Tommy McCook (1927 - 1998)

Tommy McCook (3 March 1927 – 5 May 1998) was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s. McCook was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to Jamaica in […]

Lloyd Knibb (1931 - 2011)

Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1931, Lloyd Knibb, grew up on Bond Street, close to where a local band rehearsed, and he made his own drum kit from a wooden box and paint cans to practice the sounds that he had heard. Like a lot of musicians in the 1940s, he honed his craft in […]

Duke Reid (1915 - 1975)

Duke Reid was born in Portland, Jamaica. After serving ten years as a Jamaican police officer, Reid left the force to help his wife Lucille run the family business, The Treasure Isle Grocery and Liquor Store at 33 Bond Street in Kingston. He made his way into the music industry first as a sound system (outdoor […]

Delroy Wilson (1948 - 1995)

Delroy Wilson began his recording career at the age of thirteen, while still a pupil at Boys Town Primary School. Wilson released his first single “Emy Lou” in 1962 for record producer, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd. His early years with Coxsone yielded a number of ska hits, the biggest of which, the Lee Perry-written “Joe Liges” […]

Don Drummond (1932 - 1969)

Don Drummond (12 March 1932 – 6 May 1969) was a Jamaican ska trombonist and composer. He was one of the original members of The Skatalites, and composed many of their tunes. Drummond was born at the Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, to Doris Monroe and Uriah Drummond. He was educated at Kingston’s Alpha Boys School, […]

Coxsone Dodd (1932 - 2004)

Coxsone Dodd used to play records to the customers in his parents’ shop. During a spell in the American South he became familiar with the rhythm and blues music popular there at the time. In 1954, back in Jamaica, he set up the Downbeat Sound System, being the owner of an amplifier, a turntable, and […]

Joe Higgs (1940 - 1999)

Joe Higgs was instrumental in the foundation of modern Jamaican music, first recording in 1958 for producer and businessman (and later Jamaican Prime Minister) Edward Seaga, both as a solo artist and with Roy Wilson. He is often called the “Godfather of Reggae”. His first release (with Wilson) was “Oh Manny Oh” in 1958, which […]

Peter Tosh (1944 - 1987)

Peter Tosh began recording and released his solo debut, Legalize It, in 1976 with CBS Records company. The title track soon became popular among endorsers of marijuana legalization, reggae music lovers and Rastafari all over the world, and was a favourite at Tosh’s concerts. His second album Equal Rights followed in 1977, featuring his recording […]

Chris Wood (1944 - 1983)

Born in Quinton, a suburb of Birmingham, Chris Wood had an interest in music and painting from early childhood. Self-taught on flute and saxophone, which he commenced playing at the age of 15, he began to play locally with other Birmingham musicians who would later find international fame in music: Christine Perfect (later Christine McVie), […]

Alex Sadkin (1949 - 1987)

Alex Sadkin (Florida 1949 – 25 July 1987) is best remembered as a record producer in the early 1980s, but actually got his start in the music industry as a saxophonist for the Las Olas Brass in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sadkin grew up in Fort Lauderdale across the street from Bennett Elementary School, and played saxophone […]

Leslie Kong (1933 - 1971)

Leslie Kong  and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley’s in Orange Street, Kingston. In 1961, he encountered a young Jimmy Cliff outside of his shop singing a song he had written called “Dearest Beverley,” in the hopes that the mention of the establishment […]

Carl Radle (1942 - 1980)

Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was a bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Carl Radle was best known for his long association with Eric Clapton, […]

Jimmy Miller (1942 - 1994)

Prior to working with the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Miller had been trained and was widely known as the protege of Stanley Borden (RKO, ARTIA, AFTER HOURS UNIQUE). Borden the original backer of Island Records, suggested Miller to Chris Blackwell, who in turn brought him to the UK where he rose to fame by producing successful […]

Bobby Keys (1943 - 2014)

Bobby Keys met the Rolling Stones at the San Antonio Teen Fair in 1964. He is best known for his impressive resume as a musician (his contributions include the saxophone solo on the 1971 hit “Brown Sugar”) and his friendship with Keith Richards. Keys and Richards share exactly the same date of birth. Notably, Keys […]

Tony Sheridan (1940 - 2013)

Tony Sheridan was born in Norwich, Norfolk, where he grew up at 2 Hansell Road in Thorpe St Andrew and attended the City of Norwich School. In his early life, Sheridan was influenced by his parents’ interest in classical music, and by age seven, he had learned to play the violin. He eventually came to play […]

Bill Eyden (1930 - 2004)

