Jackie Opel

Born in Bridgetown, Barbados, in 1938 under the name Dalton Bishop, Jackie Opel already stood as a musical superstar in his native country before he relocated to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1962 and promptly began contributing occasional vocals and bass lines to the celebrated Skatalites. Comfortable across calypso, ska, jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, soul, and the distinctive Barbados hybrid of reggae and calypso known as spouge—a style he inadvertently helped originate—Opel was said to possess a six-octave vocal range along with notable skills as a dancer, soon earning the nickname “the Jackie Wilson of Jamaica.”

His notable ska and early rocksteady sides for Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One and Justin Yap’s Top Deck imprints include “Old Rockin’ Chair,” “Turn Your Lamp Down Low,” “Sit Down Servant” (a rendition of the ribald “Push Wood,” reportedly cut in 1955 and widely regarded as the earliest ska vocal recording), “Turn to the Almighty,” “Valley of Green,” and a pair of late-1960s collaborations with the Wailers, “A Time to Cry” and “The Mill Man,” both featuring backing harmonies by Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. Drawing on American soul and gospel phrasing while delivering a stage presence reminiscent of James Brown, Opel appeared on the verge of worldwide recognition when he perished in a car crash during a visit to Barbados in 1970.