Biography
Deriving his name, and to some extent his style, from U-Roy, Reid was also heavily influenced in his early career by Dennis Alcapone. With early recordings for Gussie Clarke, Glen Brown, Lee Perry and Bunny Lee, Reid established himself at the forefront of 1970s reggae DJ's. His debut album Presenting I Roy is considered a classic of its genre, and was followed up by a series of strong albums including Hell and Sorrow. Linton Kwesi Johnson dubs I-Roy "the mighty poet" in "Street 66" on the album, Bass Culture.
The mighty poet I-Roy was on the wire
Western did a skank; and each man laugh
an feelin Irie; dread I;
Street 66, the said man said
any policeman come ere
will get some righteous ras klaat licks
yeah man - whole heap kicks.
For several years from 1975, I-Roy engaged in an on-record slanging match with fellow DJ Prince Jazzbo, the two trading insults on successive singles, although in reality they were good friends. In 1976, I-Roy signed to Virgin Records with whom he would go on to release five albums. On occasion he would utilise The Revolutionaries as his backing band.
One of I-Roy's earliest hits was in 1972 with "Sidewalk Killer," a take on Tommy McCook's original "Sidewalk Doctor." This 45 was produced by Ruddy Redwood.
Reggae's move to the dancehall era in the 1980s saw I-Roy's popularity decline. This decline in popularity and recurring health problems led to periods of homelessness during the later period of his life.
He died in 1999 of heart failure, at the age of fifty-five.
Read more about this topic: I-Roy
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