man i wish people would quit dying...but i guess we have no control when its our time.....
ULTIMATE RESPECT to Sir Coxsone Dodd..... michael www.renegaderhythms.com > A true studio and production innovator, along with Lee Perry, > Coxsone laid the foundations for what became electronic dance > music. Not to mention his larger-than-life influence over the > development of reggae . . . Full respect . . . > > fred > > ---------------------- > > http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040505T140000-0500_59435 > _OBS__SIR_COXSONE__DODD_IS_DEAD.asp > > 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd is dead > Famed music pioneer collapses at Studio One; Played major role in > launching Jamaica's > popular music > Balford Henry, Observer writer > Wednesday, May 05, 2004 > > FOUR days after the City of Kingston honoured him by naming a > street for his famous Studio One recording label, Jamaican music > pioneer Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd died suddenly yesterday. > > He apparently suffered a heart attack at his offices at 13 > Studio One Boulevard, which, until last Friday's big civic > ceremony in honour of Dodd, was Brentford Road. > > Dodd was 72. > > Sources who were at the studio when he died, shortly after 4:00 > pm, said that the veteran record producer and label boss was > sitting around his desk chatting and joking with them when Dodd > suddenly left for the bathroom. The next time they saw him, he > was sitting on a chair outside the bathroom holding his chest > and choking. > > "I held him in my arms and tried to revive him and Jennifer Lara > kept trying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation," said Bunny Brown, > former lead singer of the Chosen Few, and one of Dodd's > protégés. "He seemed like he was going to revive, then his > eyeballs just turned over." > > Dodd was rushed into one of the cars on the premises and taken > to the Medical Associates Hospital, Tangerine Place, St Andrew > where he was pronounced dead. > > Dodd's close associate at the studio, Kingsley Goodison, said > that it was obvious he was dead from before he left the > premises. > > However, Dodd's workers, artistes and others still gathered at > the studio, apparently hoping for a miracle, until the news came > back from the hospital confirming his death. > > After doctors pronounced him dead, Dodd's body was immediately > taken to the Madden's Funeral Parlour, North Street in the same > car that had taken him to the hospital. > > Outside the morgue, dozens gathered as the news spread of Dodd's > death. At Studio One, the mood was sombre among his associates > and artistes, who lingered. > > His wife, Norma, couldn't understand Dodd's sudden death. > > "He didn't have a history of heart problems," she said last > night, choking back tears at the Studio One complex. "He never > had a heart attack before." > > In a statement last night, Opposition leader, Edward Seaga, a > contemporary of Dodd in the music business in the 1950s and > 1960s, described him as "one of the fathers of Jamaican music". > He said that Dodd was "an extraordinary talent". > > Born Clement Seymour Dodd in Kingston on January 26, 1932, he > earned the nickname "Coxsone" after a Yorkshire, England > cricketer, while attending All Saints School in West Kingston. > He was considered a good cricket all-rounder. > > But it was as a pioneer of Jamaica's sound system and popular > music, from rocksteady to ska and reggae that Dodd was to find > fame. > > He started out playing bebop and jazz records for customers > visiting his parents' liquour store on Laws Street, and later > Beeston Street, in Kingston. During a turn at farm work in the > United States he widened his knowledge of rhythm and blues music > and imported numerous original 45 rpm records, which became the > hallmark of his sound system, Sir Coxsone Downbeat. > > He started the sound system in the early 50s relying on his > imported originals to outplay his competitors, chiefly the late > > Arthur "Duke" Reid of Treasure Isle fame. > > He opened his studio at Brentford Road in 1963 and since then > the name, Studio One, has become synonymous worldwide with the > best of early Jamaican pop rhythms - ska, rocksteady and reggae. > > Dodd is probably best known outside Jamaica for bringing Bob > Marley and the Wailers to national attention and producing some > of their most memorable hits, including the international peace > anthem, One Love. > > In later days, he has been in constant legal battles with newer > Jamaican record producers who have relied on his rhythms of the > 60s and 70s for the basis of their dancehall rhythms. > > But last Friday Dodd was hailed by Kingston's mayor, Desmond > McKenzie, and other officials, including finance minister and > South St Andrew MP Omar Davies - in whose constituency Brentford > Road/Studio One Boulevard is located - for his and Studio One's > contribution to the development and success of Jamaican music. > This was based on a resolution passed last year by the Kingston > and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the city government. > >
