Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD (Kingston, Jamaica, January 26, 1932 – May 5, 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. Dodd began running sound systems in 1954 after a short stint living in the U.S. exposed him to R&B music.
In the context of Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system scene is generally regarded as an important part of Jamaican cultural history and as being responsible for the rise of several modern Jamaican musical genres. The sound system concept first became popular in the 1950s, in the ghettos of Kingston. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers and set up street parties. In the beginning, the DJs played American rhythm and blues music, but as time progressed and more local music was created, the sound migrated to a local flavor.
He went back to Jamaica with a few records and started the Downbeat Sound System. Dodd would import new records from Miami and New Orleans to play for eager Jamaican audiences. Dodd eventually set up five different sound systems, each playing nightly. He would hire other DJ's to run the parties including a young Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Eventually the R&B trend died out and Jamaicans began to record their own music in search of a new sound. It was around this time that Dodd met Roland Alfonso and Don Drummond, founding members of the Skatalites and began the legendary Studio One.
It would be at Studio One where a young Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer would get their start recording classic Ska and rock steady tunes like "Simmer Down".
"Sir Coxsone" went on to record a hefty amount of classic reggae, ska and rocksteady through out the 60's and 70's and started the careers of many of the genre's heavy weight artists. Unfortunately, like many famous record producers he was also a shister and would often under pay musicians. By any account the man is a legend, and would no doubt influence the evolution of Hip Hop via a young Jamaican transplant named Kool Herc.
Sources: Honey Knuckles, Wikipedia
In the context of Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system scene is generally regarded as an important part of Jamaican cultural history and as being responsible for the rise of several modern Jamaican musical genres. The sound system concept first became popular in the 1950s, in the ghettos of Kingston. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers and set up street parties. In the beginning, the DJs played American rhythm and blues music, but as time progressed and more local music was created, the sound migrated to a local flavor.
He went back to Jamaica with a few records and started the Downbeat Sound System. Dodd would import new records from Miami and New Orleans to play for eager Jamaican audiences. Dodd eventually set up five different sound systems, each playing nightly. He would hire other DJ's to run the parties including a young Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Eventually the R&B trend died out and Jamaicans began to record their own music in search of a new sound. It was around this time that Dodd met Roland Alfonso and Don Drummond, founding members of the Skatalites and began the legendary Studio One.
It would be at Studio One where a young Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer would get their start recording classic Ska and rock steady tunes like "Simmer Down".
"Sir Coxsone" went on to record a hefty amount of classic reggae, ska and rocksteady through out the 60's and 70's and started the careers of many of the genre's heavy weight artists. Unfortunately, like many famous record producers he was also a shister and would often under pay musicians. By any account the man is a legend, and would no doubt influence the evolution of Hip Hop via a young Jamaican transplant named Kool Herc.
Sources: Honey Knuckles, Wikipedia
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