National Library of Jamaica

CLEMENT "SIR COXSONE" DODD

Sir Coxsone is regarded as one of the most important producers in the history of reggae music. He was a vital figure in the journey of Jamaican popular music from ska through rocksteady and early reggae. In fact, no book in the history of Jamaican music can be written without mention of Dodd.

Dodd got his start in the Jamaican scene by operating sound systems in the ‘50s, beginning to record discs at the end of the decade and opening the first black-owned Jamaican studio in 1960s, Studio One, on Brentford Road.

Studio One is considered as important to Jamaica’s music industry as Motown is to the US’s. Among the world-renowned acts to have passed through Studio One are Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, The Heptones, The Skatalites, John Holt, Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths, Alton Ellis, Jackie Mittoo, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook and Monte Alexander.

 

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