Justin Hinds

During the pivotal era when ska first surfaced and evolved through rocksteady into reggae, Justin Hinds ranked among the Jamaican music scene’s most successful recording artists, his sweet tenor appearing on hundreds of Duke Reid-produced singles from 1963 to 1972. Born May 7, 1942, in the St. Ann’s area, Hinds achieved his strongest work alongside backing vocalists the Dominoes, the duo of Dennis Sinclair and Junior Dixon. Their initial session took place at Reid’s Treasure Isle studios in late 1963 and produced the hit “Carry Go Bring Come” in a single take. Between 1964 and 1966 Hinds served as Reid’s most popular artist, cutting roughly seventy singles with session masters Tommy McCook and the Supersonics; the standout ska sides from this stretch included “King Samuel,” “Jump Out of the Frying Pan,” “The Ark,” and “Rub Up Push Up.”

Around 1966 he moved into rocksteady, yet the hits continued without pause. In the years that followed he issued further smashes such as “The Higher the Monkey Climbs,” “No Good Rudy,” “On a Saturday Night,” “Here I Stand,” and “Save a Bread.” The partnership with Reid concluded in 1972, and Reid died three years later. Hinds next worked with producer Jack Ruby, resulting in the 1976 album Jezebel. Two years after that he recorded a series of singles for Sonia Pottinger that included “Rig-Ma-Roe Game” and “Wipe Your Weeping Eyes.” Following 1984’s Travel with Love, the reclusive Hinds largely stepped away from music and seldom left Jamaica. He returned to the studio only occasionally, releasing the final studio album Know Jah Better in 1992 and the live set Let’s Rock Live a decade later. The 2003 concert recording Live at the Grassroots featured Hinds backed by roots revivalists John Brown’s Body. Justin Hinds died of cancer on March 16, 2005, at his home in Jamaica. Labels continued to issue further material after his death, among them the 2009 compilation Sinners.