(5 / 5)
I loved the Trojan label. Well, most of their output back in the late 1960s and the 1970s, when I had a much slimmer waist, more hair and my back didn’t go out more than I do!
So to my delight, Doctor Bird Records have resurrected this little gem, one of the iconic label’s best selling albums from 1970, and available on CD for the first time in 23 years. This version offers the dozen original tracks, and another 12 bonus cuts, many new to CD. So 24 tracks all on one disc.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Kingstonians peppered Jamaica’s singles charts on a regular basis, with their recordings for producer Derrick Harriott proving particularly successful. Their popularity prompted the producer to release what proved to be the vocal trio’s only album, ‘Sufferer’, which collected a dozen of their best-known works from the preceding two years.
They formed in 1966. Cebert “Jackie” Bernard, his brother Lloyd “Footy” Bernard, and Lloyd Kerr. Recording for producer J.J. Johnson got them a hit with “Winey Winey” in 1967, layer covered by Shabba Ranks and others. Then they moved on to work with producer Derrick Harriott between 1968 and 1970, achieving chart-topping singles with “Singer Man”, (a song covered by the UK’s UB40 and US supergroup Three Dog Night), and “Sufferer”.
After the original group’s only album was released in 1970 on Trojan Records, they worked with other producers including Leslie Kong and Rupie Edwards, before calling it a day in the early 70s. The group’s main songwriter Jackie Bernard went solo, dropping a few releases under the moniker, Jackie Bernard & the Kingstonians. He worked with Lee “Scratch” Perry on “Economic Crisis” under the pseudonym ‘Jack Lord’ in the late 1970s. Jackie fell on hard times and became ill with diabetes, and unable to afford medication, a foundation was set up in 2014 to provide him with financial help. Sadly, he died from pneumonia in September 2014, at only 66-years-old.
Aside from the one album., they had at least 17 singles released between 1967 and 2012, on Rio, Trojan, Doctor Bird, Coxsone (“Mother Miserable” in 68), Studio One, Big Shot, Crab, Bullet, Beverley’s, Song Bird, Caltone and Tennors. Jackie Bernard/Jackie Bernard & the Kingstonians released four singles: “Way Down in the Ghetto” (1973) on the Leal label, “Jah Children” (1974) on Wambesi, “Never Changing Harmony” (1975) on Stun King and “Original Style” (1975) on Tough Jack.
“The Sufferer” expanded version is lovely stuff, an essential addition to any discerning reggae and ska enthusiast’s CD collection, even if you have the original version, as this gives us those dozen extra cuts. The Kingstonians were probably one of the most influential vocal trios of the rock steady and boss reggae era, and “Sufferer” delivers their complete Crystal recordings, plus eight instrumentals and four other great cuts.
Impossible to select the best tracks, because in all sincerity, there’s nothing duff here. It really is a delight to hear again, and to get the bonus cuts too. Below is the full track listing. (Now all we need is someone to gather together every single they released, on one or two albums, and all is well in the world!)
By Simon Redley
Track List:
1. YOUR LOVE
2. SINGER MAN
3. SUFFERER
4. HOLD DOWN
5. I’LL BE AROUND
6. WINEY WINEY (REGGAE) 7. THE CLIP
8. RUMBLE RUMBLE
9. COME WE GO MOONWALK
10.COMPLICATED SCENE
11.EASY RIDE REGGAE
12.NICE NICE
Bonus Tracks:
13.KISS A LITTLE FINGER
14.UNDERTAKER’S BURIAL
15.SPLASH DOWN
16.SIC HIM ROVER
17.RIGHT FROM WRONG
18.THE BAD
19.MUSICAL MADNESS
20.RUMBLE VERSION 2
21.BAREFOOT BRIGADE
22.OUT THERE
23.OUT THERE VERSION II
24.VERSION FROM 3
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’ (5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