Bill Eyden (born William James Eyden, 4 May 1930, Hounslow, Middlesex – 15 October 2004, Isleworth, Middlesex) was an English jazz drummer. The son of James Eyden and Ivy (née Tiller), of 129 Martindale Road, Hounslow, London, his first professional gig was in 1952 with the Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band. He was soon working with […]

Joe Moretti (1938 - 2012)

Joseph Edward “Joe” Moretti (10 May 1938 – 9 February 2012) was a Scottish guitarist renowned for his work on seminal UK rock and roll records such as Vince Taylor’s “Brand New Cadillac” and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates’ “Shakin’ All Over”. He lived in South Africa until his death from lung cancer. Joe Moretti also […]

Tony Meehan (1943 - 2005)

Tony Meehan was born to Irish parents at New End Hospital, New End, Hampstead, North London, England. He was 10 when he became interested in playing drums. By 13, he had his first job with a band playing in a dance hall at Willesden, London. He also played timpani with the London Youth Orchestra. When […]

John Rostill (1942 - 1973)

Born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England, John Rostill attended Rutlish School in south London (1953–59). He worked with several artists before joining the Shadows, including Bournemouth band the Interns – nowadays sometimes confused with Welsh band the Interns, who were based in London at this time signed with Tito Burns Agency; in fact, they were […]

Ian Samwell (1937 - 2003)

In 1958, Ian Samwell heard Harry Webb performing at the 2i’s Coffee Bar in Soho. This led to him joining Webb’s group as a guitarist. Shortly afterwards, the group was renamed Cliff Richard and The Drifters who later became Cliff Richard and The Shadows. They signed a recording contract with EMI’s Columbia Records and Samwell wrote […]

Peter Skellern (1947 - 2017)

Peter Skellern was born in Bury, Lancashire. He attended Derby High School, playing the organ at St Michael’s Church in Bolton during his early years, and studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He later joined the pop groups Harlem and March Hare. Skellern’s first song to become a hit was “You’re a […]

Jack Kinney (1909 - 1992)

According to Jeff Lenburg’s assessment of him, Jack Kinney was a veteran animator, who spend most of his career working at Walt Disney Productions (later known as the Walt Disney Animation Studios). He directed the first film in the Donald Duck series to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Two other films […]

Earle Hagen (1919 - 2008)

Born in Chicago, Illinois, as a boy Earle Hagen moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, where he learned to play the trombone in junior high school, and graduated from Hollywood High School. At age 16, he left home to join traveling big bands, playing with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Ray Noble. While […]

Alex North (1910 - 1991)

Alex North managed to integrate his modernism into typical film music leitmotif structure, rich with themes. One of these became the famous song, “Unchained Melody”. Nominated for fifteen Oscars but unsuccessful each time, North is one of only two film composers to receive the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award, the other being Ennio Morricone. North’s frequent […]

Lyle Wheeler (1905 - 1990)

Lyle Reynolds Wheeler (February 2, 1905 – January 10, 1990) was an American motion picture art director. He received five Academy Awards — for Gone with the Wind (1939), Anna and the King of Siam (1946), The Robe (1953), The King and I (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). Lyle Wheeler studied at the […]

Leigh Harline (1907 - 1969)

Leigh Adrian Harline (March 26, 1907 – December 10, 1969) was a film composer and songwriter. He was known for his “musical sophistication that was uniquely ‘Harline-esque’ by weaving rich tapestries of mood-setting underscores and penning memorable melodies for animated shorts and features.” Leigh Harline was born March 26, 1907, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the […]

Lionel Newman (1916 - 1989)

After serving an apprenticeship conducting and orchestrating live shows, Lionel Newman joined 20th Century Fox as a rehearsal pianist under the guidance of his brother, Alfred Newman, and by 1959, he had been promoted to Musical Director for Television there. This opened the doors to feature films. He was soon made vice president in charge […]

Leonard Rosenman (1924 - 2008)

Leonard Rosenman was born in Brooklyn, New York. After service in the Pacific with the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of California, Berkeley. He also studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg, Roger Sessions and Luigi Dallapiccola. Amongst Rosenman’s earliest film work was the […]

Alexander Courage (1919 - 2008)

Alexander Courage began as an orchestrator and arranger at MGM studios, which included work in such films as the 1951 Show Boat (“Life Upon the Wicked Stage” number), The Band Wagon (“I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan”), Gigi (the can-can for the entrance of patrons at Maxim’s), and the barn raising dance from […]

Robert McKimson (1910 - 1977)

Born in Denver, Colorado, Robert McKimson spent 10 years getting an art education. He then went to work for Walt Disney. He stayed with Disney’s studio for two years and then went to work for the Romer Grey Studio located in Altadena, California in 1930, a would-be animation shop started by the son of Western […]