Little John (musician)
Little John | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John McMorris |
| Born | 1970 (age 53–54) Kingston, Jamaica |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae, Roots Reggae, Dub, Dancehall, Digital Reggae |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | Late 1970s–present |
| Website | www |
John McMorris (born 1970), better known as Little John, is a Jamaican dancehall musician best known for his 1980s recordings.
Biography
Born 1970 in Kingston, Jamaica,[1] Little John was so called as he began performing and recording at the age of nine.[2] He first recorded for Captain Sinbad's Youth in Progress label (including debut single "51 Storm"), and is regarded by some as the first dancehall singer, known for his ability to create lyrics over any backing track. Throughout the 1980s, he was backed by Roots Radics and Sly and Robbie, with frequent discomix vocal and dubwise production duties performed by Scientist. [2] After joining Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion organisation, he performed with sound systems such as Romantic Hi Fi, Kilimanjaro, Gemini, and Henry "Junjo" Lawes' Volcano Hi Power.[2][3] He recorded for many producers in the 1980s, notably for Lawes, Joseph Hoo Kim, George Phang, Jah Thomas and King Jammy, also gaining an audience amongst the followers of Jah Shaka sound system due to the popularity of the Dubplate cuts of The More we are Together, also known as Praising his Majesty.[2]
Little John's distinctive vocal styling had a significant influence on the emerging digital reggae scene of the mid 1980s, an influence that extended into the early Ragga, Jungle Music and drum and bass scenes in London in the early to mid 1990s. He performed at Reggae Sumfest in 2010, where he paid tribute to Sugar Minott.[4]
Discography
- Janet Sinclair (single, 1982), Greensleeves Records – with Billy Boyo
- Reggae Dance (1982), Midnight Rock
- Showdown vol. 1 (1984), Empire/Hitbound – with Barry Brown
- English Woman (1983), Gorgon
- Ghetto Youth (1983), Jah Guidance – reissued (1990), RAS
- Give the Youth a Try (1983), Live & Learn
- Show Case 83 (1983), EAD
- Showdown vol. 6 (1984), Hitbound – with Frankie Paul
- True Confession (1984), Power House
- Unite (1984), Vista Sounds
- Clarks Booty (1985), Live & Love
- River to the Bank (1985), Power House
- The Best of Little John (1985), RM
- Worries and Trouble (1985), Black Scorpio
- Rubber Dub One (1986), C&E
- Youth of Today (1986), Skengdon
- Dance Hall Clash (1986), Sunset – with Uglyman
- Warriors & Trouble (1986), World Enterprise
- Showcase Volume 1 (198?), Sir Tommy's – with Trevor Junior
- Boombastic (1990), Heartbeat - produced by Winston Holness[5]
- Build Back Yard (2006), Johnhouse
- Compilations
References
- ^ "Little John". AllMusic.
- ^ a b c d Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae. Virgin Books. p. 171. ISBN 0-7535-0242-9.
- ^ Lesser, Beth (2008). Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture. Soul Jazz. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-9554817-1-0.
- ^ Peru, Yasmine (29 July 2010). "Reggae Sumfest: The good, the bad and the muddy". Jamaica Observer. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^ Dougan, John. "Boombastic Review". AllMusic.
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