Special Format 12” Gatefold Double Album
Taken from the forthcoming book:
Reggae Going International - 1967-1976
The Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee Story
To be published by Jamaican Recordings
The Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee Story
Edward O’Sullivan Lee “but my friends call me Bunny or Striker Lee” was born in Kingston,
Jamaica on 23rd August 1941. He started in the music business plugging records for
Duke Reid at Treasure Isle, Coxsone Dodd at Studio One and Leslie Kong at Beverley’s.
“I used to do plugging… when I say plugging I used to get their records played on ‘Teenage
Dance Party’ and we’d dance so if you had a record to plug you’d put it on and dance to
it and show the latest moves”.
As ska began to wane in popularity Bunny began to use the many contacts and friends
that he had made plugging other producers’ productions to produce his own records in
the brand new rock steady style. “So I was around the business but I didn’t actually start
for myself until 1967. I only had twenty pounds to give to Lyn Taitt and Lyn Taitt got four
men and we did ‘Music Field’ with Roy Shirley. So those guys helped me when I just started”.
Many, many more producers, musicians and artists helped out Striker as he rose to the to…
but Bunny always returned the favour. “Yes. Carly and Family Man (Carlton & Aston Barrett)
those brothers were my rhythm section for a while… they started in the Sixties and people
used to call them ‘Bunny Lee and his wrong chord musicians’ but after we started making
the hits everybody started using them”.
And the hits kept on coming. In 1969 ‘Wet Dream’ by Max Romeo, in the faster reggae
style, was released on Bunny’s Unity label in the UK where it spent twenty five weeks
in the National Charts. It was banned by the BBC and Alan Freeman used to describe
it as “a record by Max Romeo” on Sunday afternoon’s chart run down on Radio One.
Striker’s propensity for hit making was unprecedented and in 1969, 1970, 1971 and
1972 he was awarded the title of Jamaica’s Top Producer. In 1971 he won Jamaica’s
first Gold Record for Eric Donaldson’s ‘Cherry Oh Baby’ which was the runaway winner
in that year’s Festival Song Competition.
Alternative instrumental or vocal versions of popular songs had by now become a
prevalent part of the musical scene “we couldn’t afford for every song to get a different
set of musicians so we use the same rhythm over again…” and Bunny Lee and
King Tubby were pivotal players in the next giant step forward towards the music that
would become known as dub.
“In those days I never used to put the version on the record so you’d have to go to
Tubbys to hear the dub play. Tubbys started to get popular and I started to get Tubby
to mix and used him as an engineer”.
Together with Soul Syndicate drummer Carlton ‘Santa’ Davis Striker originated a
new style of rhythm based on the Philadelphia disco sound termed ‘flying cymbals’
that became known as ‘flyers’. “Yeah… I used to get Kentucky Fried Chicken and
when it came they’d say ‘put up the flyers for Striker’ meaning the chicken wings…
which I loved… and they used to say ‘Striker. When you a go fly?’”
The first Bunny Lee hit recording in this new style was Johnny Clarke’s interpretation
of Earl Zero’s ‘None Shall Escape The Judgment’ and his ‘flyers’ rhythms dominated
the scene throughout 1974 and on into 1975. His two dub albums showcasing these
rhythms, ‘King Tubby The Dub Master Presents The Roots Of Dub’ and ‘King Tubby
The Dub Master Presents Dub From The Roots’ with photographs of the King at the
controls of his Dromilly Avenue studio, were the first vinyl releases to promote
King Tubby with music lovers both in Jamaica and internationally.
As a creator of musical trends Striker was second to none and, for the best part of a
decade, the rest of the business hung on his every word and tried to copy his every
move. Over the years Striker has been one of the few enduring constants in an ever
changing cast of characters and, although he rarely records nowadays, he is still one
of the most important people in the Jamaican music business. His rhythms and songs
are endlessly recycled and sampled. He has spent the last three decades licensing,
re-licensing issuing and re-issuing his copious catalogue through a plethora of different
record companies in Jamaica, England, America, Canada, Japan, France, Holland
and Germany.
In October 2008 at Kingston’s National Honours and Awards Ceremony Striker was
awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer for “more than forty years of
dedicated service to the music industry”.
