Jackie Edwards

Wilfred Gerald "Jackie" Edwards (1938 – 15 August 1992), was a Jamaican musician, songwriter and record producer whose career took in ska, R&B, soul, rocksteady, reggae, and ballads. Edwards was born in Jamaica in 1938 and grew up there with fourteen siblings. Strongly influenced by Nat King Cole, he began performing at the age of 14. Edwards came to the attention of Chris Blackwell in 1959. Edwards had four number one singles in Jamaica between 1960 and 1961, all self-written ballads with Latin-influenced music. When Blackwell set up Island Records in London in 1962, Edwards traveled with him. Edwards worked as a singer and songwriter for Island, recording as a solo artist and also duets with Millie Small as well as performing duties such as delivering records. He wrote both "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me", which became number one singles in the United Kingdom for The Spencer Davis Group. He continued to work as a recording artist himself, with regular album releases through the mid-1980s. Much of his later work was produced by Bunny Lee. Edwards also worked with The Aggrovators; one of his most renowned songs he produced with that band was the roots sound systems favorite, a recut of Burning Spear's Invasion (Wadada). Dionne Bromfield covered his song "Oh Henry" on her album Introducing Dionne Bromfield in 2009. Edwards worked as a producer, co-producing the 1977 album Move Up Starsky by The Mexicano. The majority of his catalog is published through Fairwood Music (UK) Ltd. He died in August 1992 from a heart attack. The Most of Jackie Edwards (1963) – Island Stand Up for Jesus (1964) – Island Come on Home (1965) – Island By Demand (1966) – Island Pledging My Love (1966) – Island (with Millie Small) Premature Golden Sands (1967) – Island Put Your Tears Away (1969) – Island I Do Love You (1972) – Trojan Do You Believe in Love (1976) – Klik African Language (1977) – Harry J Records Let It Be Me (1978) – Jamaica Sound (with Hortense Ellis) Tell Me Darling (1978) – Imperial Sincerely (1978) – Trojan Come to Me Softly (1979) – Third World Nothing Takes the Place of You (1981) – Starlight King of the Ghetto (1982) – Black Music Tell It Like It Is (1982) – Starlight Love & Affection (1983) – Sky Note (feat. Kate Swadling) The Original 'Mr. Cool Ruler' (1983) – Vista Sounds The Dynamic Jackie Wilfred Edwards (1984) – Boss Musical Treasures Disco Style (198?) – Imperial Endless Love (1986) – World Enterprise Heart to Heart (1990) – Justice Escape (1995) – Peter Pan Industries Dearest (1995) – Lagoon In Paradise (1995) – Carl's Records The Best of Jackie Edwards (1966) – Island The Best of Jackie & Millie (1967) – Trojan (with Millie Small) 20 Greatest Hits (1977) – Conflict Starlight (1978) – Pye 20 Super Hits (19??) – Sonic Sounds In Paradise (1994) – Trojan Memorial (19??) – Rhino Singing Hits from Studio One and More (1995) – Rhino Great Soul Hits: Put Your Tears Away (1997) – Marginal This Is My Story: A History of Jamaica's Greatest Balladeer (2005) – Trojan I Feel So Bad (2006) – Castle 50 Greatest Hits (2013) – Alexander Music Group List of reggae musicians "Biography by Steve Leggett". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 July 2011. Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9 "Wilfred ‘Jackie’ Edwards, An Unsung Hero Of The 60s", Jamaica Gleaner, 24 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Jackie Edwards discography at Discogs Fairwood Music (UK) Ltd. Website Jackie Edwards at Roots Archives