Black Uhuru
| Black Uhuru | |
|---|---|
 Michael Rose from Black Uhuru live in Dortmund |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | reggae |
| founding | 1974 |
| Founding members | |
| Derrick "Duckie" Simpson | |
singing |
Rudolph "Garth" Dennis |
singing |
Don Carlos (civil Eurin Spencer) |
| former members | |
singing |
Michael Rose |
singing |
Errol Nelson |
singing |
Sandra "Puma" Jones († January 28, 1990) |
singing |
Junior Reid |
singing |
Andrew Bees |
The band Black Uhuru , founded in Kingston , Jamaica in 1974 , is one of the most important exponents of the second generation of Roots Reggae . The word Uhuru is borrowed from the East African language Swahili and means freedom. With their music, the band wanted to shake up the Jamaican people and remind them of their African roots.
Band history
The band initially consisted of Derrick "Duckie" Simpson (born June 24, 1950 in Kingston), Rudolph "Garth" Dennis (born December 2, 1949) and Don Carlos (real name Eurin Spencer, born June 29, 1952). While Garth Dennis and Don Carlos started their own solo projects, Duckie Simpson continued to make music under the name Black Uhuru . He engaged Michael Rose and Errol Nelson , who were replaced by the later return of Don Carlos and further changes of line-up and started their own solo projects. Black Uhuru had their most successful period in the 1980s. The vocal trio consisted of Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose and Puma Jones, a social worker from South Carolina who contributed to the band's characteristic sound with her high soprano voice. They were supported by the powerful rhythm group Sly & Robbie with Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass as well as other of Jamaica's most popular instrumentalists. Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare also produced the most famous singles, General Penitentiary , Guess Who's Coming to Dinner , Plastic Smile , Abortion and Shine Eye Gal . The song Abortion , a song about abortion, was indexed in Jamaica.
With the album Anthem they won the first ever Grammy Award in 1985 in the category of best reggae recording . By 1995 they were nominated six more times for this category.
An appearance by Black Uhuru with the success of Sinsemilla in 1981 at the Rockpalast ensured that the term " Sinsemilla " became known in Germany as well.
Discography
Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Michael Rose, Errol "Tarzan" Nelson, Don Carlos
- 1977: Love Crisis
- 1981: Black Sounds of Freedom ( Love Crisis Re-Edition)
Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Michael Rose, Sandra "Puma" Jones, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare
- 1979: Showcase
- 1980: Black Uhuru ( Showcase Re-Edition)
- 1980: Sinsemilla
- 1981: Red
- 1982: Chill Out
- 1983: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ( Black Uhuru Re-Edition)
- 1983: Anthem
- 1985: Reggae Greats (compilation)
Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Delroy "Junior" Reid, Sandra "Puma" Jones
- 1986: Brutal
Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Delroy "Junior" Reid, Olafunke
- 1987: Positive
Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Garth Dennis, Don Carlos
- 1990: Now
- 1991: Iron Storm
- 1993: Mystical Truth
- 1994: Strongg
Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Jenifah Nyah, Andrew Bees
- 1998: Unification
- 2001: Dynasty
Live / Dub albums:
- 1982: Uhuru in Dub
- 1982: Tear It Up - Live (album and video)
- 1983: The Dub Factor
- 1986: Brutal Dub
- 1987: The Positive Dub
- 1988: Live
- 1988: Live in New York City
- 1990: Now Dub
- 1990: Love Dub ("Uhuru in Dub" re-edition)
- 1992: Iron Storm Dub
- 1993: Mystical Truth Dub
- 1994: Strongg Dubb
- 2000: Live 1984
- 2001: In Dub
- 2001: Dubbin'It Live (Summer 2001, at the Paléo Festival)
Web links
- Black Uhuru biography at musicline.de
- Black Uhuru at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Olaf Karnik , Helmut Philipps : Reggae in Germany . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-462-41018-1 ( limited preview in Google book search).