Joe Higgs
| Joe Higgs | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Joseph Benjamin Higgs |
| Born |
3 June 1940 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Died | 18 December 1999 (aged 59) |
| Genres | Rhythm & Blues, ska, rocksteady, reggae |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1958––1999 |
| Associated acts | Higgs and Wilson |
| Website | http://www.joehiggs.com/ |
Joseph Benjamin "Joe" Higgs (3 June 1940 – 18 December 1999) was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson. He was a popular artist in Jamaica for four decades and is also known for his work tutoring younger musicians including Bob Marley and the Wailers and Jimmy Cliff.
Higgs was instrumental in the foundation of modern Jamaican music, first recording in 1958 for producer and businessman (and later Jamaican Prime Minister) Edward Seaga, both as a solo artist and with Roy Wilson. He is often called the "Godfather of Reggae". His first release (with Wilson) was "Oh Manny Oh" in 1958, which was one of the first records to be pressed in Jamaica and went on to sell 50,000 copies. Higgs and Wilson also recorded for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The partnership with Wilson dissolved in 1964 when Wilson emigrated to the United States. Higgs then concentrated on a solo career and also worked with Carlos Malcolm and the Afro-Jamaican Rhythms, before joining Lynn Taitt's The Soul Brothers as lead vocalist.
Higgs mentored young singers in his yard and began working with Bob Marley in 1959. In fact, it was at one of the informal music lessons Joe Higgs held in Trench Town, that Bob and Bunny Livingston met Peter Tosh. Marley acknowledged later on that Higgs had been an influential figure for him, while Higgs described their time together: "I am the one who taught the Wailers the craft, who taught them certain voice technique". It was Higgs who introduced the Wailers to Dodd in 1963. Higgs has also been described as the "Father of Reggae" by Jimmy Cliff. For a while Higgs toured with Cliff, acting as his bandleader as well as writing songs for Cliff including "Dear Mother", and also performed with The Wailers on their US tour when Bunny Wailer refused to go on the tour in 1973. Higgs wrote "Steppin' Razor" in 1967 as his entry in the Festival Song Contest, later recorded by Tosh without crediting Higgs. Higgs later won a court case to establish his rights as composer but never received any profits from the song's success.
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