From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the name Linval Thompson
and the Thompson
Sounds moniker had serious currency in the world of Jamaican reggae.
In addition to his
reputation as a vocalist on over a dozen albums, Thompson was
the producer of over 40
albums and hundreds of singles by artists including Dennis Brown,
Freddie McGregor,
Barrington Levy, Eek-A-Mouse, Gregory Isaacs, The Wailing Souls,
Triston Palma,
Cornell Campbell, Johnny Osbourne, The Viceroys, and Sugar Minott.
An
examination of his work makes the case that Thompson's contribution
to reggae was
essential during the music's golden era.
Linval Thompson and Sugar Minott can be credited as the first
reggae singers to exercise
significant control as producers of their own work. Previously,
the perilous route to
becoming a reggae producer in Jamaica was only traversed by shrewd
businessmen,
soundsystem operators, and a handful of soundsystem deejays.
Journalist Steve Milne of Full Watts described Linval Thompson
as "an artist lauded by
knowledgeable reggae-philes and practically unknown by the rest
. . . As a singer
[Thompson] is not as well known as some of the artists who attained
worldwide success
with his help, like Freddie McGregor, Eek-A-Mouse, and [the engineer]
Scientist."
Thompson's relatively low profile is due to two factors. At the
height of his singing
career, Thompson spent his time producing instead of touring,
thus missing an essential
avenue to name recognition. Moreover, while many of his colleagues
inked high-profile
deals with major labels, only one of Thompson's albums, the Sly
& Robbie backed
Starlight, managed to find major label distribution (through Mango/Island
in 1988).
However, Thompson did have a thriving business through established
independent labels
and his own imprints, thus those who knew about his music became
loyal fans. His
productions were very popular in London and his catalog can be
found primarily on U.K.
indy labels Trojan, Greensleeves, and Burning Sounds. He also
pressed his productions
on the Strong Like Samson and Thompson Sounds labels in Jamaica.
In the US,
Brooklyn-based Clocktower Records released much of his work.
Linval Thompson is seldom heard complaining about his lack of
notoriety after so many
years in the business. He told Jamaican journalist Claude Mills
in 1998, "I can't bawl like
some other men do. I tried from pretty early to know the business,
and I've done well. I
made some investments out of it, a house, land. The trick was
that I produced a lot of the
hit songs that I made, and I produced other artists as well."
Thompson began writing original songs from an early age, and his
first opportunity to
record came when he was a teenager in Queens, New York, living
with his mother. He recorded
"No Other Woman ." Thompson also recorded a few tracks
in the US for producer E.W. Martin before returning to live in
Kingston. In Jamaica,
Thompson voiced tunes at the newly established Black Ark studio
for producer Phil
Pratt, in addition to his martialartsploitation masterpiece, "Kung
Fu Man," recorded for
the Black Ark's eccentric mastermind, Lee "Scratch"
Perry. Thompson also recorded
briefly for the legendary Augustus Pablo and his Rockers label
and for Stamma Hobson.
The main move in Thompson's career came through his association
with singer Johnny
Clarke, Jamaica's most prolific domestic hit-maker of the day
and stable star of the great
producer Bunny "Striker" Lee. Sparring with Clarke and
hanging out at King Tubby's
studio eventually led to an opportunity to voice for Striker,
and "Don't Cut Off Your
Dreadlocks" proved to be a monumental first effort. That
track and others recorded in
1975 were collected as Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks and released
in England the
following year on the Third World label. The album (also known
as Cool Down on
Clocktower Records) features essential rockers and flying cymbal
rhythms by the Soul
Syndicate band and endures as one of the essential roots classics
of the 1970s. It was the
height of the era of militant, Pan-Africanist lyrics and Rastafarian
consciousness.
As a vocalist, Thompson didn't carry the accessible qualities
needed to crossover to
mainstream American audiences, but he had the essential rawness,
unpredictable timing,
and spontaneous lyrical style that defined credibility in Jamaican
dancehalls. Linval
Thompson was the quintessential roots reggae vocalist.
Wasting no time to control his own destiny in the recording business
and encouraged by
Bunny Lee, Thompson recorded and produced "Train To Zion"
with deejay U Brown in
1976. Then came "Jah Jah Guiding Star" in 1977. The
latter was produced with his young
friend Henry "Junjo" Lawes. The duo also shared credit
on the Thompson Sounds debut
release, "I Love Marijuana." The latter song became
the title track of the essential 1978
album released by Trojan Records in London. Aided by the hand
of
organist/arranger/producer Ossie Hibbert, I Love Marijuana featured
heavyweight
Channel 1 studio rhythms supplied by Leroy "Horsemouth"
Wallace (of Rockers fame)
on drums, and Aston "Familyman" Barrett of The Wailers
on bass. The success of I
Love Marijuana put Thompson in a position to produce more and
more sessions, which
he did with ferocity from 1979 to 1983. His third solo album,
the brilliant Six Babylon,
foreshadowed the change in style that was on the horizon for reggae
while still embracing
the militancy and Pan-Africanism of the rockers era.
Several of Thompson's best productions were of relatively unknown
artists. He recorded
Mystic Eyes' excellent album Mysterious in 1979 and essential
deejay albums by Big Joe
(African Princess) and Trinity (Rock In The Ghetto). These early
productions were
backed by The Revolutionaries (Sly & Robbie) and represent
the best of the late rockers
era in Jamaica.
