Burning Spear - Biography
Winston “Burning Spear” Rodney was born in 1948 in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, home to both his main inspiration, black leader Marcus Garvey, and also to his best-known peer in the reggae music industry, Bob Marley. According to Spear it was Marley himself who brought him to the attention of producer Clement ‘Coxson’ Dodd at Studio One, where his earliest recordings were created in 1969. He took his stage name from inspirational African leader Jomo Kenyatta, known in Kenya as The Burning Spear. From the beginning Spear had the sound we now define as roots reggae, and he, along with groups like Culture, The Abyssinians, The Gladiators and the Wailers, helped to define it. His chant-style rough-hewn vocals, cultural lyrics and one-drop reggae backing (usually with a full complement of horns) have made his distinctive style an international favorite. With over fifty released albums, ten Grammy nominations (and one win) and fans all over the world, Burning Spear is a legend in his own time.
Several albums gather the classic recording Spear created at Studio One, the acknowledged birthplace of reggae music. The eponymous Burning Spear (1973 Studio One) and Rocking Time (1974 Studio One, issued in the US in 1976 on Buddha) were both compiled as he began to gain recognition outside of Jamaica. The later gathering of songs originally released on 7" single in Jamaica, Creation Rebel (2004 Heartbeat), showcase some of his earliest works. These recordings stand as part of the foundation of reggae music; the cultural themes of songs like “This Population,” “New Civilization,” “Zion Higher” and “Ethiopians Live It Out” describe a trajectory that moved away from the ska and rock steady of the sixties and into the hard roots style of the seventies that put reggae on the international music map. They are also among the recordings that helped establish the perimeters of roots reggae, ushering in the “golden age” of the mid-to-late seventies that saw a flowering of social consciousness, cultural themes, and above all Rastafarian imperatives, which survive today in a new generation of singers like Luciano, Fanton Mojah, Natty King, Bushman and Daweh Congo.
After leaving Studio One, Burning Spear recorded for Jack Ruby, a producer who favored cultural themes, with releases from vocal groups like Justin Hinds and the Dominoes, Foundation and Earth’s Messengers. At this point, Spear added Rupert Wellington and Delroy Hinds as backing singers and in the tradition of groups like The Wailing Wailers, The Mighty Diamonds and later Black Uhuru, Burning Spear became the name for a vocal trio on those recordings. Wellington sang harmony on a number of the original Studio One recordings (as did, according to Chris Wilson’s notes to Creation Rebel, in-house vocalists Al Campbell and Larry Marshall). The Jack Ruby sessions resulted in some of the greatest Jamaican roots music ever recorded. Marcus Garvey (1975 Mango), containing all-time Spear masterpieces like “Invasion,” “Tradition” and “Slavery Days,” the corresponding dub album Garvey’s Ghost (1976 Mango), and Man In the Hills (1976 Mango), which remakes a couple of Spear’s Studio One hits (“Door Peep” and “People Get Ready”), were among the high points of reggae’s first wave when released internationally. They remain among the genre’s most enduring works today.
The band on these recordings, The Black Disciples, included top Jamaican session players like “Horsemouth” Wallace, Robbie Shakespeare, Tyrone Downie, Tony Chin, Earl “Chinna” Smith and Familyman Barrett, with horns from Vinnie Gordon, “Dirty Harry” Hall and Herman Marquis, recording at Randy’s and Harry J’s studios. Man In the Hills was the last album Burning Spear recorded as a trio. Spear’s next release, the self-produced Dry and Heavy (1977 Mango) featured essentially the same studio lineup, substituting Raunchie McLean for Tony Chin on rhythm guitar. It was recorded at Harry J’s studio in Kingston with engineer Sylvan Morris on the board and contains one of Spear’s most enduring classics, “Throw Down Your Arms.”
Strong performances of songs from the Mango releases (without backup singers) delivered by a band that included Brinsley Forde and trumpeter Bobby Ellis, made Live (1977 Mango), recorded in London, one of the best reggae concert albums of its day. It was followed by a “best of” called Harder Than the Best (1979 Mango) and later another greatest hits package in a series called Reggae Greats (1984 Mango). Burning Spear was among the first wave of reggae artists to tour Europe and America. His amazing personae, tight band and roots delivery made him one of the best-loved of all reggae performers. On any given night Spear might dance playfully across the stage, stand ramrod straight with eyes tightly closed and deliver his lyrics like Moses reading from tablets of stone or seemingly go into a trance, oblivious to all around him and riff on a word or phrase. In fact, his song structures are completely unlike any others in reggae, with phrases repeated in three and four word segments containing slight variations in a tone so authoritative, the audience is enraptured and only Spear can break the spell. Live and on record, Burning Spear projects a presence that underscores the validity of his pronouncements and the serious nature underpinning his sound.
