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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the name Linval Thompson and the Thompson Sounds moniker had serious currency in the world of Jamaican reggae. In addition to his reputation as a vocalist on over a dozen albums, Thompson was the producer of over 40 albums and hundreds of singles by artists including Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor, Barrington Levy, Eek-A-Mouse, Gregory Isaacs, The Wailing Souls, Triston Palma, Cornell Campbell, Johnny Osbourne, The Viceroys, and Sugar Minott. An
examination of his work makes the case that Thompson's contribution to reggae was essential during the music's golden era.
Linval Thompson and Sugar Minott can be credited as the first reggae singers to exercise significant control as producers of their own work. Previously, the perilous route to becoming a reggae producer in Jamaica was only traversed by shrewd businessmen, soundsystem operators, and a handful of soundsystem deejays.
Journalist Steve Milne of Full Watts described Linval Thompson as "an artist lauded by knowledgeable reggae-philes and practically unknown by the rest . . . As a singer [Thompson] is not as well known as some of the artists who attained worldwide success with his help, like Freddie McGregor, Eek-A-Mouse, and [the engineer] Scientist."
Thompson's relatively low profile is due to two factors. At the height of his singing career, Thompson spent his time producing instead of touring, thus missing an essential avenue to name recognition. Moreover, while many of his colleagues inked high-profile deals with major labels, only one of Thompson's albums, the Sly & Robbie backed Starlight, managed to find major label distribution (through Mango/Island in 1988).
However, Thompson did have a thriving business through established independent labels and his own imprints, thus those who knew about his music became loyal fans. His productions were very popular in London and his catalog can be found primarily on U.K. indy labels Trojan, Greensleeves, and Burning Sounds. He also pressed his productions on the Strong Like Samson and Thompson Sounds labels in Jamaica. In the US, Brooklyn-based Clocktower Records released much of his work.
Linval Thompson is seldom heard complaining about his lack of notoriety after so many years in the business. He told Jamaican journalist Claude Mills in 1998, "I can't bawl like some other men do. I tried from pretty early to know the business, and I've done well. I made some investments out of it, a house, land. The trick was that I produced a lot of the hit songs that I made, and I produced other artists as well."
Thompson began writing original songs from an early age, and his first opportunity to record came when he was a teenager in Queens, New York, living with his mother. He recorded "No Other Woman ." Thompson also recorded a few tracks in the US for producer E.W. Martin before returning to live in Kingston. In Jamaica, Thompson voiced tunes at the newly established Black Ark studio for producer Phil Pratt, in addition to his martialartsploitation masterpiece, "Kung Fu Man," recorded for
the Black Ark's eccentric mastermind, Lee "Scratch" Perry. Thompson also recorded briefly for the legendary Augustus Pablo and his Rockers label and for Stamma Hobson.
The main move in Thompson's career came through his association with singer Johnny Clarke, Jamaica's most prolific domestic hit-maker of the day and stable star of the great producer Bunny "Striker" Lee. Sparring with Clarke and hanging out at King Tubby's studio eventually led to an opportunity to voice for Striker, and "Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks" proved to be a monumental first effort. That track and others recorded in 1975 were collected as Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks and released in England the following year on the Third World label. The album (also known as Cool Down on Clocktower Records) features essential rockers and flying cymbal rhythms by the Soul Syndicate band and endures as one of the essential roots classics of the 1970s. It was the height of the era of militant, Pan-Africanist lyrics and Rastafarian consciousness.
As a vocalist, Thompson didn't carry the accessible qualities needed to crossover to mainstream American audiences, but he had the essential rawness, unpredictable timing, and spontaneous lyrical style that defined credibility in Jamaican dancehalls. Linval Thompson was the quintessential roots reggae vocalist.
Wasting no time to control his own destiny in the recording business and encouraged by Bunny Lee, Thompson recorded and produced "Train To Zion" with deejay U Brown in 1976. Then came "Jah Jah Guiding Star" in 1977. The latter was produced with his young friend Henry "Junjo" Lawes. The duo also shared credit on the Thompson Sounds debut release, "I Love Marijuana." The latter song became the title track of the essential 1978
album released by Trojan Records in London. Aided by the hand of
organist/arranger/producer Ossie Hibbert, I Love Marijuana featured heavyweight Channel 1 studio rhythms supplied by Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (of Rockers fame) on drums, and Aston "Familyman" Barrett of The Wailers on bass. The success of I Love Marijuana put Thompson in a position to produce more and more sessions, which he did with ferocity from 1979 to 1983. His third solo album, the brilliant Six Babylon, foreshadowed the change in style that was on the horizon for reggae while still embracing the militancy and Pan-Africanism of the rockers era.
