U Roy - Runaway Girl

Sunday, time for a classic and for today we are remembering U-Roy.

Ewart Beckford, known by the stage name U-Roy, was a Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of toasting. U-Roy was known for a melodic style of toasting applied with a highly developed sense of timing.

Ewart Beckford was born in Jones Town, Saint Andrews Parish, Kingston, Jamaica, on 21 September 1942. He was raised within a religious and musical family; his mother was an organist for the choir at a local Seventh-day Adventist church. The sobriquet U-Roy originated from a younger member of his family who found it difficult to pronounce his first name. Beckford attended Denham Town High School in Kingston. As a young man Beckford listened to the music of Louis Prima, James Brown, Ruth Brown, Fats Domino, Rufus Thomas, Smiley Lewis and was especially influenced by the vocal phrasing of Louis Jordan.

Inspired by Count Matchuki he started his professional career as a DJ in 1961 on Dickie Wong's sound system (originally called Doctor Dickies later changed to Dickies Dynamic) moving later to the Sir George the Atomic sound system. Beckford then worked on Sir Coxsone Dodd's sound system where he ran the number two set while King Stitt "The Ugly One" ran the main set. This was followed by a period with Sir Percy before he moved to King Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi sound system. Beckford's first single "Dynamic Fashion Way" (1969) was a Keith Hudson production. It was followed by the Lee "Scratch" Perry production "Earth's Rightful Ruler" with Peter Tosh. The following years he have been working with serval musicans, like the Jamaican singer John Holt (lead vocalist of THE PARAGONS) where he released on Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label, "Wake the Town" (1970) and "Wear You to the Ball" (1970), Beckford then went on to work with other major producers on the island including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bunny Lee, Phil Pratt, Sonia Pottinger, Rupie Edwards, Alvin Ranglin and Lloyd Daley. 1971 saw the release of Beckford's DJ version of The Paragons' "The Tide Is High". Beckford first toured the UK in 1972 with the artists Roy Shirley and Max Romeo.

Beckford's album "Dread In A Babylon" was released in the US, Europe and Jamaica by Virgin Records in 1975. The album achieved significant sales in the UK which was due in part to the ongoing expansion of the Virgin label and stores. The track and today's tune "Runaway Girl" from the album was released as a single in Europe that same year. The success of "Dread In A Babylon" led to a series of Tony Robinson produced albums: "Natty Rebel" (1976), "Rasta Ambassador" (1977) and "Jah Son Of Africa" (1978). Beckford's international popularity led to the album Natty Rebel being released in 1976 on Virgin's imprint Front Line label in Nigeria as well as in France on Virgin and Polydor.

Beckford started his own sound system in 1978, which he named Stur Gav after his sons. The sound system would launch the careers of a younger generation of toasters and singers including Ranking Joe, Jah Screw, Charlie Chaplin and Josey Wales. The pop group Blondie had a world-wide hit with the reggae track "The Tide Is High" in 1980, which prompted Virgin to re-release the original PARAGONS' track from 1967 and the 1971 U-Roy version as a single that same year. His album Pray Fi Di People was released in 2012.

Beckford was featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Trey Anastasio, Gwen Stefani / No Doubt, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Manu Chao, The Roots, Ryan Adams, Keith Richards, Toots Hibbert, Paul Douglas, Jackie Jackson, Ken Boothe, and The Skatalites.

Beckford was awarded the Order of Distinction in 2007 by the Jamaican government for his contribution to music.

Beckford's death was confirmed on 17 February 2021 when his partner, Marcia Smikle, told the Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner. Trojan Records was also informed about his death. As of 20 February, no cause of death has been made public, although he suffered from diabetes, hypertension, and problems with his kidneys prior to his death, and had been undergoing surgery at the hospital.

Today's tune "Runaway Girl", taken from the album "Dread In A Babylon", and R.I.P U-Roy!



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