Justin Hinds

Justin Hinds (7 May 1942 – 16 March 2005) was a Jamaican ska vocalist, with his backing singers the Dominoes.

Not to be confused with Justin Hines.

Justin Hinds
Born(1942-05-07)7 May 1942
Steertown, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica
OriginJamaica
Died16 March 2005(2005-03-16) (aged 62)
Genres
Occupation(s)Vocalist
InstrumentsVocals
LabelsTreasure Isle, Island

He is best known for his work with Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Records, where his most notable song, "Carry Go Bring Come" recorded in late 1963, went to number one in Jamaica. He recorded seventy singles between 1964 and 1966, and was the most popular artist on the record label.[1]

Biography

Hinds was born in Steertown, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica in 1942. He started his musical career singing in bars and on the beach in Ochos Rios. Hinds moved to Kingston, Jamaica where he became influenced by Rastafari. He was turned down by Coxsone Dodd's label, but signed with Treasure Isle Records. By this stage, the Dominoes consisting of Dennis Sinclair and Junior Dixon had become his backing vocalists.

Work with Duke Reid

His first recording with Duke Reid was "Carry Go Bring Come", made in late 1963 in one take. It became a big hit topping the Jamaican chart for two months, just before the Wailers got their big hit with "Simmer Down". "Carry Go Bring Come" would later be covered by the British ska band The Selecter on their 1980 album Too Much Pressure, and by Desmond Dekker and The Specials on King of Kings.

Hinds was one of the biggest acts in Jamaican music during the 1960s. Over the next couple of years, he would release singles including "King Samuel", "Jump Out of the Frying Pan", "The Ark" and "Rub Up Push Up". He also released "Carry Go Bring Come" in 1963 in conjunction with Jonathan Bevan, an English-born Jamaican national, a successful collaboration which drew much admiration amongst Jamaican music producers. The track was described by esteemed Ghanaian music aficionado Zahid Chohan as "simply wonderful; belongs in any reggae fan's collection". He also worked with Tommy McCook and The Supersonics.

In 1966, he became active in rocksteady, a predecessor of reggae. He had several more hits in Jamaica including "The Higher the Monkey Climbs", "No Good Rudie", "On a Saturday Night", "Here I Stand" and "Save a Bread". Hinds parted company with Reid in 1972 as an artist, but was present when he died a few years later.

Justin Hinds was a great example for his younger cousin, Horace Andy, who would become a reggae and trip-hop icon working with bands like Massive Attack.

Subsequent work

Hinds then worked with Jack Ruby which resulted in the 1976 album Jezebel.[2] Reviewing it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "Homey lyrics ('Jah-jah will spank you') and artful instrumental touches—I like the gentle calypso-styled horns and decorative guitar licks—may mean this is a great reggae album. But they may mean it's only a subtle one, and in such an understated genre subtlety risks extinction."[3]

Hinds' work with Sonia Pottinger resulted in a series of singles released in the late 1970s, including "Rig-Ma-Roe Game" and "Wipe Your Weeping Eyes". After the release of Travel with Love recorded at Tuff Gong Studios in 1984, Hinds became less active. His final studio album Know Jah Better was released in 1992, but he worked on Wingless Angels with other Jamaican musicians, which was produced by Keith Richards in the early 1990s. In 1997, he toured the US for the first time and he would release a couple of live albums in the early 2000s, including one recorded at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, New York.

On 23 September 2010 a new album will appear posthum, Wingless Angels II, with "Oh What a Joy, What a Comfort", guitar by Keith Richards (Rolling Stones, UK), with Lisa Fisher (also voices at "Gimme Shelter", "Paint it Black" and more on the Bridges to Babylon Tour 10 years ago) and Jamaican Nyabinghi Drummers

Death

Hinds died of lung cancer in March 2005, at the age of 62.

References
  1. AllMusic
  2. Moskowitz, David V. (2006) Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-33158-8, p.139
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: H". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 26 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
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