Gordon Robinson | Archie Lewis – still the best

Recently, fellow music lovers on Tweeter have been encouraging me to post various musical Top Ten lists.

While creating my list of male Jamaican singers I was transported in a mental time machine to my childhood when my mother introduced me to the music of Archie Lewis who, she said, would walk past her home every evening to visit his girlfriend. The young lady in question also lived on Arnold Road and Archie would sing all the way to her home in his magnificently rich baritone. This all happened before Archie migrated to Britain in 1942 (aged 24) when my mother was eighteen. She quivered with excitement as she recounted how she would enjoy a daily free concert from one of Jamaica’s most popular singers.

So I started listening to Archie Lewis’s records at a tender age. He was excellent and could stand toe to toe (well, note to note) with any of the international stars of any time. I still have some of his songs recorded on 78 rpm records AND the exclusively mechanical Victrola to play them.

So there!

Edward Archibald Lewis was born on April 10, 1918. He sang in choirs and was a Sunday school teacher before taking up singing professionally. He migrated to Britain and worked in a munitions factory as part of the war effort. He joined a band led by “Geraldo” (real name Gerald Bright – one of the most popular bandleaders in Britain at the time) and soon became the featured singer. He recorded songs with Geraldo; appeared regularly on BBC radio; was one of the first black vocalists to sing solo in public performances in England; and toured widely with Geraldo and Josephine Baker.

Archie Lewis was a pioneer of Jamaican singers in UK long before Millie Small (1946) or Desmond Dekker (1941) met their parents. Just as every Jamaican footballer with success in Europe stands on Lindy Delapenha’s shoulders so every Jamaican singer with success in Europe stands on Archie’s shoulders. In England he was known as “the Crosby of the Caribbean” and his 1946 version of In the Land of Beginning Again was one of the most popular songs of its time. His 1948 recording of While the Angelus was ringing (still available on deezer.com) reportedly sold over a million copies.

Archie Lewis returned to Jamaica in 1964 where he did what singers of his style did at the time namely performed in the island’s leading hotels and clubs. My mother never missed a performance at Glass Bucket where another of her favourites, the great Peter Hudson, was featured on saxophone and the legendary Mapletoft Poulle (co-composed Jamaica’s National Anthem’s music) on piano. Archie recorded three albums in Jamaica in the late 1960s/early 1970s but his style and content was lost in the clamour of the latest novelties including reggae and dancehall.

So here’s my Top Ten List of male Jamaican singers. Feel free to disagree. By all means post your own list. The thing about Jamaican talent is that it’s so plentiful and diverse that disagreement is certain. Another thing I always say about disagreement is that it’s essential to growth and development. If it wasn’t for disagreement we’d still be treating cancer with leeches.

My Top Three in order of preference are:

1. ARCHIE LEWIS (world class romantic balladeer);

2. KEN BOOTHE (technically one of the best; supreme lyric interpreter);

3. BERES HAMMOND (THE voice; stylish, expressive; better with age)

In alphabetical order the rest are: Dennis Emmanuel Brown (fearless); William “Bunny Rugs” Clarke (probably the best lead singer of a Jamaican band); Wilfred “Jackie” Edwards (smooth as silk); Derrick Harriott (the man with two voices; grossly under-rated); John Holt (the cleanest, purest voice ever produced in Jamaica); Glenroy Michael Anthony Archangelo “Ernie” Smith (modern day storytelling version of Archie Lewis; his rich baritone used to fuse country and swing); and Delroy George Wilson (could easily have been a world class jazz singer).

Those “on the bubble” include Boris Gardiner (my Grandmother’s favourite Jamaican singer); Frederick “Toots” Hibbert (Ska/Rock Steady/Reggae superstar with a Gospel Singer’s voice); Jackie “Manface” Opel (Honorary Jamaican; On a solid rock he stood with Roland Alphanso’s saxophone as company); Alton Ellis (Godfather of Rock Steady); and Highland Ralph “Dobbie” Dobson (went from KC schoolboy with a crush on his Biology teacher to Loving Pauper).

Archie Lewis, the best romantic balladeer Jamaica has ever produced, died in the University Hospital of the West Indies in 1988 but his music lives on with those of us who remember. Edward Archibald Lewis, born on a Number One Day, April 10, 1913, thus destined to reach the top of his chosen profession, achieved his numerological fate; performed his artistic duty; and died February 29, 1988. Rest in Peace. And love.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com