King Jammy's

When Bob Marley passed away in 1981, many fans outside Jamaica assumed that reggae had died with him. But as Beth Lesser's intimate tour into the heart of reggae music reveals, this couldn't have been further from the truth. Blaring along winding paths and blasting from the zinc-roofed shacks of Jamaica's toughest ghettoes, reggae was indeed alive. Ghetto-based soundsystems -- involving powerful homemade sound equipment, stacks of vinyl, and full deejay crews -- rocked local dancehalls and gave birth to a new golden age of Jamaican music. The '80s was the age of dancehall and Lloyd 'Jammy' James was King. Having begun his musical career as an apprentice to King Tubby -- the legendary producer, soundman, and engineer credited with inventing dub music -- Jammy soon moved out on his own to build a musical empire comparable to Coxsone Dodd's in the '60s or King Tubby's a decade later. Propelled by a fresh approach and a willingness to experiment with new ideas, King Jammy's soundsystem ruled the dancehall for much of the '80s, as his labels turned out one innovative hit after another, forever changing the sound of reggae music. In this reissue of the classic book first published by Blackstar Press in 1989, Beth Lesser provides an insider's account of the crowning of King Jammy. With an achingly beautiful new design and a treasure chest of rare photos, Lesser's affectionate narrative offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the artists, engineers, deejays, selectors, gatemen, and ghetto-dwellers who played a part in the making of this musical legend. Book jacket.Lesser, Beth is the author of 'King Jammy's' with ISBN 9781550225259 and ISBN 1550225251.