While Thompson brought Henry "Junjo" Lawes into the
music business, the two men
became friendly rivals and proceeded to dominate production in
the early 80s dancehall
era, with Sugar Minott as the only serious challenger. Characteristically
sparse
arrangements defined the sound of dancehall beginning in 1980.
For Thompson, the
music was always recorded at Channel 1 with the Roots Radics band
providing the
rhythms and the final mixes by Scientist at King Tubby's studio.
Freddie McGregor's massive 1982 hit "Big Ship (Sailing On
The Ocean)" was
Thompson's most successful record as a producer, and it even spawned
the name for
McGregor's record label. Other lasting Thompson-produced albums
include the
Viceroys' Brethren and Sistren (CSA) and We Must Unite (Trojan);
The Meditations' No
More Friend (Greensleeves), and Barrington Levy's Poor Man Style
(Trojan). Linval
Thompson also put his touch on great albums by Tristan Palma (Joker
Lover), Eek-A-
Mouse (Skidip & Mouse and Man), Johnny Osbourne (Nightfall),
and the Wailing Souls (Wailing).
Numerous 7-inch, 45 r.p.m. singles on the Thompson Sounds label
featured artists with
whom Thompson worked sparingly, but were nonetheless essential
in his catalog. These
include singers Horace Andy, Sammy Dread, Rod Taylor, Gregory
Isaacs, Barry
Brown, Delroy Wilson, and Freddie McKaye.
Linval Thompson also released a number of excellent dub (instrumental)
albums
including Negrea Love Dub (Trojan), Green Bay Dub (Burning Sounds),
and Outlaw Dub
(Trojan) ñ all featuring the Revolutionaries with Sly &
Robbie. Thompson later released
dub classics Scientist Encounters Pac Man (Greensleeves), Scientist
Meets the Space
Invaders (Greensleeves), and Scientist and Jammy Strike Back (Trojan)
ñ all featuring the
Roots Radics band.
Though Thompson clearly found greater success producing other
artists in the early 80s,
he returned to the vocal booth as time allowed and recorded Love
Is the Question
(Burning Sounds), Rocking Vibration (Burning Sounds), If I Follow
My Heart (Burning
Sounds), and the enduring Look How Me Sexy (Greensleeves, 1982)
and Baby Father
(Greensleeves, 1983). Thompson's music after 1980 was reflective
of a general trend
towards carnal themes, eschewing the radicalism of the 70s.
Without a doubt, the shake-up of Jamaican music caused by the
crude digital revolution
of Jammy's "Sleng Teng" rhythm in 1985 signaled the
end of an era for Linval
Thompson and many of his colleagues. "I don't think the computer
is the right thing for
reggae music," Thompson told High Times in 1997. "The
live drum and bass give you a
vibes. God give us the power, not the machine that man make up.
That's why the roots of
the music been drifting away. We want to feel the live thing,
the live drum and bass, live
guitar and that way the singer can sing the vibes." Having
little interest in computerized
production, Thompson ducked out of the business and began developing
the small piece
of land he purchased with his first album advance.
He found his way back to the studio several times after 1985,
twice with the help of
reggae megastar bassist Robbie Shakespeare, who produced Linval
on the Ease Up
album as well as Starlight (Mango, 1988). Thompson's most recent
album, Rescue Lover,
was co-produced by Colin Samson. Thompson also voiced singles
for various producers
in the 90s, including King Jammy.
The Netherlands-based label Majestic Reggae (Munich Records) helped
bring Linval
back to the consciousness of reggae lovers through the release
of Jah Jah Dreader Than
Dread in 1997, a collection of 17 tracks by various artists from
the 70s and 80s.
To this day, Thompson has to move quickly to reissue many of his
titles, because black
market reggae labels like Abraham in Canada, Esoldun in France,
and Rhino U.K. have
pirated his recordings.
Thompson's essential mid-70s work was anthologized in the summer
of 2000 by the
world's premiere reggae reissue label, Blood & Fire. Ride
On Dreadlocks compiles
Thompson vocal cuts dating from 1975-1977, most produced by Bunny
Lee. Receiving
the Blood & Fire treatment provides a measure of historical
validation for Linval
Thompson. As reggae historian and scholar Steve Barrow commented
in the liner
notes to the album, "Linval Thompson takes his place alongside
Johnny Clarke,
Horace Andy, and Cornell Campbell as one of the crucial pioneers
of modern
dancehall music."
Other recent releases include the Easy
Star Records set, Can't Stop Us Now: Linval Thompson &
Friends.
Linval Thompson
and Friends: Rockers From Channel One on Trojan similarly
features vocal and deejay cuts from
Thompson's late 70s heydey. Yami Bolo's effort, Healing of
All Nations (Roots Foundation),
is a recent Linval Thompson production and features vintage Thompson
Sound rhythms from the
late 70s and early 80s.
Linval's welcome return to the eyes and ears of the public has
been highlighted by recent
soundsystem shows with King Stur Gav in Jamaica and Italy, and
a showstopper at the
Long Beach Old School Jam in California in June of 2000, where
he was backed by Soul
Syndicate drummer Santa Davis and his group. Thompson made another
big splash with
his performance at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in Angel's
Camp, California in June 2001,
where many regarded his 50 minute performance as the best of the
festival.
Upon reflection, Linval Thompson has no real regrets about the
course his musical career
has taken, as he explained to Claude Mills. "I just give
thanks for music, because if it
wasn't for it, I don't know how I'd live. Now, I don't have to
sing for my supper, I do it
now because I choose to, and because I love it."
-- Carter Van Pelt,
March 2001
www.snwmf.com
Linval Thompson Discography