S O N G S F O R A R E A S O N
Earl '16' Daley's voice is unmistakeable - a cracked falsetto and a lazy delivery combine to make this voice most poignant particularly when riding a solid, roots rhythm.
Like Horace Andy and one or two other Jamaican singers and MCs, Earl has enjoyed recent crossover success by lending his vocal talents to some of the UKs leading contemporary dance producers such as Leftfield. Yet despite having recorded far fewer records than his peers since his career began in the mid-70s, Earl is well known on the reggae scene due to the unique sound of his voice.
At the age of 15 the strength of Earl's voice was publicly recognised when he won a singing contest beating serious contenders like Michael Rose (the former Uhuru man), Junior Moore (of the Tamlins) and Joy White along the way.
Success did not follow easily though, Earl's first group The Flaming Phonics only ever recorded one tune. Typically it was an unplanned recording session which led to the first signs of his talent emerging. After accompanying his schoolfriend Winston McAnuff to Joe Gibbs' studio to provide support while his friend recorded a song he had written called Malcolm X, the engineer Errol Thompson, a man with a keen ear, expressed a preference for Earl's voice. Earl subsequently voiced the tune for both Derrick Harriott and Joe Gibbs, both cuts achieving some success around 1975.
At that time Earl decided to join bandleader Boris Gardiner as part of a travelling revue/cabaret band. Despite enjoying the great experience of playing with such a professional outfit, Earl's gradual involvement with Rasta resulted in his being fired from the band - locks and Clarkes' not fitting the uptown image Boris Gardiner wanted.
Around this same period connections were established with Hugh Mundell and Lee Perry's Black Ark studio, two tunes were released by Perry - Cheating and Freedom - the latter a bona fide classic roots tune. Earl continued to sing backing vocals at many Black Ark sessions including music for Yabby You such as Chant Down Babylon Kingdom and the Deliver Me From My Enemies set. He also recorded a couple of tunes for Augustus Pablo's Rockers label towards the latter part of the 70s - Changing World and Rastaman is a Peaceful Man - both melancholic and world weary yet beautiful pieces.
Meanwhile the Dread At The Controls, Mikey Dread, had been causing a rumpus with his late night weekly radio program where Earl's tune Freedom was regularly given airplay. The two subsequently teamed up for some sessions backed by the Roots Radics and mixed by Scientist at King Tubbys studio.
The singles released in Jamaica such as Reggae Sound and African Tribesman were not received too well yet the Dread At the Controls sound was popular in the UK where Mikey Dread released Earl's best LP Reggae Sound in 1980.
It was not long before Earl's voice caught the attention of Coxsone Dodd. After practicing vocals over a bunch of classic Studio One tunes Dodd had given Earl, he voiced a tune called Love Is A Feeling over the rhythm that had underpinned the 'Heptones Gonna Fight'. It was a massive hit in the fledgling dancehall scene of the early 80s where the Studio One sound was undergoing yet another revival.
Despite an LP for Studio One and various forays into the dancehall scene over the next few years, it took a cover version of the Simply Red song Holding Back The Years for the public to be reminded of the greatness of Earl 16's voice, a song that probably remains his biggest hit.
Into the 90s and collaborations with the Mad Professor and a recent LP on a major US label have seemingly started to yield the sort of success Earl is due. Like so many of reggae's greatest talents though, success has been a long time coming, for some it comes too late.
Sixteen from 16 selection
Earl officially:
http://www.earl16.com/
This biography is drawn from a very great interview with Earl 16 conducted in 1992 by Dave Katz and Ray Hurford for Ray's More Ax magazine - issue #8 titled Mud Cannot Settle Water.
You can order More Ax from outlets such as Dub Vendor in the UK or Ernie B in the US.
An online version of the interview is also available at Carter Van Pelt's in-depth web site.
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