A pair of new compilations trace the roots of reggae’s sublime songcraft back to the influence of 1950s crooners, with their close harmonies and swooning romance
In late 1961, a young teenager called James Chambers turned up unannounced at Beverley’s restaurant and ice cream parlour on Orange Street in Kingston, Jamaica. In search of a sponsor, he told the owners, three Chinese-Jamaican brothers, that he had written a song for them. His audacity paid off and a few months later, Dearest Beverley was released as the B-side of a more topical and upbeat song called
Hurricane Hattie, which became the first hit for the newly formed Beverley’s Records.
The single was produced by the label’s owner, Leslie Kong, one of the brothers for whom Chambers had auditioned. Kong would go on to produce a series of classic early reggae songs like 007 (Shanty Town) by Desmond Dekker and Monkey Man by the Maytals; by the time Dearest Beverley was released, James Chambers had turned 14 and was calling himself Jimmy Cliff, soon to be one of reggae’s biggest stars.