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Big YouthText by Harry Hawks

One of the most important and influential stylistic and artistic innovators of the second half of the twentieth century...

Big Youth

Real Name	Manley Augustus Buchanan
Born	Apr 19, 1949
Place of Birth	Kingston Jamaica
Related Artist(s)	Dillinger I Roy Jah Stitch Prince Jazzbo U Roy

It is now more than forty years since Big Youth first entered a recording studio but his music still sounds every bit as new, as different, as committed and as revolutionary as it did in the early seventies. Setting new standards for deejays to say something constructive Big Youth progressed several steps further than his predecessors and elevated the art of deejaying into an internationally recognisable and recognised art form.

Born Manley Augustus Buchanan 19th April 1949 Big Youth's father, a police officer, left the upbringing of his children to their mother. She brought up her family of five in Rae Town and Princess Street, Kingston, Jamaica and, when he reached the age of fourteen, she decided that her son should learn a trade and he started to train as a mechanic.

"Big Youth has had the sort of life that few of us would really want (if we had the choice) even though we all like to read about it." Chris Lane

Known from his early teens as 'Big Youth' because of his height he eventually found regular work on the construction of Kingston's Sheraton and Skyline hotels where he was paid handyman's wages for a mechanic's job. The Youth found solace in the Rastafarian religion and would sing and shout as he worked... listening to his voice echo through the half built rooms.

"While I was at Sheraton every time I see something it would echo to me... and my voice would echo back from the wall to me." Big Youth

Already a regular at Kingston's sound system dances Big Youth began to ask for a turn on the microphone and would learn how to hold a crowd. When he had their attention he would extol the Rastafarian religion and plead with the trigger happy rude boys to "leave their skengs at home". He was a fast learner and in March 1971 he took over from Jah Stitch as the resident deejay for Lord Tippertone Hi Fi... the only credible rival to King Tubby's Home Town Hi Fi with I Roy as the regular deejay. I Roy had encouraged Big Youth at the start of his career and often let the Youth hold the mic. but there was no quarter given when the two sound systems clashed in competition.

Big Youth's first record, 'Movie Man' a version of Errol Dunkley's cut to the evergreen 'I Don't Know Why'/'Movie Star' produced by Gregory Isaacs, was released in January 1972 on the Zarina label but it was not a big seller.

"That was a failure but I kept on trying with my next record 'Black Cinderella' (also known as 'The Best Big Youth' for Jimmy Radway) and then I did one for the Upsetter called 'Mooving Version' (a version to Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'Keep On Moving'). Then I started selling with tunes like 'Tell It Black', 'Phil Pratt) 'Killer', 'Tippertone Rocking' (for Gussie Clarke) and 'Chi Chi Run' (for Prince Buster) before I got my first Number One: 'Ace 90 Skank'." Big Youth

This Keith Hudson production proved to be Big Youth's breakthrough. 'Ace 90 Skank' was released on Keith's Mafia label in July 1972 and musician and producer Ossie Hibbert recalled that it was a breakthrough for him as well.

"When I became a full time musician the song that really broke me was 'Ace 90 Skank'... before that nobody really knew me. It was only Bunny Lee(Striker Lee) and some of the other producers who knew me. The rhythm was on one track... and we just took it away! When Big Youth came on that rhythm that made me famous and then people like Duke Reid used to use me." Ossie Hibbert

This was a highly significant period for Big Youth. Not only did he release his first Number One tune, Ace 90 Skank, he also began his own Negusa Nagast (Amharic for 'King Of Kings') label with the incredible double sider 'Children Children'/'Mr. Buddy' and released his debut album for Augustus Gussie Clarke. 'Screaming Target' first appeared on Dynamic's Jaguar subsidiary and then on Gussie's own label in Jamaica before London's Trojan Records secured the rights for the UK release of this seminal outing.

"It took a relatively inexperienced nineteen year old producer, Gussie Clarke, to bring out the best in the deejay. Gussie came from the same rough downtown district as Big Youth and was far more in tune with the vibe on the street than the older established producers... Gussie's recipe for success had been simply to record the deejay on an uncluttered dub mix of the rhythm, thus creating more space for Big Youth's spontaneous chanting style to work in." Dave Hendley

The voice of Big Youth, which had once only echoed around empty, half built hotel rooms, would, from now on, echo internationally and Jah Youth was the all too audible, authentic sound of the Kingston ghettos. Always trying to educate his listeners his lyrics provided penetrating insights into the stark poverty in the ghettos and the influence of Rastafarianism on the youth of Jamaica. As well as his own classic productions on the Negusa Nagast and Agustus Buchanan labels such as 'Sky Juice', 'Hot Stock', 'Wolf In Sheep Clothing' and 'Miss Lou Ring Ding' he recorded innumerable essential records for other producers including releases for Bunny Wailer, 'Bide'/'Black On Black', Vivian 'Yabby You' Jackson(Vivian Jackson), 'Yabby Youth', Winston Riley, 'All Nations Bow', and The Abyssinians 'I Pray Thee'. Big Youth's ascendancy was based on the eternal values inherent in his work and he went on to fashion and develop a career in reggae music that only a handful of artists could ever match.

"The Youth, with seven records on the local charts, is at the top of the ladder. Some say he won't last because he has come on so strong and so quickly. But the Youth understands his people and understands his time. The message of peace, love and unity is everlasting. 'Our only hope' he says 'is for us all to get together'". Jean Fairweather

Everything and anything went into the Big Youth mix in order to create something startlingly original and, as he rode the rhythms, he added observations on life in the ghetto, evangelised for his Rastafarian faith, added children's rhymes, cinema references, mento couplets, pop and soul songs and lines inspired by The Last Poets. He continued to produce classic after classic after classic and the body of work that he assembled during the seventies still sounds, and will continue to sound, every bit as idiosyncratic as it did at the time. Big Youth will always be far, far more than a reggae phenomenon; he is a legend in his own lifetime whose musical and lyrical innovations are still reverberating all around the world.

"These are the words of Big Youth, uncrowned king of dance hall deejays..." Jean Fairweather

Date Added: Jan 10, 2018