Musician Spotlight: Dennis Brown

Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 1st February 1957 and died, also in Kingston, on 1st July 1999. Known for being a prolific and talented singer-songwriter, he recorded over 75 albums and was even dubbed ‘The Crown Prince of Reggae’ by none other than Bob Marley himself (who also stated that Brown was his favorite singer). Brown was one of the founders of lovers rock, a subgenre of reggae that, rather than using politics and activism as its core conceit, was more interested in romance and relationships.

Brown was just 11 years old when he made his first recording called ‘No Man Is An Island’, earning him the nickname of the ‘Michael Jackson of reggae’ since both musicians were popular child stars. However, his love of music and desire to be more and do more meant that by the age of nine he was already singing in a group; the Dragonaires which included Byron Lee. Being so small and so young, Brown had to use beer crates to boost him up so that the audience could see him. And they wanted to see him; they loved him.

So of course, it wasn’t long before Brown was noticed by bigger players, which is why, at 11, he was able to record his first single. Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd at Studio One oversaw the recording, just as he had for many other reggae stars.

It wasn’t until 1971, however, that Brown found commercial success when he released the album Super Reggae and Soul Hits. It was this that the music executives were really interested in. This led to more widespread, even international success by 1972, particularly when he released ‘Money In My Pocket’ which became extremely popular in the UK, and was a stalwart part of Brown’s live concerts for the rest of his life. This song was produced by Winston ‘Niney’ Holness, and the pair became great friends, even moving in together at one point and collaborating on several records including a revamped version of ‘Money In My Pocket’ which was even more popular the second time. ‘Westbound Train’ was another of their joint efforts in 1973 and ensured that Brown was named Swing magazine’s top male vocalist. Also in this year was the first time Brown had to be hospitalized. The official line was stress, but rumors persisted that it was a problem with his lungs due to chronic drug use.

Here is Brown performing one of his more popular songs, “promised Land”:

Brown was always a hard worker, with numerous records being released every year. By 1979, thanks to a song called ‘Cool Runnings’ which made the crossover from reggae to soul and which sold out of its first pressing almost immediately and was therefore unavailable for a short time, Brown was featured on the cover of NME.

Interestingly enough Dennis Brown was advised to learn an instrument by fellow reggae artist Alton Ellis. Taking his advice, he finally broke down and spent the money on an acoustic guitar.

As strange as it might seem with such a prolific output as Brown was able to produce, he only received his first Grammy nomination in 1994, for ‘Light My Fire’. By this time, however, he was becoming more and more unwell, although even in the last year of his life, 1999, he still released three records. When he died, his cause of death was listed as a collapsed lung, although it is thought that the years of drug use had finally taken their toll.

As such a huge inspiration for so many, a concert was held on the first anniversary of Brown’s death which included the likes of Micky Jarrett, Half Pint, and Delano Tucker.