Several of Thompson's best productions were of relatively unknown artists. He recorded Mystic Eyes' excellent album Mysterious in 1979 and essential deejay albums by Big Joe
(African Princess) and Trinity (Rock In The Ghetto). These early productions were backed by The Revolutionaries (Sly & Robbie) and represent the best of the late rockers era in Jamaica.
While Thompson brought Henry "Junjo" Lawes into the music business, the two men became friendly rivals and proceeded to dominate production in the early 80s dancehall era, with Sugar Minott as the only serious challenger. Characteristically sparse
arrangements defined the sound of dancehall beginning in 1980. For Thompson, the music was always recorded at Channel 1 with the Roots Radics band providing the rhythms and the final mixes by Scientist at King Tubby's studio.
Freddie McGregor's massive 1982 hit "Big Ship (Sailing On The Ocean)" was Thompson's most successful record as a producer, and it even spawned the name for McGregor's record label. Other lasting Thompson-produced albums include the Viceroys' Brethren and Sistren (CSA) and We Must Unite (Trojan); The Meditations' No More Friend (Greensleeves), and Barrington Levy's Poor Man Style (Trojan). Linval Thompson also put his touch on great albums by Tristan Palma (Joker Lover), Eek-A-Mouse (Skidip & Mouse and Man), Johnny Osbourne (Nightfall), and the Wailing Souls (Wailing).
Numerous 7-inch, 45 r.p.m. singles on the Thompson Sounds label featured artists with whom Thompson worked sparingly, but were nonetheless essential in his catalog. These include singers Horace Andy, Sammy Dread, Rod Taylor, Gregory Isaacs, Barry
Brown, Delroy Wilson, and Freddie McKaye.
Linval Thompson also released a number of excellent dub (instrumental) albums including Negrea Love Dub (Trojan), Green Bay Dub (Burning Sounds), and Outlaw Dub (Trojan) ñ all featuring the Revolutionaries with Sly & Robbie. Thompson later released dub classics Scientist Encounters Pac Man (Greensleeves), Scientist Meets the Space Invaders (Greensleeves), and Scientist and Jammy Strike Back (Trojan) ñ all featuring the Roots Radics band.
Though Thompson clearly found greater success producing other artists in the early 80s, he returned to the vocal booth as time allowed and recorded Love Is the Question (Burning Sounds), Rocking Vibration (Burning Sounds), If I Follow My Heart (Burning Sounds), and the enduring Look How Me Sexy Greensleeves, 1982) and Baby Father (Greensleeves, 1983). Thompson's music after 1980 was reflective of a general trend
towards carnal themes, eschewing the radicalism of the 70s.
Without a doubt, the shake-up of Jamaican music caused by the crude digital revolution of Jammy's "Sleng Teng" rhythm in 1985 signaled the end of an era for Linval Thompson and many of his colleagues. "I don't think the computer is the right thing for
reggae music," Thompson told High Times in 1997. "The live drum and bass give you a vibes. God give us the power, not the machine that man make up. That's why the roots of the music been drifting away. We want to feel the live thing, the live drum and bass, live guitar and that way the singer can sing the vibes." Having little interest in computerized production, Thompson ducked out of the business and began developing the small piece
of land he purchased with his first album advance.
He found his way back to the studio several times after 1985, twice with the help of reggae megastar bassist Robbie Shakespeare, who produced Linval on the Ease Up album as well as Starlight (Mango, 1988). Thompson's most recent album, Rescue Lover, was co-produced by Colin Samson. Thompson also voiced singles for various producers in the 90s, including King Jammy.
The Netherlands-based label Majestic Reggae (Munich Records) helped bring Linval back to the consciousness of reggae lovers through the release of Jah Jah Dreader Than Dread in 1997, a collection of 17 tracks by various artists from the 70s and 80s.
To this day, Thompson has to move quickly to reissue many of his titles, because black market reggae labels like Abraham in Canada, Esoldun in France, and Rhino U.K. have pirated his recordings.
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