Bob Andy
| Bob Andy | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Keith Anderson |
| Born | 1944 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Origin | Jamaica |
| Genres | Rocksteady, reggae |
| Instruments | Vocalist, Songwriter |
| Years active | mid-1960s–present |
| Labels | Studio One, Trojan, I-Anka |
| Associated acts | The Paragons, Bob and Marcia |
| Website | www |
Keith Anderson CD (born 1944), better known by the stage name Bob Andy, is a Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter. He is widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters.
Keith Anderson was born in Kingston, where his mother worked at Up-Park Camp. At the age of 7 he moved to live with his grandmother in Westmoreland. After his grandmother died, his mother gave him away, and he was subject to beatings at the hands of his adoptive parents.
After several years he returned to Kingston to help look after one of his siblings, but to escape beatings from his mother tried to get a place at Maxfield Park children's home by telling them that his mother had died. They both ended up in court, where he was made a ward of the state and returned to Maxfield Park. At the home, he taught himself to play piano, and began singing in the Kingston Parish Church choir. In the local scout troop he met Tyrone Evans, with whom he formed the Binders.
Bob Andy was one of the founding members of The Paragons, along with Tyrone Evans and Howard Barrett, with John Holt later joining briefly before being replaced by Vic Taylor. Andy left after Holt rejoined and worked for Studio One delivering records and songwriting before embarking on a solo career.
His first solo hit record in 1967, "I've Got to Go Back Home", was followed by "Desperate Lover", "Feeling Soul", "Unchained", and "Too Experienced". He also composed songs for other reggae artists, including "I Don't Want to See You Cry" for Ken Boothe, and "Feel Like Jumping", "Truly", and "Melody Life" for Marcia Griffiths.
He had several hits in the late 1960s, including "Going Home", "Unchained", "Feeling Soul", "My Time", "The Ghetto Stays in the Mind", and "Feel the Feeling". Some of these, and his 1992 hit, "Fire Burning", have come to be regarded as reggae standards and several have been covered several times by other artists.
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Wikipedia