Joe Gibbs

Born Joel A. Gibson, producer Joe Gibbs contributed to a substantial segment of Jamaica's musical development. His productions extended from the beginnings of rocksteady through the dancehall sounds of the 1980s, generating numerous successful tracks featuring artists such as the Pioneers, Dennis Brown, the Heptones, Culture, Frankie Paul, and Nicky Thomas. Sharing that period with fellow producer Bunny "Striker" Lee, Gibbs stands among Jamaica's foremost music figures, acknowledged both for his extended activity and for maintaining a steady sequence of superior hits.

Gibbs entered the world in Montego Bay during 1945. His path into production opened after he completed training as an electronics engineer in the United States. Back in Jamaica, he established a television repair shop at 32 Beeston Street, Kingston, where record sales soon became an additional line of business. He further immersed himself in the local scene by assisting producer Ken Lack as both an aide and promoter. Gibbs then moved forward independently, installing a two-track studio behind the shop and bringing in the experienced Lee Perry to supervise recording sessions. Perry had already gained expertise during the ska era, serving as engineer and producer for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and Prince Buster. With encouragement from Bunny Lee, Gibbs launched his Amalgamated label in 1967. The debut single he produced, Roy Shirley's "Hold Them," is widely regarded as the first rocksteady recording.

By 1968 Gibbs operated as one of the island's leading producers. Although Perry left that same year to create his own Upsetters label, Gibbs continued without interruption, securing the services of the young Winston "Niney" Holness as session supervisor. The separation from Perry proved contentious, reflected in Perry's subsequent release "People Funny Boy" and Gibbs' answering record "People Grudgeful Boy." In the years leading to 1971, Gibbs issued more than one hundred singles, many of them major successes. His roster included prominent Jamaican vocalists and groups such as Errol Dunkley, Ken Parker, Peter Tosh, the Versatiles, the Slickers, and the Pioneers. Perry also recorded several tracks during his time with Gibbs, among them "Kimble," "Thank You," and the track released under his own alias, "The Upsetter." Like other producers who emerged during rocksteady (Derrick Harriott, Clancy Eccles, Lloyd Daley, Lee, and others), Gibbs recorded numerous instrumentals led by tenor saxophonists Carl "Cannonball" Bryan and Tommy McCook, and he explored the developing DJ style with contributions from Sir Lord Comic and Count Matchuki. The core studio band supporting this initial productive phase was Lyn Taitt and the Jets. Together with McCook and Bryan, the group featured revolving members including bassist Jackie Jackson, drummer Hugh Malcom, organists Aubrey Adams and Ansell Collins, pianist Gladstone Anderson, and guitarists Hux Brown and Lloyd Willis; the horn section regularly included trumpeters Johnny "Dizzy" Moore and Bobby Ellis along with trombonist Vin Gordon. Gibbs additionally drew on another prominent band of the period, the Hippy Boys, whose lineup comprised the Barrett Brothers on rhythm, guitarist Alva Lewis, and organist Lloyd Charmers.

Around 1970, as rocksteady shifted into early reggae, Gibbs achieved his first international breakthrough with Nicky Thomas' "Love of the Common People," which reached number nine in the United Kingdom that summer. He simultaneously broadened his operations by introducing the Jogib, Shock, and Pressure Beat labels. He opened the New York Record Mart at 11 South Parade, Kingston, and constructed a two-track studio in the Duhaney Park district. During this interval he released notable recordings by the Ethiopians, Parker, Delroy Wilson, and the Heptones, including the two popular volumes of The Heptones and Friends.

In 1972 Gibbs transferred studio operations to 20 North Parade, Kingston, where he soon produced one of his signature hits, Dennis Brown's "Money in My Pocket." He also began a partnership with engineer Errol Thompson, who had already spent several years at Randy's Studio. The pair would collaborate on more than one hundred number-one records over the following years and become known collectively as the Mighty Two.