Noel Hawks, November 2010
CD Track Listing
1. Music Field Roy Shirley 1967
2. My Conversation Slim Smith & The Uniques 1968
3. The Russians Are Coming Val Bennett 1968
4. Wet Dream Max Romeo 1968
5. Bangarang Lester Sterling & Stranger Cole 1968
6. How Long Pat Kelly 1969
7. One Thousand Tons Of Megaton Roland Alphonso 1969
8. Mr. Chatterbox Bob Marley 1970
9. Stick By Me John Holt 1971
10. Cherry Oh Baby Eric Donaldson 1971
11. Better Must Come Delroy Wilson 1971
12. Play It Cool Alton Ellis 1972
13. God Helps The Man Leroy Smart 1973
14. You Are My Angel Horace Andy 1974
15. None Shall Escape The Judgement Johnny Clarke 1974
16. A Dance In A Greenwich Farm Cornell Campbell 1975
17. A Noise Place The Aggrovators 1975
18. A Ruffer Version The Aggrovators 1976
19. Wake The Nation U Roy & Jeff Barnes 1970
20. Cassius Clay Dennis Al Capone 1973
21. Straight To Derrick Morgan’s Head I Roy 1975
22. Strickly Rockers Jah Stitch 1976
Vinly Track Listing
Side 1
1. Music Field Roy Shirley 1967
2. My Conversation Slim Smith & The Uniques 1968
3. The Russians Are Coming Val Bennett 1968
4. Wet Dream Max Romeo 1968
5. Bangarang Lester Sterling & Stranger Cole 1968
6. How Long Pat Kelly 1969
Side 2
1. One Thousand Tons Of Megaton Roland Alphonso 1969
2. Mr. Chatterbox Bob Marley 1970
3. Stick By Me John Holt 1971
4. Cherry Oh Baby Eric Donaldson 1971
5. Better Must Come Delroy Wilson 1971
6. Play It Cool Alton Ellis 1972
Side 3
1. God Helps The Man Leroy Smart 1973
2. You Are My Angel Horace Andy 1974
3. None Shall Escape The Judgement Johnny Clarke 1974
4. A Dance In A Greenwich Farm Cornell Campbell 1975
5. A Noise Place The Aggrovators 1975
Side 4
1. A Ruffer Version The Aggrovators 1976
2. Wake The Nation U Roy & Jeff Barnes 1970
3. Cassius Clay Dennis Al Capone 1973
4. Straight To Derrick Morgan’s Head I Roy 1975
5. Strickly Rockers Jah Stitch 1976
Produced and Arranged by:
Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee
Musicians Include:
Lyn Taitt & The Jets, Bobby Aitken & The Carib Beats:-
Bass: Bryan Atkinson
Drums: Joe Is-aacs
Guitar: Nearlin ‘Lyn’ Taitt & Lynford ‘Hux’ Brown
Piano: Gladstone ‘Gladdy’ Anderson
& Theophilus ‘Easy Snapping’ Beckford
Organ: Winston Wright
Bass: Vincent White
Drums: Winston Grennan
Guitar: Bobby Aitken
Piano: Bobby Kalphat
Organ: Ansel Collins
The Aggrovators:
Bass: Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, George ‘Fully’ Fullwood, Bertram ‘Ranchie’ McLean,
Lloyd ‘Sparks’ Parks, Robert ‘Robbie’ Shakespeare,Earl ‘Bagga’ Walker & Cornell Campbell
(occasionally)
Drums: Lloyd ‘Tin Leg’ Adams, Carlton ‘Carlie’ Barrett, Basil ‘Brother Benbow’ Creary,
Carlton ‘Santa’ Davis & Lowell ‘Sly’ Dunbar
Lead Guitar: Radcliffe ‘Duggie’ Bryan, Jerome ‘Jah Jerry’ Hines & Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith
Rhythm Guitar: Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, Winston ‘Bo Peep’ Bowen, Radcliffe ‘Duggie’ Bryan,
Albert Valentine ‘Tony’ Chin, Alva ‘Reggie’ Lewis, Lorraine ‘Ranny Bop’ Williams & Horace Andy
(occasionally)
Piano: Gladstone ‘Gladdy’ Anderson, Ansel ‘Pinkie’ Collins, Bernard ‘Touter’ Harvey, Oswald ‘Ossie’
/‘Nogo’ Hibbert, Bobby Kalphat, Errol ‘Tarzan’ Nelson, Keith Sterling & Johnny Clarke (occasionally)
Organ: Glen ‘Capo’ Adams, Ansel ‘Pinkie’ Collins, Tyrone ‘Organ D’ Downie, Bernard ‘Touter’ Harvey,
Oswald ‘Ossie’/‘Nogo’ Hibbert, Earl ‘Wire’ Lindo, Jackie Mittoo, Lloyd ‘Charmers’ Tyrell, Ian Winter,
Winston ‘Brubeck’ Wright & Horace ‘Augustus Pablo’ Swaby (occasionally)
Tenor Saxophone: Roland Alphonso, Val Bennett, Karl ‘King Cannon’ Bryan,
Richard ‘Dirty Harry’ Hall, Tommy McCook & Lester Sterling
Alto Saxophone: Felix ‘Deadly’ Hedley Bennett, Lennox Brown, Dean ‘Youth Sax’ Fraser,
Alphanso Henry & Herman ‘Seventh’ Marquis
Baritone Saxophone: Herman ‘Seventh’ Marquis
Trumpet: Bobby Ellis, Mark Lewis, David Madden & Lester Sterling
Trombone: Vincent ‘Don D Junior’/’Trommie’ Gordon, Dave Parks & Ron ‘Willow’ Wilson
Percussion: Denzil ‘Pops’ Laing, Noel ‘Zoot’/‘Scully’ Simms & & Uziah ‘Sticky’ Thompson
Recorded at:
Channel One Recording Studio: 29 Maxfield Avenue, Kingston 13, Jamaica
Engineers: Sid Bucknor & Ernest Hookim
Dynamic Sounds Recording Company Limited: 13/15 Bell Road, Kingston 11, Jamaica
Engineers: Lynford ‘Andy Capp’ Anderson, Sid Bucknor, Carlton Lee & Karl Pitterson
Federal Recording Studios Limited: 220 Marcus Garvey Drive, Kingston 11, Jamaica
Engineer: Louis ‘Buddy’ Davidson
Harry J Recording Studio: 10 Roosevelt Avenue, Kingston 6, Jamaica
Engineer: Sylvan Morris
King Tubby’s Recording Studio: 18 Dromilly Avenue, Waterhouse, Kingston 11, Jamaica
Engineers: Lloyd ‘Prince Jammy’ James, Pat Kelly, Osbourne ‘King Tubby’ Ruddock & Phillip ‘Prince Phillip’ Smart
Randy’s Studio 17: 17 North Parade, Kingston, Jamaica
Engineers: Dennis Thompson & Errol ‘ET’/’Errol T’ Thompson
Treasure Isle Recording Studio: 33 Bond Street, Kingston, Jamaica
Engineer: Byron Smith
WIRL (West Indies Records Limited): 13/15 Bell Road, Kingston 11, Jamaica
Engineers: Lynford ‘Andy Capp’ Anderson & Graeme Goodall