Having issued 7" singles on his own Spear Burning imprint in Jamaica, he produced and released his next two albums himself. From this point on, all of Burning Spear’s releases were produced by Burning Spear. Marcus’ Children (1978 Burning Spear) was later reissued as Social Living (1978 Stop, and again in 1994 by Blood and Fire). This album contained the original recording of “Marcus Say Jah No Dead,” which Spear performed movingly without musical accompaniment in the film Rockers. It remains a highly regarded work in his canon. The players include members of the Revolutionaries, Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate, Third World, Aswad and the Wailers Band. The horn section (including the great Rico Rodriguez) underscores Spear’s studied spareness, augmenting thoughtful songs delivered with a plaintive subdued wail. The disc was followed by another strong release, Hail H.I.M. (1980 Heartbeat). In the early eighties, Spear built on these early works with major releases like Farover (1982 Radic), Fittest of the Fittest (1983 Heartbeat), The World Should Know (1983 Heartbeat) and Resistance (1985 Heartbeat). By this time, Jamaican music had begun a radical change in sound and style as a new generation of artists tagged ‘dancehall’ eschewed the roots music of the founding fathers and the cultural focus of the previous generation’s lyrics. Many established artists changed with the times, but Burning Spear was not one of these. Keeping his music to the cultural high ground, he remained one of the staunch defenders of the musical revolution he helped to establish.
Spear toured constantly throughout the eighties and put together a series of bands that served as a kind of college for musicians within reggae music. His Burning Band, which he utilized live and in the studio, contained at various times Nelson Miller on drums, Devon Bradshaw and Paul Beckford on bass, Lenford Richards and Linvall Jarrett on guitar and Stephen Stewart on keyboards and Alvin Haughton on percussion. Spear also utilized the Rass Brass, featuring Dean Fraser, Nambo Robinson and Chico Chin on horns, augmented in the studio by the likes of Chris Meridith on bass, Robbie Lyn on synthesizers, Wayne Armond on guitar and Sticky Thompson on percussion. In the late eighties he released the albums People of the World (1986 Slash), Mistress Music (1988 Slash) and the double album Live In Paris Zenith ‘88 (1988 Slash). In 1987, Mango combined the classic Marcus Garvey and Garvey’s Ghost lp’s on one cd to celebrate Garvey’s 100th Anniversary (1987 Mango).
Spear continued burning throughout the nineties with an imposing tour schedule and albums Mek We Dweet (1990 Mango), Jah Kingdom (1992 Mango), Love and Peace: Burning Spear Live (1994 Heartbeat), Rasta Business (1995 Heartbeat), Appointment With His Majesty (1997 Heartbeat) and Calling Rastafari (1999 Heartbeat). The latter release netted Spear his first Grammy on his eighth nomination. The nineties also saw the release of The Original Burning Spear (1992 Sonic Sounds), a kind of “best of” culled from the Ruby productions. A career-spanning label retrospective, Chant Down Babylon: The Island Anthology (1996 Island Jamaica) was issued in a double cd format. Another “greatest hits” disc, Jah No Dead: An Introduction To Burning Spear (2003 Universal International) was issued after Island Records was purchased by Universal. The compilation called The Best of Burning Spear (2000 Burning Music) gathers self-productions, as does Spear Burning: Burning Spear Productions 1975-1979 (2001 Pressure Sounds). The odd Traveling: Clocktower Record Productions 1974-1979 (Abraham), though credited to and picturing Spear on the cover, actually contains only one song by him. The Ultimate Collection (2001 Hip-O) culls cuts from various releases. Two live albums released out of France, Live At Montreux Jazz Festival (2001 Nocturne) and Live In South Africa 2000 (2004 Nocturne), show the undiminished energy of this tireless performer.
In the 21st Century, Spear and his wife Sonia took control of his career to a degree most artists would envy. Management, booking, production and new releases on his own label, including Freeman (2003 Burning Music) and Our Music (2005 Burning Music) were augmented by the couple’s ability to negotiate control of much of his early catalog and also began a lively series of reissues with “green” packaging of works that had been released originally on labels like Heartbeat and Slash. These include the expanded Living Dub series, dub versions of releases, now up to six volumes (2002-2007 Burning Music). The catalog reissues, all on the Burning Spear label, so far include the albums Resistance, People of the World, Rasta Business, Appointment With His Majesty and Live At Montreux. Two albums they have not yet been able to gain control of were reissued together on one compact disc as Man In the Hills & Dry & Heavy (2003 Island).
(A)Live (1997 Burning Music) is the last to feature The Burning Band (his new backing group is called The Young Lions) and was recorded live at the Womad Festival in Reading, England. In 2007 Burning Spear received the Order of Distinction (OD) Award in celebrating his contribution to Jamaican culture. A double album set called The Burning Spear Experience (2007 Burning Music) gathers previously unreleased tracks, original Jamaican mixes, live cuts and rarities. It also garnered his tenth Grammy nomination and he proudly attended the ceremony in 2008. Spear spends less time on the road these days, though he still tours annually and plays major reggae festivals around the world. He is currently finishing up a new album to be called Jah Is Real (2008 Burning Music), featuring guest players Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell and is also preparing for another tour.
