Celebrating the Music of ERNIE SMITH,FRANKIE PAUL & Count OWEN

b. Glenroy Ernest Smith, c.1948, Jamaica, West Indies. Smith initially enjoyed notoriety when his single ‘Pitta Patta’, backed with ‘Lichfield Gardens’, topped the Jamaican charts in 1973, utilizing Lee Perry’s ‘musical transplant’ rhythm. The song was voted as the best song of the year in Jamaica by Swing magazine. The lyrics were also adapted by Lloyd Charmers for his lewd ‘Big Eight’, marketed as the reggae alternative to Judge Dread’s hit. An album followed, with Smith covering ‘I Love You To Want Me’ and ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’, both successfully recorded by John Holt. In 1974 Smith followed the hit with ‘Duppy Or A Gunman’ and the equally popular ‘Key Card’, echoing the patois style made popular by Pluto.V