Glen Adams

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the South African cricketer, see Glen Adams (cricketer).

Glen Adams
Glen Adams performing with The Slackers in 2002
Glen Adams performing with The Slackers in 2002
Background information
Born(1945-11-27)27 November 1945
OriginJones Town, Kingston, Jamaica
Died17 December 2010(2010-12-17) (aged 65)
GenresSka, Rocksteady, Reggae
Occupation(s)Record producer, instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Keyboard
Years active1960s–2010
Formerly of

Glen Adams (27 November 1945 – 17 December 2010)[1] was a Jamaican musician, composer, arranger, engineer, producer, based since the mid-1970s in Brooklyn, New York City.

Career

Adams' mother was from Kingston and his father from

dub plate on sound systems,[2] and the title of the song became his nickname.[3]

Adams formed a duo, Ken and Glen, with

Treasure Isle set-up as an informal musical director, introducing singers such as Joe White to Reid.[2]

Adams also worked with

Aston and Carlton), he performed in sessions for a range of producers under a variety of group names notably The Hippy Boys for Bunny Lee, where Adams did some of his most memorable work accompanying Slim Smith, The Reggae Boys and The Upsetters for Lee "Scratch" Perry.[3] Adams also worked for Herman Chin Loy, where he was one of a number of keyboard players to record under the name Augustus Pablo, before Horace Swaby adopted that identity.[4]

Perry and The Upsetters toured the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of Perry's hit "Return of Django" (and the less successful follow-up, "Live Injection");

The Wailers during their spell with Perry and Adams did much of the arranging and composed the song "Mr. Brown".[2][3] The lyrics were inspired by a local tale about a duppy who was supposedly seen speeding around on a three-wheeled coffin with two "John Crows" (buzzards) on top, one of which would ask for "Mr. Brown".[2] Adams was due to record the track himself but Perry suggested that the Wailers record it, with Peter Tosh and Adams adding spooky organ riffs.[2] Adams regularly introduced this song at his concerts with the statement: "I wrote this song for Bob Marley". When The Wailers parted company with Perry in 1971 taking The Upsetter's rhythm section with them, Adams remained with Perry. During this period he had also started to split his time between Jamaica and the United States. In the United States he set up his own Capo record label[5] and put together a new band, the Blue Grass Experience. He eventually moved to Brooklyn permanently in 1975, where he became more involved in producing and also worked for Brad Osbourne's Clocktower and Lloyd Barnes' Bullwackie labels[5] and played with The Realistics band.[3]

In the late 1970s, Adams expanded into

hip hop artist T Ski Valley.[3][6] He also worked with Shaggy and remixed and re-voiced an album of partly Upsetters material in 1996, released by Heartbeat Records as Upsetters a Go Go.[6]

After many years in the studio, Adams returned to live performance in the 2000s, touring the USA and Europe with The Slackers[3] and also playing occasional NYC shows with the Jammyland All-Stars.

Adams owned his own recording studio and in his later years produced artists such as Susan Cadogan and Keith Rowe,[3] half of the vocal duo Keith & Tex from Jamaica.

Glen Adams died on 17 December 2010 at the University Hospital of the West Indies after feeling ill while visiting Jamaica.[7]

Discography

Singles (non-comprehensive)

  • "Far Away", 1967
  • "Grab A Girl", 1968
  • "Hey There Lonely Girl", 1968
  • "Hold Down Miss Winey"
  • "I Can't Help It", 1968
  • "I Remember", 1967
  • "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", 1968
  • "My Argument", 1968
  • "Run Come Dance", 1968
  • "I'm Shocking, I'm Electric (She)", 1967
  • "She's So Fine (I've Got A Girl)", 1968
  • "Silent Lover", 1967
  • "Taking Over Orange Street", 1968

Albums

References

  1. ^ "Glen Adams – Trojan". Trojanrecords.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-86241-854-0
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "CAPO - LANDMARK CORNER". 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Article : In memory of... Augustus Pablo". Reggae-vibes.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0242-6
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87930-655-7
    .
  7. ^ "Jamaica Gleaner News – Reggae-music pioneer leaves a legacy of greatness – Entertainment – Monday | December 20, 2010". Jamaica-gleaner.com. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2011.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glen_Adams&oldid=1155688415"