Clancy Eccles
| Clancy Eccles | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 December 1940 |
| Origin | Dean Pen, St. Mary, Jamaica |
| Died | 30 June 2005 (aged 64) |
| Genres |
Reggae Ska |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer |
| Years active | Mid-1950s–2005 |
| Labels | Clandisc, Newbeat |
| Associated acts | The Dynamites |
Clancy Eccles (9 December 1940 in Dean Pen, St. Mary, Jamaica – 30 June 2005 in Spanish Town, Jamaica) was a Jamaican ska and reggae singer, songwriter, arranger, promoter, record producer and talent scout. Known mostly for his early reggae works, he brought a political dimension to this music. His house band was known as The Dynamites.
Son of a tailor and builder, Eccles spent his childhood in the countryside of the parish of Saint Mary. Eccles had an itinerant childhood due to his father's need to travel Jamaica seeking work. He used to regularly attend church, and he became influenced by spiritual singing; In his words: "One of my uncles was a spiritual revivalist, who always did this heavy type of spiritual singing, and I got to love that". Eccles's professional singing career began as a teenager, working the north-coast hotel circuit in the mid-1950s. In his late teens, he moved to Ocho Rios, where he performed at night in various shows, with artists such as The Blues Busters, Higgs & Wilson and Buster Brown. He moved to Kingston in 1959, where he started his recording career. He first recorded for Coxsone Dodd, who had organised a talent show in which Eccles took part.
Eccles had a Jamaican hit in 1961 with the early ska song "Freedom", which was recorded in 1959, and was featured on Dodd's sound system for two years before it was released. It was one of the first Jamaican songs with socially oriented lyrics. The song discussed the concept of repatriation to Africa, an idea developed by the growing Rastafari movement. The song became the first Jamaican hit to be used for political purposes; Alexander Bustamante, founder of the Jamaican Labour Party and at that time Chief Minister of Jamaica adopted it for his fight against the Federation of the West Indies in 1960. In the following years, Eccles had other successful songs, mixing boogie/rhythm and blues influences with ska rhythms, such as "River Jordan" and "Glory Hallelujah".
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