The Music World Loses A Legend: Clement Seymour (Coxsone) Dodd (1932-2004)

A pioneer in the music industry, Mr. Dodd is credited with being one of the first people in Jamaica to start his own Sound System (Sir Coxsone The Downbeat). It is undisputable that without his vision and hard work, there would not be reggae music as we now understand it today.

His great success started out in the mid 50's, a time when American R&B ruled the Jamaican airwaves. Dodd decided to change all that and started to make his own music. He established Coxsone's Worldisc Label and used local artists and musicians to make records that were more popular to the people in Jamaica. His productions caught the mood of the times, as the Jamaican R&B flavor slowly evolved into a new form of music called Ska.. Clement was always at the forefront with his teams of session musicians and raw young vocalists.

Throughout the Ska era, Dodd was always looked upon as the shining star producer with his teams of seasoned musicians and young talents. He ruled the industry with hits from The Wailers, Delroy Wilson, The Maytals, The Clarendonians, and The Skatalites, just to name a few.

The Skatalites were known as the powerful ensemble who provided the backing on all Coxsone recordings during this time. He quickly realized that it was time for a studio. The dream became a reality on Brentford Road in the early 60's. This was one of the greatest accomplishment in Jamaica, not even Dodd himself knew that this would reach such great heights! Nevertheless, he realized that it would become a big business venture. Jamaica and the rest of the world was blessed with the birth of STUDIO ONE. The name would become the generic title for all Coxsone productions thereafter. Dodd employed many of the island's top musicians and artists; his company was slowly turning into a major empire.

Multiple tasks were taken to make sure the final stages of each production in the studio was right. With accomplished arrangers and musicians, such as Lee Perry, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, and Larry Marshall, STUDIO ONE became one of the most impressive studios on the island. Just about every top name in Reggae music worked for STUDIO ONE at some stage in their careers.

By late 1966, the fast pace of ska was slowly giving way to the slower rocksteady beat. Dodd was still impressive and was able to adjust to the new changes. His work with various artists helped to carry on the great productions from STUDIO ONE. Although Duke Reid's Treasure Isle productions was recognized for much of the finest rocksteady music, Dodd's raw talent and productions have since gone on to form what amounts to the foundation of Reggae music in the following decades. Many of his songs, rhythm tracks, and arrangements are endlessly recycled by younger artists and producers. One of the trend in reggae music is to sample pieces of Dodd's classic old rhythms and build new versions out of the sample.

In the early 70's, we see yet another form of music starting to spring into existence. This was the birth of dancehall music. Dodd was still instrumental in this new form. As the dancehall style began to supersede the rockers and steppers style, Coxsone was still in full swing with his own productions. Freddie McGregor, Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne, Willie Williams and Michigan & Smiley were some of the DJs running things in the dancehall. They were all under the tutelage of Coxsone Dodd and his STUDIO ONE productions. This proved to be the final golden period for STUDIO ONE. Sadly to the music world, in the mid 80's Dodd partially closed his Brentford Road studio and relocated in the United States--New York to be exact.

Though many people were saddened by this occasion, they would still hear his productions playing everywhere on the island. His legacy was finally honored by city officials in Jamaica on April 30, 2004. Brentford Road was renamed Studio One Boulevard. Unfortunately, every good thing must and will come to an end.

Less than a week after receiving this great honor, music lovers from areas here and abroad were left to mourn his death. Mr. Dodd passed on Tuesday May 4, 2004 from an apparent heart attack. He was 72 years old. All can rest assured that there will be numerous concert tributes throughout Jamaica and other countries worldwide.