Aswad

Last updated

Aswad
Aswad.jpg
Aswad in 2002
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Reggae, reggae fusion, R&B
Years active1975–present
Labels Island Records
Grove Music
CBS (UK)
Simba Mesa
Ark 21
PROTV
MembersTony Robinson
Past members Brinsley Forde
Angus Gaye
Donald Griffiths
Courtney Hemmings
George Oban

Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. [1] They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Turn Around" (1988) and "Shine" (1994). "Aswad" is Arabic for "black". They are three-time Grammy Award nominees. [2]

Contents

History

The members of Aswad are UK descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean. They attended John Kelly/Holland Park School. Aswad was formed in 1975 in Ladbroke Grove area of West London. [3]

The original members of Aswad were guitarist/vocalist Brinsley "Chaka B" Forde, drummer/vocalist Angus "Drummie Zeb" Gaye, lead guitarist/vocalist Donald "Dee" Griffiths, bassist George "Ras" Oban, and keyboardist Courtney "Khaki" Hemmings. [4] Aswad were the backing band of Burning Spear's 1977 Live album, recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Other contributors included Vin Gordon, and Karl Pitterson. [5]

Initially, the band produced music in the roots reggae vein, with members contributing songs individually and with Forde acting as the band's principal songwriter. The band's dynamic soon began to change however. Shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album in 1976, Hemmings left and was replaced by Tony "Gad" Robinson (the only time in the band's history where a departing member would be officially replaced by an incoming musician). The band then released their second studio effort, Hulet, in 1978, before Oban departed the band in 1979, with Robinson taking over the position of bassist as well as continuing his role as keyboardist. The following year saw Griffiths depart, leaving Forde as the band's sole guitarist. [4] During this early period in the band's history they were distinctly different from Jamaican reggae acts, in that they wrote songs that dealt with the issues surrounding the experiences of black youths growing-up in the UK; [4] such as "Three Babylon" and "It's Not Our Wish", and the powerful jazz-influenced instrumental "Warrior Charge".

Once the band's line-up had stabilised into the trio of Forde, Gaye, and Robinson, Aswad followed a more commercial reggae style, gaining a wider audience with the New Chapter album (1981). They then followed this with the Michael Reuben Campbell-produced A New Chapter of Dub LP which was a dub of the entire New Chapter album. Not Satisfied was a London roots-reggae album released in 1982. In August 1983, Aswad played live at Meanwhile Gardens on the Sunday of the Notting Hill Carnival; the resulting live album Live and Direct is a faithful record of that event, where they played a live dub set. "Love Fire" gained wide recognition when it was used as the backing rhythm for Dennis Brown's "Promised Land".

Among Aswad's catalogue of hits is "Don't Turn Around", a UK No. 1 hit in 1988, [6] originally recorded by Tina Turner as a B-side to her "Typical Male" single. They followed this up with UK No. 11 hit "Give a Little Love", [6] and a reggae-flavoured rendition of "Best of My Love", first popularised and written by The Eagles. In 1989, they contributed the single "Set Them Free" to the Greenpeace Rainbow Warriors album. In the same year, they performed together with Cliff Richard the song "Share a Dream", recorded the previous year, at Wembley Stadium as part of The Event (16 and 17 June 1989). Their next single, "Shine", was released in 1994 and was a big hit in much of Europe. Another track was the upbeat 1998 remake of The Police's "Invisible Sun", performed with Sting.

The band also hold the distinction of having played with each one of the ex-Wailers.

The band has toured extensively, playing in diverse locations from London's Royal Albert Hall and Montego Bay's Reggae Sunsplash, to gigs in West Africa, Israel and Japan. [7]

Aswad underwent their first line-up change in sixteen years in 1996, when Forde departed the band for spiritual reasons, leaving Gaye as the only founding member. Once again, the remaining members opted not to seek to recruit a replacement musician, and thus Aswad became a duo of Gaye and Robinson. With the exception of a brief reunion with Forde in 2009 for the Island record label's 50th-anniversary celebrations, [8] the band's line-up remained the same until Angus Gaye’s death on 2 September 2022, aged 62. [9]

Aswad released their final studio album to date in 2009, with City Lock. They released the singles "What Is Love?" and "Do That Thing" in the same year. [10]

Members

Current members
Former members
Additional musicians

Discography

Production work

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punky Reggae Party</span> 1977 single by Bob Marley

"Punky Reggae Party" is a song by Bob Marley, recorded and released in 1977. Not appearing on any studio album, it was released in 1977 as a 12-inch single in Jamaica only on the Tuff Gong and Lee Perry's Black Art labels, as a B-side to the "Jamming" single on Chris Blackwell's Island Records label in some countries and was later released as a live single on Babylon by Bus. Subsequently, it appeared on a number of compilations and "Best of" albums as well as the Deluxe Edition of Exodus and the 2002 CD reissue of Legend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Selecter</span> British two-tone ska band

The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Dekker</span> Jamaican musician (1941–2006)

Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group the Aces, he had one of the earliest international reggae hits with "Israelites" (1968). Other hits include "007 " (1967), "It Mek" (1969) and "You Can Get It If You Really Want" (1970).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Funk Brothers</span> Group of Detroit-based Motown studio musicians

The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreadzone</span> British electronic music group

Dreadzone are a British electronic music group formed in 1993 in London by ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts and musician Tim Bran. They have released eight studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brinsley Forde</span> English singer and actor (born 1953)

Brinsley Forde MBE is a British singer and actor of Guyanese parentage who is best known as the founder member of the reggae band Aswad and as a child actor in the children's television series Here Come the Double Deckers! (1970–71).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gladiators (band)</span> Jamaican roots reggae band

The Gladiators are a Jamaican roots reggae band, most popular during the 1970s. The core was Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon and Gallimore Sutherland. Their two most famous albums are Trenchtown Mix Up (1976) and Proverbial Reggae (1978) with songs such as "Hearsay", "Jah Works", "Dreadlocks the Time is Now". "Mix Up", "Music Makers from Jamaica", and "Soul Rebel" – a song written by The Wailers. Gladiators also cooperated with the toaster U-Roy.

