Beshara (band)

Beshara
Beshara in 1983. LTR-BTF Steve Morrison, Ray Watts, Tony Garfield, Mikey Nanton, Dixie Pinnock & Byron Bailey.
Background information
Origin	Birmingham, England, UK
Genres	Reggae, lovers rock, dub, roots reggae, ska, 2 Tone, new wave
Years active	1976–1992 1998–2000
Labels	Beshara Music - imprint of Celmaw Records
Associated acts	Ray Watts, Pato Banton, Reggae Revolution
Website	www.besharamusic.com
Past members	Ray Watts aka Ray Beshara Dixie Pinnock Michael Nanton Tony Garfield Steve Morrison Byron Bailey Paul Cunningham Elias Pharoah Errol Nanton David Carr Focett Gray

Beshara were a British reggae band from Moseley, Birmingham, that formed in 1976. The band are most notable for their 1981 lovers rock hit "Men Cry Too", which reached number 6 in the British reggae charts. Although known for their lovers rock singles, they were also very capable of recording roots reggae. This can be heard in the hymnal recording, "Glory Glory".

The original line-up and founding members of the band were Elias Pharoah (bass) and Ray Watts aka Ray Beshara (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), who then recruited Errol Nanton (lead vocals), Dixie Pinnock (drums) and Michael Nanton (keyboards). They were formerly named Cool Dimension and The Kushites until 1979 when the band settled on the name Beshara meaning "surprise" in Arabic and "mystical" in Swahili. Over the years, the line-up of the band changed along with the roles of various members but as of 1980 the ever-present nucleus that was widely known as Ray Watts (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Dixie Pinnock (drums, backing vocals), Michael Nanton (keyboards, backing vocals) and Tony Garfield (bass, vocals), were to remain as the core members in their new roles. In July 1980 and courtesy of John Peel, Beshara received their first radio airplay. Peel played their 2 Tone (but more authentically 1960s sounding) single, "When You're Wrong" on national BBC Radio 1.

Throughout the years, Beshara gigged extensively all over the UK in the nation's major colleges, universities and clubs, attracting multicultural audiences. They were cited by Musical Youth as one of their influences. During their active years, Beshara never released (although recorded) an album but released many singles and enjoyed success with early recordings such as "Glory Glory", "Men Cry Too" (which reached number 6 on the British reggae charts) and "Shadow of Love" (number 10 on the British reggae charts). The band won an award from the Hummingbird’s 1st Annual Black Music Awards in 1987 for ‘Best Sound recording’. In the late 1980s, the band members were headhunted by Ijahman Levi, to back him on his African and European tour. Beshara received much acclaim when they toured the UK and either played alongside or backed UB40, The Abyssinians, Beres Hammond, Simply Red, Dennis Brown, Bim Sherman, Musical Youth, Bad Manners, Johnny Clarke, Smiley Culture, I Roy, Pat Kelly, Leroy Smart, Sugar Minott, Macka B, Adeva, CJ Lewis, John Holt, Matumbi, They Must Be Russians, Sandra Reid, Sandra Lobban and Thelma Mae.