Sir Coxsone Dodd

Sir Coxsone Dodd (1932 - )


Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1932, Clement Dodd was given the nickname, ‘Coxsone’, due to his prowess as a batsman and all-round cricketer. As a late teen, Coxsone left Jamaica for America where he worked as a cane cutter for a brief spell in Florida. During this time he discovered the grooving R&B rhythms which were very popular at various parties and outdoor dances.

Dodd soon returned to Jamaica with his own professional audio equipment, turntable and box of records. Coxsone set up his first sound system around 1954, playing boogie-woogie, jazz and R&B records from New Orleans and Miami. As competition between the Jamaican sound systems grew with such rivals as Duke Reid, Dodd would travel throughout the US to cities such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cincinnati, to find more exclusive tunes. This intense rivalry between the sound systems even led to the practice of scratching out the title and artist details from the label of the most sought after records. These records were also often renamed to preserve their exclusivity so that other sounds could not go abroad and purchase them as well.

Coxsone also had a historical group of ‘djs’ at this time for his sound system, ‘Sir Coxsone Downbeat’: Prince Buster, King Stit, U Roy, and Lee Perry. These dj’s would spin the exclusive records Coxsone obtained abroad at any given night in Jamaica.

When the supply of new R&B records began to diminish due to the influx of rock ‘n roll in America, Coxsone and other sound system operators were forced to begin recording Jamaican artists to satisfy the local fans. These earliest recordings were at first retained for the sole use of the sound system, but soon it became apparent that there was a growing market for Jamaican productions. Coxsone then formed his first record company: World Disc. Coxsone's Muzik City opened in East Queen Street, Kingston shortly after in 1959, and began distributing C.S Dodd productions on such labels as Studio One. In 1963 Dodd opened the first black-owned Jamaican Recording and Publishing Studio at 13 Brentford Road, Kingston.

Coxsone began to work with a basic ‘who’s who’ in reggae music, recording artists such as Burning Spear, Marcia Griffiths, Sugar Minott, The Maytals, The Skatalites, The Paragons, The Cables, The Heptones, Delroy Wilson, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Freddie McGregor, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Johnny Osbourne, The Wailing Souls, Culture, and many, many more. It was Coxsone’s tracks laid down during this rocksteady era that most consider to have been his best work.

Coxsone eventually moved his studio and record shop to the US at Coxsone’s Music City 3135 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11208; where he is to this day. Many of his albums (200+) are still being reissued on CD by his company in the US. The impact to reggae music of Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd and his Studio One recordings cannot be fully fathomed. Even to this day the tracks & riddims he produced from his early work are still used heavily in the reggae and dancehall music of today..

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