Rod Taylor

Born on 2 March 1957 in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, the artist known as Rocky T first rose to attention in 1978 through his association with Bertram Brown’s Freedom Sounds collective, an outfit recognized for launching the careers of Prince Allah, Earl Zero, Philip Frazier, Jimmy Dean, Sylvan White and Lloyd Jackson. His initial recording, ‘Ethiopian Kings’, drew directly from Frankie Jones’ declaration that numerous scriptural figures had been Black: ‘King David - he was a black man - King Solomon he was a black man - King Moses - he was a black man - from Africa yeah - they fight for equal rights and justice’. The track achieved immediate success, prompting further work with Mickey Dread that yielded the similarly popular ‘His Imperial Majesty’, built on a rhythm later preserved in dub form as ‘Saturday Night Style’.

During 1979 Taylor recorded for several different producers, among them Prince Far I on ‘Run Run’ and ‘No One Can Tell I About Jah’, Prince Hammer on ‘If Jah Should Come Now’, Ossie Hibbert on ‘Every Little Thing’, Manzie on ‘Let Love Abide’ and Bertram Brown on ‘In The Right Way’ and ‘Don’t Give It Up’. The partnership with Prince Hammer directly preceded his first album, which introduced Lincoln Scott on drums alongside the Roots Radics. Success persisted into 1980 with ‘Night In September’ under Papa Kojak, ‘Lord Is My Light’ for Ganja Farm and ‘Soul To Soul’ for Tad Dawkins, the latter supplying the title for a noted collection that also included Barry Brown, Welton Irie and Carlton Livingston. Additional sides from the period comprised ‘Jah Is Calling’ and the double a-side coupling ‘Promised Land’ with Barrington Levy’s well-received ‘Wicked Intention’.