By 1975 Gibbs moved once more, constructing a 16-track studio and record-pressing plant at 24 Retirement Crescent, Kingston. Hits continued to appear, sometimes on additional imprints such as Crazy Joe, Town & Country, and Reflections. Beyond further successes with Brown, Gibbs and Thompson scored with the Mighty Diamonds' "Ghetto Living," Sylford Walker's "Burn Babylon," and various tracks by Gregory Isaacs, Jacob Miller, Prince Alla, Junior Byles, and Dennis Walks. At this time Gibbs also released the influential roots album Two Sevens Clash by Culture, which brought the group prominence in Jamaica and later attracted an audience among English punks.

Gibbs maintained a steady release of instrumentals and strong dub recordings. Working with his 1970s band the Professionals—whose members included bassists Lloyd Parks and Robbie Shakespeare, drummer Sly Dunbar, guitarists Earl Chinna Smith and Bingi Bunny, organist Ossie Hibbert, and several former Jets personnel—Gibbs and Thompson issued the State of Emergency album and the four volumes of the African Dub series. These instrumental and dub sides incorporated many Studio One and Treasure Isle rhythms as well as tracks originally used for Gibbs' own vocal releases.

From 1977 through the close of the decade, Gibbs and Thompson continued to generate hits. Building on Marcia Aitken's version of the Alton Ellis song "I'm Still in Love (With You)," Gibbs produced Trinity's DJ success "Three Piece Suit and Thing" and Althea and Donna's "Uptown Top Ranking," the latter reaching the top of the English charts early in 1978. Gibbs sustained his association with Dennis Brown; in 1979 the singer and the Mighty Two issued two of Brown's strongest albums, Words of Wisdom and Joseph's Coat of Many Colors, the latter containing a successful reinterpretation of "Money in My Pocket" alongside a version of Marley's "Slave Driver." Gibbs also returned to DJ material with recordings by Big Youth, Prince Jazzbo, Ranking Joe, Dillinger, I Roy, Lui Lepke, Clint Eastwood, and Kojak & Lisa, while additional vocal hits came from John Holt, Barrington Levy, Cornel Campbell, and Beresford Hammond.

Throughout this productive stretch Gibbs devoted considerable time to legal proceedings concerning the copyright of Charley Pride's "Somebody Loves You," which he had reworked into a hit for J.C. Lodge. The litigation eventually compelled him to withdraw from recording, leaving him in financial difficulty. During the latter half of the 1980s and the early 1990s he remained largely absent from the industry yet stayed linked to his catalog through his son Carl's Miami-based Rocky One label, which reissued numerous Gibbs recordings from the rocksteady, reggae, and early-dancehall eras.

By 1993 Gibbs had rebounded, rebuilding his studio at 24 Retirement Crescent. He reunited with longtime collaborator Errol Thompson and added Pioneers vocalist Sidney "Luddy" Crooks to strengthen the Mighty Two production unit. Fresh quality recordings followed, including tracks by Alton Ellis, Gregory Isaacs, Eric Donaldson, Lloyd Parks, and Tanya Stevens. In 1998 Gibbs established offices in Miami and Brazil.

During the 1990s, several reissue programs restored Gibbs' catalog. In addition to multiple Rocky One compilations and releases under the Joe Gibbs Enterprises banner (including two CDs devoted to the African Dub Almighty series), Trojan issued several collections covering his rocksteady and early-reggae output, among them The Reggae Train, Joe Gibbs Mood, Get On Up!, and Jackpot of Hits: Explosive Rocksteady. Trojan also released the Uptown Top Ranking collection, which gathered a broad selection of his 1970s hits. In 2001 the label issued the anthology Love of the Common People, surveying his principal years from 1967 to 1979. Gibbs' rocksteady and reggae singles appear on various Heartbeat compilations (including Explosive Rock Steady: Joe Gibbs' Amalgamated Label) and on several additional English anthologies, many of which are now unavailable.