Winston Riley

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Winston Delano Riley (born May 14, 1943 in Kingston , Jamaica , † January 19, 2012 ibid) was a Jamaican songwriter and music producer of reggae and dancehall music .

Life

Winston Riley was born in 1943 in the Denham Town neighborhood of Kingston.

Riley's career began in 1962 at the age of 16. He founded with some friends Rocksteady - band The Techniques . The group's first songs were produced by Coxsone Dodd for his Studio One label , later songs by Duke Reid .

In 1964 he founded his own label called Techniques Records . The first release on the label was a dubplate called "My girl" from his band The Techniques . The song was one of Riley's first self-productions. The second release was the single "Who's The Man" by Jamaican roots singer I-Roy . Other early releases on the label came from Boris Gardiner and Alton Ellis , among others .

In 1968 he left the band The Techniques and devoted himself exclusively to music production. In 1970 the Deejay Johnnie Osbourne had a first commercial hit on Riley's label with the single "Warrior" and made the label better known. However, the riddim did not come from Riley. In 1971 he had his first international breakthrough with a self-produced riddim on which the deejay Dave Barker toasted his song "Double Barrel" . The song reached number one on the UK charts and top 25 in the US. After his second riddim called "Monkey Barrel" had similar success, he signed a deal with Trojan Records . With the money he earned there, he later opened his own record store. In 1974 Riley released the Stalag Riddim , one of the world's most famous reggae riddims, on his label . So far, 293 official songs have been released on the riddim. The riddim albums "Stalag 17" , "Stalag 18" and "Stalag 19" based on the riddim are among the most popular reggae albums of all time.

During the 1970s, Riley released many well-known singles and albums, and worked with many well-known Jamaican musicians. In addition to Osbourne and Barker, he also produced some entire albums a. a. for Horace Andy , Pat Kelly , Alton Ellis , The Ethiopians and many other famous artists. His melody-spiced dubs were all at a high level at the time. Therefore, fans found it irritating that Riley was increasingly engaging with and promoting newcomers . The artist later quipped: "Somebody has to do it . " At the end of the 1970s he made the roots singer General Echo better known. In the early 1980s he discovered and promoted Sister Nancy , who is known as the first female dancehall deejay.

In the 1980s, Riley sponsored many other artists. These include Lone Ranger , Frankie Paul and Tristan Palmer . In 1985 King Jammy heralded the digital age with the song "Under Me Sleng Teng" on the Sleng Teng Riddim of the same name, and riddims and songs were increasingly produced electronically. Winston Riley worked with the Deejay tenor Saw and produced the hit "Ring The Alarm" for him . The single was released on the in-house Techniques label. Tenor Saw sang a new digital version of Riley's Stalag Riddim. "Ring the Alarm" is still played today as the sound killer anthem at dancehall parties. Another big hit was the 1989 single "Legal Rights" . The song was sung in a duet by the Jamaican deejays Papa San and Lady G. With a few exceptions, Riley has only produced dancehall since the early 1990s. He was working with artists such as Super Cat , Cutty Ranks , Gregory Isaacs and Yami Bolo at the time.

Winston Riley also promoted the Jamaican Deejay Buju Banton at an early age and contributed a lot to his career. In 2007 Riley worked with the English musician Fat Boy Slim and tried his hand at producing big beats.

Record producer Winston Riley was in the music business for more than 50 years.

Riley was seriously injured in a robbery at his home in November 2011 and was then in a coma until he died on January 19, 2012 at the age of 68.

reception

According to an article in the Jamaican Gleaner, Riley is considered one of the most important reggae producers of all time.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f W.Riley biography at Starpulse.com
  2. ↑ a b c d e biography at Allmusik.com
  3. ↑ Stalag Riddim in the Riddimguide database
  4. ^ Rhome Anderson: Sister Nancy . Washington Post . July 18, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  5. ↑ a b Rainer Bratfisch, Reggae-Lexikon , 1999, ISBN 3-89602-207-5
  6. ↑ Album presentation at Discogs
  7. ↑ Winston Riley is dead , Jamaica Observer, January 21, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  8. ↑ Winston Riley perfectds musical 'Techniques' , Krista Henry, Jamaica Gleaner, May 18, 2008 ( Memento of June 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Riley, Winston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Riley, Winston Delano (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jamaican songwriter and music producer of reggae and dancehall music
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Kingston , Jamaica
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 2012
Place of death Kingston , Jamaica