
Hartford Courant

Jamaican singer Derrick Morgan has been there, done that -- for real

Jamaican singer Derrick Morgan recorded the song "Conquering Ruler" in 1967, and it was no empty boast. He dominated his country's airwaves in the early '60s when he was barely out of his teens. Now 73 and performing regularly, Morgan is equally proud of his endurance.

But Morgan never had much choice. He grew up near Kingston's Orange Street, which was lined with record stores and producers. Morgan studied bookkeeping at school and began singing for his classmates. An eye disease left him with poor vision and unable to ever crunch numbers professionally. Fortunately, Morgan's winning rendition of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" at a citywide talent show led to performance offers throughout the island.

While Morgan traveled around Jamaica in the late 1950s, he and his friends listened to R&B beaming in from Miami radio stations. Their attempt to copy these sounds created something new.

"When we were trying to catch the R&B beat, we turned out doing ska," Morgan said from his home in Clarendon, Jamaica. "The drum is playing straight with a straight bass, and then you have the piano and guitar playing the same kind of riffs, and the tenor blowing like the piano."

Morgan also drew on his nation's changes. He released the patriotic "Forward March" in 1962, just as Jamaica declared independence. That same year he had seven songs in the country's top 10 chart. During the mid-'60s, Morgan worked with guitarist Lynn Taitt, whose slower tempos and percussive lines established a popular beat called rocksteady. He also sang about young criminals in Kingston who were called "rude boys."

Jimmy Cliff, who was Morgan's close friend and occasional co-composer, said those songs came from his own circumstances.

"Derrick knew it from experience," Cliff said. "He lived in the ghetto, so he tapped into that consciousness, and he's incredible at telling a story."

Producer Leslie Kong recorded most of Morgan's '60s hits for Beverley's Records. This angered performer/producer Prince Buster, who believed that Morgan was indebted to him. So they insulted each other through songs, including Morgan's "Blazing Fire."

"We kept it going as a musical war," Morgan said. "No animosity, just a musical war. But then my fans and his fans would fight. So the government took a picture of us hugging and saying we're friends in The Gleaner (newspaper), and that cooled it down. We really are good friends."

If Morgan sometimes had to present a hard edge, Cliff adds, "He's also a very generous spirit, always willing to help and give to other people." Morgan and Cliff especially assisted a 17-year-old Bob Marley. They introduced him to Kong, who recorded his first single, "Judge Not," in February 1962. Morgan also offered Marley valuable advice.

"Bob was always dancing while he was singing, and he would get very tired," Morgan said. "So I told him, 'If you dance straight on with the song, you're going to be overtired. Just sing, then dance during the instrumental solo.'"

Reggae became a global phenomenon in the late 1970s and into the '80s, but by then Morgan was living in Miami and had stopped recording. In 1989 on a trip to London, he looked into performing again and was not deterred when one booking agent thought he had died. Morgan started selling out clubs in England as part of Jamaican vintage music events. That sparked his involvement in an ongoing international ska revival.

"The younger generation enjoys themselves," Morgan said. "They don't dance, they just jump, and ska music goes with them. Ska is great exercise."

Derrick Morgan
: 8 p.m. Saturday
: Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave.
: $30 (18+); 773-381-4554 or

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