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Known as the Originator, U-Roy wasn't the first DJ, nor even the first to cut a record, but he was the
first to shake the nation and he originated a style so distinctly unique that he single-handedly
changed his homeland's music scene forever. Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town, Jamaica, in 1942,
he received his famous moniker from a young family member unable to correctly pronounce Ewart and
the nickname stuck.
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U-Roy's rise to fame was slow, and took almost a decade. He began back in 1961, DJing at the Doctor
Dickie's Dynamite sound system. Eventually, he moved onto the Sir Mike the Musical Thunderstorm outfit,
and then in 1968 to
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the Sir George the Atomic sound system.
The DJ was then lured away by Coxsone Dodd; however, soon tiring of playing second fiddle to longtime
veteran King Stitt, he returned to Sir George. Around this same time, he met up with another royal
figure, King Tubby, then working as a disc cutter at Duke Reid's studio. The mechanic was just
beginning his musical experiments that eventually led him to develop dub, and at the moment he
was giving his proto-dub experimental discs to a handful of his favorite DJs.
The following year, King Tubby launched his own Hi-Fi sound system and brought in U-Roy as his top DJ.
By then, the DJ had established himself as one of the premier talents of the sound system scene.
Producer Keith Hudson was the first to recognize the possibilities and took U-Roy into the studio in
late 1969 to cut the song
'Dynamic Fashion Way'.
However, the tape lay in the studio while the producer went off on a trip to the U.S. and the DJ went
off to try his luck elsewhere. Lee Perry paired U-Roy with Peter Tosh and recorded
'Selassie', a version of Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus'
"Ethiopian National Anthem."
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The single was originally credited to the Reggae Boys and on its subsequent reissue, under the title
'(Earth's) Rightful Ruler', it was then credited to Peter Tosh and Hugh Roy, a spelling the DJ would
adhere to for the next several years. U-Roy cut one more single with Perry ("O.K. Corral") then moved
on to Keith Hudson, for whom he recorded 'Dynamic Fashion Way', and Bunny Lee, with whom he cut
'King of the Road'. He next linked with
producer Lloyd Daley for two singles,
'Scandal' and 'Sound of the Wise', which like
their predecessors, created a stir amongst the grassroots sound system crowds, but barely registered
beyond them.
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