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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Bob Andy: One of Reggae's last great soldiers</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>By Claude Wilson contributor
Sunday, August 13, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of my greatest honours in life was being able to introduce Bob Andy at Sunsplash - Roger Steffens, US reggae lecturer/historian.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Andy. one of the prime movers in the world of reggae music</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Steffens is one of many influential persons in reggae to have accorded status of brilliance to the works of Keith Anderson, the legendary Bob Andy, one of the prime movers in the world of reggae music.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On October 16, 2006. National Heroes Day, a week before his 62nd birthday, Bob Andy will be accorded the nation fifth highest honour the Order of Distinction (OD) in the rank of Commander for sterling contribution to the development of reggae music, the citation will say.<P class=StoryText align=justify>His sterling contributions started in the early 60s when he initiated the classic reggae quartet, The Paragons. Andy's late 60s self-effacing work at Studio One Records is embodied in the now hotly disputed album Bob Andy's Songbook.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He had written the Paragons' first five tunes for Coxone's label of which one, Love at Last (1965), topped the charts on both radio stations (RJR & JBC), two years before his most famous songs Got To Go Back Home and I Don't Want To See You Cry, the hit he penned for Ken Boothe.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A young Bob Andy cut his teeth at 13 Brentford Road, firstly by running errands distributing 45s and LPs to record shops around Kingston, doing so, he says, to make a living.
He had no doubt in mind that a gift for singing was wrapped up inside. "But, I did not see how I would be able to sing a song that was fit for the market much less to earn money. However, I would come back early (from delivering records) each day to look in at the sessions."<P class=StoryText align=justify>In between sessions, though, Sir Coxone Dodd, he said, would play the tapes and he and Marcia [Griffiths] would put harmony on these tracks. It was then the idea came to me that I could write songs and I wrote one to fit Marcia's voice. The two had worked close together in those days.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Marcia said, "My first Studio One album was The Best of Marcia Griffiths. That album has all my biggest hits; Melody Life, Tell Me Now, Feel Like Jumping, Truly and Mark My Words. Bob Andy wrote all of them.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Bob & Marcia singing duo interpreted Nina Simone's Young, Gifted & Black, for producer Harry J Johnson, which became a huge hit in the UK. "The popularity of the record ensured crossover success and it rode high in the UK charts in 1970 and became a hit all over Europe", recorded The Guinness Book of Who's Who of Reggae.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Bob Andy confessed to have been "this shy country boy" who was hideously intimidated by the presence and demeanor of the already established Studio One artists.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"When I went to Studio One I had found it intimidating in the presence of the Gaylads, The Wailers, artists like Ken Booth, Delroy Wilson and Marcia Griffiths. They where like budding superstars and with attitudes," he told this writer.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A little of the coyness evaporated when Booth, Griffiths and Wilson made notable hits of songs he wrote for them. "When these people started to record my work I got the
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>By Claude Wilson contributor
Sunday, August 13, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of my greatest honours in life was being able to introduce Bob Andy at Sunsplash - Roger Steffens, US reggae lecturer/historian.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Andy. one of the prime movers in the world of reggae music</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Steffens is one of many influential persons in reggae to have accorded status of brilliance to the works of Keith Anderson, the legendary Bob Andy, one of the prime movers in the world of reggae music.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On October 16, 2006. National Heroes Day, a week before his 62nd birthday, Bob Andy will be accorded the nation fifth highest honour the Order of Distinction (OD) in the rank of Commander for sterling contribution to the development of reggae music, the citation will say.<P class=StoryText align=justify>His sterling contributions started in the early 60s when he initiated the classic reggae quartet, The Paragons. Andy's late 60s self-effacing work at Studio One Records is embodied in the now hotly disputed album Bob Andy's Songbook.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He had written the Paragons' first five tunes for Coxone's label of which one, Love at Last (1965), topped the charts on both radio stations (RJR & JBC), two years before his most famous songs Got To Go Back Home and I Don't Want To See You Cry, the hit he penned for Ken Boothe.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A young Bob Andy cut his teeth at 13 Brentford Road, firstly by running errands distributing 45s and LPs to record shops around Kingston, doing so, he says, to make a living.He had no doubt in mind that a gift for singing was wrapped up inside. "But, I did not see how I would be able to sing a song that was fit for the market much less to earn money. However, I would come back early (from delivering records) each day to look in at the sessions."<P class=StoryText align=justify>In between sessions, though, Sir Coxone Dodd, he said, would play the tapes and he and Marcia [Griffiths] would put harmony on these tracks. It was then the idea came to me that I could write songs and I wrote one to fit Marcia's voice. The two had worked close together in those days.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Marcia said, "My first Studio One album was The Best of Marcia Griffiths. That album has all my biggest hits; Melody Life, Tell Me Now, Feel Like Jumping, Truly and Mark My Words. Bob Andy wrote all of them.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Bob & Marcia singing duo interpreted Nina Simone's Young, Gifted & Black, for producer Harry J Johnson, which became a huge hit in the UK. "The popularity of the record ensured crossover success and it rode high in the UK charts in 1970 and became a hit all over Europe", recorded The Guinness Book of Who's Who of Reggae.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Bob Andy confessed to have been "this shy country boy" who was hideously intimidated by the presence and demeanor of the already established Studio One artists.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"When I went to Studio One I had found it intimidating in the presence of the Gaylads, The Wailers, artists like Ken Booth, Delroy Wilson and Marcia Griffiths. They where like budding superstars and with attitudes," he told this writer.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A little of the coyness evaporated when Booth, Griffiths and Wilson made notable hits of songs he wrote for them. "When these people started to record my work I got the