Don Carlos processes one of reggae’s most distinctive voices, his vocal mannerisms being instantly recognisable over a tune, yet he remains one of Jamaica’s best kept secrets. We look back to some of his finest moments that set the tone for his popularity that was to follow in the Dancehall period of Reggae.

Born Don Carlos, in the notorious Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica. He began his singing career in 1973, where alongside Garth Dennis and Derrick ‘Ducky’ Simpson he formed what would become one of reggae’s foremost contenders, Black Uhuru. Their first recording would be a version of Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Romancing to the Folk Song’. Released under the name Uhuru (the Swahili word for Freedom) on the Top Cat label, it saw limited underground success. This would lead to a split in the ranks seeing Dennis leaving to join The Wailing Souls and Don going solo under his now trimmed down monicker of Don Carlos.

After working with various producers and honing his sound, the late 70’s would see his arrival at the door of producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee. Work began matching Don’s collection of tunes against some of Bunny’s finest rhythms. His voice seemed to ride over the chosen classic Channel 1, Harry J’s studio cuts as if they were made for each other, and it’s this period in Don Carlos’s career that we concentrate on this release. Most of Don’s classics are represented here. Such great cuts as ‘Spread Out’ which sees him riding over the ‘Queen of the Ghetto’ rhythm in fine form. ‘My Brethren Party’ giving new life to Slim Smith’s ‘Give Me Love’. Never has he sounded better with his ‘Ababa John I’ cut being matched against the ‘Real Rock’ rhythm and his ‘Booming Ball’ reworking Alton Ellis’s ‘I’m Just a Guy’ to fine form. All classic’s and some surprises were found when we went back to the original master tapes.Like Don working a cut to the Melodians ‘Rivers of Babylon’ and a fine version of Alton Ellis’s ‘Too Late’ that have been lost until now.

Don Carlos would again return to the Black Uhuru fold and balance his solo career alongside Uhuru’s touring commitments. But as a fore taster to his rising star soon to be set in the 1980’s Dancehall period, we find this set hard to beat. We hope you find some magic as we have unearthing and compiling these lost treasures.