The ithrees

Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths

The ithrees were a Jamaican reggae singing group made up of three women, that was formed in 1974 to support Bob Marley & The Wailers after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer the original Wailer backing vocalists left the band.The ithrees members were Marley's wife Rita Marley, plus Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths. Their name is intended as a spin on the Rastafarian "i and i" concept of the Godhead within each person.

 Marcia Griffith was already a star when The ithrees came together. Her duet recordings with Bob Andy, which included "young gifted and black," had brought her international attention. When she invited Judy Mowatt, who had previously sung with the Gaylettes, and Rita Marley to harmonize with her on a recording with Bob Andy, she set the stage for the trio's formation. The recording session proved so inspiring that she invited the two women to be guests on a song that she and Andy were scheduled to perform that evening at the House of Chen in New Kingston.

Shortly after the departure of Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston from the Wailers, Bob Marley asked the three women to sing on his recording, Jah Live. They continued to work together for the next ten years. In early 1975, The ithrees joined Bob Marley for a tour as opening act for the Jackson Five. Although they continued to perform together following Bob Marley's death, the three women soon elected to pursue solo careers.

bloggerythm: Carlene Davis Ken Boothe - Why Me Lord

Reggae to Gospel

Born in Colonel’s Ridge, Clarendon, Jamaica, Carlene Davis was raised by her grandparents who
instilled the importance of Christ in her life from an early age. As a child Carlene regularly
attended church and sang in the choir. At 14 years old she migrated to England to join her
parents and after completing college there, she moved to Toronto, Canada, where she sang with
several bands. Carlene’s first recordings, reggae versions of Peter Paul and Mary’s “Leaving on a
Jet Plane” and Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” received steady airplay on
various Canadian radio stations.

Ken Boothe

Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school. His recording career began in the late 1950's when he formed a duo with his neighbor Stranger Cole as "Stranger & Ken", the first tracks released by them being "Hush Baby" on the B-side of Cole's Island Records single "Last Love", and the "Thick in Love" single on R&B Records, both in 1963. They released several more popular singles between 1963 and 1965, including "World's Fair", "Hush", and "Artibella". Boothe also recorded as a duo with Roy Shirley (as Roy & Ken), which resulted in the release of the single "Paradise" in 1966.

bloggerythm: Carlene Davis Ken Boothe - Why Me Lord

Chris Blackwell Jamaica

The view  Blue Mountain Peaks from Strawberry Hill.

Blackwell currently runs Island Outpost, which he set up to operate and market a group of elite resorts in Jamaica and the Bahamas, including Strawberry Hill in the Blue Mountains (where Marley recovered after being shot in 1976), Jake's in

Treasure Beach, The Caves in Negril, and the recording studio and private hotel Gee-jam near Port Antonio, where artists such as Gwen Stefanie and No Doubt, Drake and Gorillaz have recorded. Island Outpost also owns The Tides and The Marlin in Miami Beach, Florida.

Blackwell has long owned Goldeneye in Oracabessa, the previous home of Ian Fleming, where the author wrote all the James Bond books. Until his death, Fleming was the longtime lover of Blackwell's mother, Blanche.Blackwell developed the property into a community of villas and beach cottages, each with its own private access to the sea, and Golden eye is considered the most exclusive of the Island Outpost resorts.

Blackwell is involved in a number of philanthropic organizations. Among these are Island ACTS, the Oracabessa Foundation, the Mary Vinson Blackwell Foundation, and the Jamaican Conservation Trust.
In 2003, Blackwell launched the Golden eye Film Festival, which continues to be held annually at the resort.

In September that year, Blackwell received the coveted Jamaican Musgrave Medal, awarded to Jamaicans who excel in the arts, music and public service. In 2004, the Order of Jamaica was bestowed upon Blackwell for philanthropy and outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry.

In April 2009, the UK magazine Music Week named Blackwell the most influential figure in the last 50 years of the British music industry.

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jimmy Cliff - Viet Nam.wmv

Early life and career

Cliff was born in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica. He began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbor's sound system. In 1962 his father took him to Kingston to go to Kingston Technical school where he ended up sharing his cousin's one rented room in East Kingston.

He sought out many producers while still going to school, trying to get his songs recorded without success. He also entered talent contests. "One night I was walking past a record store and restaurant as they were closing, pushed myself in and convinced one of them, Leslie Kong, to go into the recording business, starting with me," he writes in his own website biography.

After two singles that failed to make much impression, his career took off when his "Hurricane Hattie" became a hit, while he was aged 14. It was produced by Kong, with whom Cliff remained until Kong's death from a heart attack in 1971. Cliff's later local hit singles included "King of Kings," "Dearest Beverley," "Miss Jamaica," and "Pride and Passion." In 1964, Cliff was chosen as one of the Jamaican representatives at the World's Fair and Cliff soon signed to Island Records and moved to the UK. Island Records initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience, but his career took off in the late 1960s.His international debut album was Hard Road to Travel, which received excellent reviews and included "Waterfall" (composed by Nirvana's Alex  Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons), which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival.

"Waterfall" was followed in 1969 by "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in 1970, both popular throughout most of the world. Bob Dylan called "Vietnam" the best protest song he had ever heard.Also during this period, Cliff released a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" as a single, but it was not included on his Wonderful World, Beautiful People album.http://youtu.be/b4V9AYhtKkg

We Are the World -- Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie

"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the super group USA for

Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael O martian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.

Following Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" project in the UK, an idea for the creation of an American benefit single for African famine relief came from activist Harry Belafonte, who, along with fundraiser Ken Kragen, was instrumental in bringing the vision to reality. Several musicians were contacted by the pair, before Jackson and Richie were assigned the task of writing the song.

Following several months of working together, the duo completed the writing of "We Are the World" one night before the song's first recording session, in early 1985. The last recording session for the song was held on January 28, 1985. The historic event brought together some of the most famous artists in the music industry at the time
.

The song was released on March 7, 1985, as the only single from the album. A worldwide commercial success, it topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling American pop single in history. The first ever single to be certified multi-platinum, "We Are the World" received a Quadruple Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. However, the song garnered mixed reviews from journalists, music critics and the public. Fans enjoyed hearing racially and musically diverse recording artists singing together on one track, and felt satisfied in buying "We Are the World", knowing that the money was going to charity. Other individuals, including many commentators in the rock press, were disappointed that the song did not challenge listeners as to why famines occur in the first place, and felt that the lyrics were self-aggrandizing.

Awarded numerous honors—including three Grammy Awards, one American Music Award and a People's Choice Award—the song was promoted with a critically received music video, a home video, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters and shirts. The promotion and merchandise aided the success of "We Are the World" and raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US.

Following the devastation caused by the magnitude 7.0 M earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, a remake of the song by another all-star cast of singers was recorded on February 1, 2010. Entitled "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", it was released as a single on February 12, 2010, and proceeds from the record will supposedly aid survivors in the impoverished country. "We Are the World" has demonstrated that diverse musicians can productively work together, and has further influenced the movement within pop music to create songs that address humane concerns.