Trench Town Times

Welcome to Great Gifts of Heritage and Trench Town Times, all presented on our website: www.jimmytuckersings.com

1

O'er Our Blue Mountain 3:25

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Panis Angelicus 3:49

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The Lord's Prayer 2:51

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O Carolina! 3:52

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Muriel 3:41

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Dreamland 3:36

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Jah is My Light 4:28

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No Woman, No Cry 6:19

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Redemption Songs 3:10

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Let There Be Liberty 2:25

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Words of Emperor Haile Selassie - read by Jimmy Tucker 4:17

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The Book of Rules 4:21

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Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen 3:42

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Life's Richest Treasures 4:44

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The Way of Love 2:53

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Trench Town Times

JimmyTucker

The album Trench Town Times shows the African influence of Nyabingi drumming and chanting on the music coming out of Trench Town in the 1950's and 1960's.

We are making sure that we document a wide variety of the best of world music, especially that music coming from Jamaica's rich heritage, so that we can cultivate the love of music... among young people and all generations.

We remember and honor our fellow musicians, artistes, writers, visionaries and those who made it possible for us to learn and grow in Trench Town...at Boys Town, at school, in the cricket fields ... Little West Indies Cricket team under the captaincy of Skipper Harry Tucker, brother Desmond, Clement "Coxone" Dodd ( famous for musical productivity in studio), Father Hugh Sherlock, Canon R O C King, Lannaman's Children's Hour, Vere Johns - Jamaica's pioneering entrepreneur (Jamaica's "Arthur Godfrey and Ed Sullivan").

It has taken us a long time to concentrate our state efforts with sincerity as much as our arts and performance activities. At this time we give special appreciation to those who promoted our work . None of these efforts could have gained widespread public appreciation without the role of The Gleaner, Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion*, Ward Theatre, Carib, Majestic, Little Theatre and other entertainment initiatives such as Strand Theatre, Roxy Theatre in Spanish Town, among others. (Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks.)*

In the 19th century The Ward Theatre led the Western Hemisphere by presenting shows and performances; with the growth of popular night clubs and musical parlors, as people became more and more conscious of the need for the arts to reflect the growth and expression in region's future. It was a regional awareness that came about...not just a village, but a wider experience leading to a standard of excellence in the arts. Years went by as the shaping of the state and musical culture gained pre eminence.

From our shared history in Trench Town Jamaica in the 1950's and 60's, we reach out to share the albums we have produced in Jamaica and the USA - at studios including Dynamic Sounds, Federal Recording Studio (West Indies Records), Studio One, Tuff Gong Studio, Helffrich Recording Labs, and Almond Productions. We did all of these recording projects as well as the companion books in the name: Reliance Educational Productions. That's my story, my quest to share the music with the world.

Jimmy Tucker National Heritage Week, October 2020

Welcome to www.jimmytuckersings.com

Jimmy Tucker is Jamaica’s first singing sensation whose brilliance has endured for more than sixty years. Jimmy was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1942, the youngest in a family of musicians and athletes. His mother was a singer, his father, a church organist and printer, and his paternal grandfather, an Anglican minister. Jimmy (James Alexander George Tucker) was named after James Alexander George Smith (JAG Smith) a political officer who had recently passed away.

According to biographer Clyde Hoyte, “In Jimmy Tucker of Jamaica, the world, and particularly the history of vocal recorded music, has, for the first time, recordings and a story of a boy soprano – tenor, with celebrated recognition of more than fifty years of vocal excellence.”

Somewhere between early days at home on Fourth Street in Trench Town, Kingston, Jamaica, and travels through the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the United States, Jimmy resolved to make a contribution to his country and beyond. During his 70 plus years, Jimmy has been preparing for his music and for his writings to be shared, but with the world in 2020 connected by social media and phones, the sharing is on a stage wider than he could have ever dreamed.

During the 1940’s, Jimmy became a child singer, following the encouragement of his brothers and sisters – crooning and belting out the classics and popular songs of the time. Even in the 1950’s, Jimmy was performing in clubs, schools and churches. It was during these years that Jimmy performed music written by Jamaica’s Clyde Hoyte, including “Have Faith” and “Sweet as a Dream.” Through the years, Clyde’s music would become a source of favorites produced in the Great Gifts of Heritage series of books and CD’s Jimmy has published.

If we do not tell the story of our nation in heroic terms in order to fire up the imagination of our children, then we will dissipate into nothingness and die. - Carey Robinson