<i>Live</i> (Burning Spear album) 1977 live album by Burning Spear

Live is the first live album of the reggae artist Burning Spear, which was recorded at the Rainbow Theatre with the band Aswad as backup. It was released in 1977.

<i>Marcus Children</i> 1978 studio album by Burning Spear

Marcus' Children is a studio album by the Jamaican musician Burning Spear, originally released in 1978 as Social Living. It was produced by Karl Pitterson and Burning Spear.

Angus Gaye, better known as Drummie Zeb, was an English musician. He was the drummer and vocalist for the reggae band Aswad, as well as a record producer for other artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark Datchler</span> Musical artist

Clark Wynford Datchler is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He first rose to fame in 1987 as the lead singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in the pop band Johnny Hates Jazz.

Zeb may refer to:

Laurel & Hardy were a British reggae cockney deejay duo best known for their hit single "Clunk Click".

The Mystic Revealers are a reggae band formed in the late 1970s in the seaside town of Bull Bay east of Kingston, Jamaica. Originally, the band was known as just the Revealers, but when another group with that name popped up, it was decided the word "Mystic" would help convey their Rastafari-inspired message of truth, justice, honor and unity. The band's four founding members form the heart of the group and include Kingston-born vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Billy "Mystic" Wilmot; former Jalan and Earth Disciples drummer and record producer Nicholas "Drummie" Henry, bass guitarist Leroy "Lion" Edwards and guitarist and vocalist Steve Davis. They draw upon Jamaica's rich, established reggae tradition of outspoken political awareness when writing and performing their original material.

<i>Influences</i> 1984 studio album by Mark King

Influences is the debut solo album by English musician Mark King, singer and bass player with Level 42. It was released by Polydor Records in July 1984.

<i>Distant Thunder</i> (Aswad album) 1988 album by Aswad

Distant Thunder is a studio album by British reggae band Aswad, released in March 1988 through Mango Records. Recording sessions took place at the Fallout Shelter, The Point, Eastcote, Strongroom, Sarm West & East, Rooster, and RAK Studios in London. Production was handled entirely by Aswad, except two tracks produced with Chris Porter and Ron Fair.

<i>Rise and Shine</i> (Aswad album) 1994 album by Aswad

Rise and Shine is a studio album by British reggae band Aswad, released in 1994 through Bubblin' Records. It peaked at number 38 on the UK Albums Chart and at number 69 on the Dutch Album Top 100.

<i>A New Chapter of Dub</i> 1982 remix album by Aswad

A New Chapter of Dub is an album by English reggae band Aswad, released by Island Records in April 1982. The record is a dub version of Aswad's previous album New Chapter (1981), and was produced by the group with Michael "Reuben" Campbell. Having felt New Chapter under-performed commercially because it was too intricate for mainstream reggae audiences, the group conceived the dub remix album as a way of appealing to core reggae audiences. The record emphasises dub techniques like delay, echo and drop-out and was among the first British dub albums to use tape and digitally-manipulated echo on a horn section. Although not a commercial success, A New Chapter of Dub received critical acclaim and has since been cited by some writers as one of the greatest dub albums of all time.

<i>Brain Damage</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Dennis Bovell

Brain Damage is the third studio album by Barbadian-British reggae musician Dennis Bovell, released in 1981 by Fontana Records. His first solo album under his own name, following two dub albums released as Blackbeard, it was Bovell's first recording at his South London-based Studio 80. Having begun to feel that reggae had not progressed as much as he would have liked, he conceived Brain Damage as an attempt to fuse the genre with numerous rhythmic styles from Europe, America, Africa and the Caribbean to highlight the genre's flexibility. The musician intended not to explore the international rhythms in a standard way but to take them to what he perceived as musical extremes. The direction was also inspired by the wide array of people in his audience.

<i>Best of Me</i> (Maxi Priest album) 1991 greatest hits album by Maxi Priest

Best of Me is a compilation album by English reggae vocalist Maxi Priest, released in 1991. The album mostly contains Priest's biggest hit singles up to 1991, including the US Billboard Hot 100 number one single, "Close to You". The majority of the tracks are from his first four studio albums: You're Safe (1985), Intentions (1986), Maxi (1987) and Bonafide (1990).

References

  1. Snowden, Don (14 July 1985). "Reggae—brit Style". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  2. "Aswad". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  3. "Drummie Zeb obituary". The Times . 5 September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Moskowitz, David V. (2006). Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall. Greenwood Press. p. 16. ISBN   0-313-33158-8.
  5. Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae. Virgin Books. ISBN   0-7535-0242-9.
  6. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 32. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  7. "Aswad Band | Ads Company". Archived from the original on 3 March 2010.
  8. Morris, Davina (17 May 2009). "Aswad reunites for Island's 50th anniversary". The Gleaner . Archived from the original on 4 January 2012.
  9. Abdul, Geneva (2 September 2022). "Drummie Zeb, lead singer of UK reggae band Aswad, dies aged 62". The Guardian . Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  10. "Aswad Band | Ads Company". Archived from the original on 28 February 2010.
  11. "VANESSA-MAE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.