good sound because you didn't go in the studio with a goood vibes.
I got to read a chapter of psalms, every man must read a chapter of psalms per day…so that's what I did, read a chapter of psalms, then I get this spiritual vibes from the Creator, then I go look for the musicians myself…go to his home and say Winston Wright I have a session tomorrw 9 o'clock at Leggo Studio and I want you to play…I would sit down and work out the formula: how many sounds I'm gonna do, how many time I needed etc.. I used to look for Lester Sterling's brother (Keith Sterling a keybordist), Bobby Ellis, he play trumpet and I would look for "Boo-Pee"he play guitar, I would look for guys like Tommy Mc Cook, and that big and fat saxophonist, he play tenor and alto…can't remember the name, he is popular…
The fattest jamaican sax player I know is Ossie Scott
Ossie Scott, yeah, he used to play with Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, I would look for Gadston Anderson…so if you listen along the line with the names that I am giving you those is the type of old musicians comin from Lynn Tait…those is the type of people I worked along with…I used the Barrett brothers too, before they signed to Bob Marley…
They were the Hippy Boys before, am I right?
Hippy Boys, Yeah! You remember good, they played for "Scratch" Perry too…I do a lot of songs for Perry, about 7 to 8 songs for Perry and I recordee for Prince Buster too.
Have you got your own label?
Yes, "Actual label" is my own and have another label named Shaflames is a coorporative label…I have another album named Solid Foundation, on Doctor Bird.
In your opinion who relly started Ska music?
It happened at Coxone's, they were just improvising, playing mostly covers of american R&B, we said "skavoovie/skavoovoo" for improvising on the tempo and they come out with a new beat. So that's how the name Ska come about.
So we had many fases, the second was Rocksteady…all together producer and musicians and said we want a change and was Roland Alphonso who said "slow down the rhythm and see what we could get" and everybody say: let's try...and the impact that we really get from that, by slowing down the tempo, it was amazing, to some musicians and they said: "it sound good!.
At that time it was a four track studio…coming from two.
Two it means recording, musicians and singer, in one time, right?
Yeah, it means that if you, the singer, don't concentrate you don't go with the musicians, them lick on your head! And say: " Go out the studio, you're not ready..!"
You have to know when to stop sing because of solo, it's solo time, you know? So you have 4 bars for the solo, 2 fe the intro and when you sang, actually finishing, you go out, you go back from top and go out; so if you not concentrating and you don't know when the solo come and you don't know when to start, if you're listening at most of the record you can hear the musicians: "One!, two!, one two!" and there the drum roll, you know? That's the time you must go in; so if you are not concentrating dem don't record you at all, they call somebody else, so if you are not inside, you have to stay out…and, I tell you, we go on same way with that rocksteady style and it was very great…
Yeah! a great mood indeed…
The mood!, every song got a different mood. And every song tell a different story so when the song is finished, you know? And released - those days we did have pre-release record with no label, it was blank label and we sell it for ten pound to the sound men dem have sound system who want a copy fe play and when dem get that new copy mash up the place at the dance in the night because he's the only man have a new copy of that pre-release and that pre-release was selling for four and six to 5 shilling for a copy and the outside people like in the States, would pay 1 pound for that fresh release 45.
Coxone was used to scratch the label from the records…
I heard that the d.js were used to play the same record more time in a night...
Yes, play 5, 6 times for people who requested it back. I have a girl and go to dance and that song that you hear playing is one of your favourite, you gonna request the selecter for play it back again or two more time because you have your nice girl, you know, and when at the first time you go to dance you wanna hear your favourite song playing…
I also read that there was really a war between the different sound systems…is it true that there were the so called dance crashers?
Many rude buoys then come a dance a night time, many rude buoys an' bring knife, ratchet knife…that's what dem fight with; so those days was better days because you could walk, from 12 o'clock in the night till 6 in the morning and nobody trouble you as long as you don't trouble nobody and people more respect one another, in those days, you know? Little fight happened, you can't go against that but people used to fight and people was spartan and two people were fighting shakin' together after and say dem sorry and thing you know? Mostly for the beautiful girl…while you were spinning your girl dem just comin' and cut you and take away the girl...
I am astounded, I cannot utter a word thinkin' about such a nice behaviour…
That's how it used to be, now it's different…
There's also a different music and to be franc, I don't like it that much…
This music is vampire music, and this music, the producers dem don't have no title behind dem don't have a diploma as a producer so me, Winston Jarret call him "reducer" that means you takin'out too much music outta de music and bring down to pocomania style: only drum'n'bass and you have no melody…no arrangment. So you see the young people I know you know where dem come from? Mars!, dem a come from Mars, dem ear is deaf, dem don't have no,no soul ina dem, dem have no feelings…only a bag of noise so me callin noise - breaker because there's no melody and there's no heart beat you don't feel the bass inna your chest because the computer rise sound like a dry peace of wood, DRY! That's not my taste…they are killing good Reggae music…dem do raggamuffin businness, me don't like that becuse they do not know the history of the record industry and why dem do not know? Because dem say "Jamaica is paradise for reggae music", so they don't study the history of it! They don't know the value of reggae music…
I totally agree with you; tell me in your opinion who really did the first reggae tune?
You know a guy named Larry Marshall?
Yeah, they say his "Nanny Goat" is it
Him was the first man who bring up the name, the experience me have in those days…the music started before me even take part…the men before my time, Don Drummond and all those people who create the businness and the history of the music.
Is it true that the producer Lloyd the Matador he was very honest?
Him was one of that man, producers, who payed good money to tha musicians and singer and number 2 was Beverly's, run by Leslie Kong he was the top man inna the businness who payed the most money to singer and musicians, he was rich, so when you where selected as a composer and him say him want you to do whatever like an album a 45 him pay good money!
Well, Winston, it's time for us to go to the airport…would you be so kind to do a salutation to our visitors?
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Web Site: www.winstonjarrett.com
54 Lyndhurst Road, Kingston 5, Jamaika, W.I.
January 1999
by Sergio Rallo
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