Coxsone Dodd

Sir Coxsone Dodd ( born January 26, 1932 in Kingston, Jamaica; † May 4, 2004 ibid ), whose name was Clement Seymour Dodd real name, a major music producer, who greatly influenced the development of the Jamaican reggae was had.

Life

First appearance as a sound -Man

Early on Dodd was interested in music. He founded his sound system Sir Coxsone Downbeat and entered the mid-1950s for the first time in appearance by playing on him his guest work as harvesters in the United States brought the rare rhythm and blues records. He played in the late 1950s a record called Later For The Gator that even after repeated visits to the United States could not raise his fiercest rival Duke Reid. So the reputation of Sir Coxsones grew up in this dependent on viewer popularity daily business, which was based only on the competition according to the latest phenomena on and on. Only after nine years later the title of the panel was given up by a "traitor", and Duke Reid could play the meantime already designated as Coxsone Hop plate in his sound system.

From the sound of Man for producers

Due to the displacement of R'n'B in the United States prevailed in Jamaica a lack of new plates, as you continue danced to familiar rhythms. Were spurred by mutual competition, the sound -Men, the operators of the sound system to producers, and tried possible own talents, which were in the slums to recruit, and to have exclusivity of plates for the sound system. Later Coxsone transformed the idea of art as a means of competition uniques the sound system under the influence of a friend to use until today marketing strategy of music in Jamaica. So first a Dubplate is created by using the familiar sound system, and reactions were carried out before then initially only a small number of singles to be pressed in order to achieve a comparatively high price is. Finally, the plate was then pressed en masse, and their profitable sale also at lower prices. This quite pretty primitive business practice has still its raison d'etre and is an essential part of the culture as a whole, in which inserts itself into the music.

This is an important step towards the formation of reggae was done. In 1963, Sir Coxsone the legendary Studio One in West Kingston, in which, among other things, Bob Marley as a backing band his first recordings made ​​in the same year with the Skatalites after Coxsone in the band The Wailing Wailers saw an interest created by their Authentizitität potential.

Nevertheless, the large influence Coxsones was due to the development of music and his personal success is limited to his genius, than on its meaning, always " to be surrounded by the most creative minds of those he could find " - such as Jackie Mittoo and Lee Perry. Furthermore, he had a shrewd businessman with a keen sense of the value and the time of publication he who had understood it in addition to exploit its artists.

Meaning and career of the sound system

Until the mid-1960s, Sir Coxsone Downbeat was the most important sound system in Jamaica. In the course of formation of the rock steady the eternal adversary Coxsones Duke Reid again took over the musical supremacy. So both have promoted the development of Jamaican popular music, Studio One, however, should " take the prominent place for all time ."

On 4 May 2004 Coxsone died at work in Studio One of a heart attack.

In October 2007, Dodd was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander.