Arthur "Duke" Reid CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and record label owner.
22 Facts About Duke Reid
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Duke Reid ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Trojan, possibly named after the British-made trucks used to transport the equipment.
3.
Duke Reid was still active in the early 1970s, working with toaster U-Roy.
4.
Duke Reid made his way into the music industry first as a sound system owner, promoter and disc jockey in 1953.
5.
Duke Reid quickly overtook Tom the Great Sebastian as the most popular sound system in Kingston.
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Early Duke Reid productions were recorded in studios owned by others, but when the family business moved from Pink Lane, Kingston to Bond Street, Duke Reid set up his own studio above the store.
7.
Duke Reid became proprietor of a number of labels, chiefly Treasure Isle and Dutchess.
8.
Duke Reid was known to carry his pistols and rifle with him in the studio and would sometimes fire them to celebrate a successful audition.
9.
Duke Reid dominated the Jamaican music scene of the 1960s, specialising in ska and rocksteady, though his love of American jazz, blues and soul was evident.
10.
Duke Reid had several things going for him that helped him to rise to prominence.
11.
Duke Reid made a concerted effort to be in the studio as much as possible, something his counterparts did not do.
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Duke Reid was known as a perfectionist and had a knack for adding symphonic sounds to his recordings and producing dense arrangements.
13.
Duke Reid made an impact with his presence at toasting battles, trying to out play other DJs.
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Duke Reid was dressed in a long ermine cloak and a gilt crown on his head, with a pair of Colt 45s in cowboy holsters, a cartridge belt strapped across his chest and a loaded shotgun over his shoulder.
15.
Duke Reid initially disliked ska for being too simple and having too much focus on drums rather than on guitar.
16.
Duke Reid had a long string of hits with performers like Stranger Cole, the Techniques, Justin Hinds and the Dominoes, Alton Ellis and the Flames, the Paragons, the Jamaicans, and the Melodians.
17.
Duke Reid held a fierce, mutual professional rivalry with Coxsone Dodd starting in the late 1950s and through the 1960s.
18.
Duke Reid forbade Rasta lyrics from being recorded in his studio and thus Coxsone Dodd was able to dominate the Jamaican recording industry.
19.
Duke Reid maintained his high-profile largely by recording the "toasting" of DJs U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone as well as vaguely Rasta-influenced oddities such as Cynthia Richards' "Aily-I".
20.
Cancer was diagnosed and Duke Reid decided to sell Treasure Isle to Sonia Pottinger, widow of his friend Lenford "Lennie the King" Pottinger and already owner of High Note Records, which was one of the largest record labels on the Island.
21.
Duke Reid remained involved for a while acting as a Magistrate but died in 1975.
22.
Duke Reid was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander on 15 October 2007.