Leslie Kong

One of reggae’s pioneering and most influential producers, Leslie Kong played a pivotal role in exposing the genre to listeners worldwide. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1933, he partnered with his three brothers to run Beverley’s, an ice-cream parlor and record shop located on the city’s Orange Street. In 1961 a patron named Jimmy Cliff drew Kong’s notice by performing “Dearest Beverley” in front of the premises; impressed, Kong captured the performance, issued it on the Beverley label, and thereby launched his own production career. The following year he oversaw Bob Marley’s debut sides, “Judge Not” and “One Cup of Coffee,” while also delivering hits such as Cliff’s “Miss Jamaica” and Derrick & Patsy’s enduring “Housewives’ Choice.” Kong soon secured a British licensing deal with Island’s Chris Blackwell, after which his catalog encompassed recordings by John Holt, Derrick Morgan, Joe Higgs, and Stranger Cole. Desmond Dekker’s 1967 blockbuster “007” became one of reggae’s earliest worldwide successes, and Dekker’s 1969 masterpiece “Israelites” achieved even greater international reach, joined on the U.K. charts by the Melodians’ “Sweet Sensation,” the Maytals’ “Monkey Man,” and the Pioneers’ “Long Shot Kick the Bucket.” That same year Kong again collaborated with Marley, now a member of the Wailers, while simultaneously producing an outstanding sequence of tracks for the Gaylads; these sessions proved to be among his final efforts, as he died of a heart attack in August 1971.