Dennis Brown & Rankin Joe – Slave Driver

Today would have been his 52nd birthday so I thought I’d pay tribute to this legendary artist who gave and left us with some fine, fine music. RIP Dennis Brown. A bit of history about the great man. Dennis Emmanuel Brown’s first recording was “Lips of Wine” recorded for Derrick Harriott, but this was not released initially. He then recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, and Dodd released Brown’s first single, “No Man is an Island”. Brown recorded two albums for Dodd, No Man is an Island and If I Follow my Heart (the title track penned by Alton Ellis). During this time, Brown recorded material for Lloyd Daley (“Baby Don’t Do It” and “Things in Life”) and material for Derrick Hariott, which was eventually released as the Super Reggae and Soul Hits album. He also worked for Earl Hayles and the Charmaine label early in his career. “Money In My Pocket” was a UK Top 20 hit in 1979 (reaching #14 in the UK Singles Chart). This led to his contract with A&M Records, and to the formation of his own label, DEB records; which produced several of hits, including many by Junior Delgado. His first commercially successful song internationally was “Money In My Pocket” on the Joe Gibbs label, and by the late 1970s, Brown had recorded and performed chart-toppers such as “Sitting & Watching”, “Wolves and Leopards”, “Here I Come” and “Revolution”; many featuring Sly and Robbie as the rhythm section. As the dancehall era of the 1980s arrived, Brown frequently recorded with King Jammy and …
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