Horace Andy
I was in third form at Kingston College (my high school back in Kingston, Jamaica) in 1972 when I first heard about the singer Horace Andy. In fact, his release that year of the song “Skylarking” was what brought him to my attention. The haunting, arresting qualities of his vocals on the tune as he stated, “Skylarking, skylarking, before they stand up, firm on their feet, that’s what youths do today…Begging you a five-cent, sir…begging you a ten-cent, sir, cannot help, no…cannot help.” The song resonated deeply, as I came from an inner-city community, where this kind of small-time hustling of begging coins was commonplace among the youth in the community.
Vocal Styling
Horace Andy’s vocal styling influenced a lot of the youth in my time, and the song became almost hymn-like among inner-city youth at the time. He was born in the Allman Town neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica, on February 19, 1951, where he was christened Horace Hinds. At the age of 16 he cut his debut single for George “Phil” Pratt, a song titled "This Is a Black Man's Country." The tune did not exactly set the charts alight up the charts and as a result the teenage Horace Hinds spent the next few years in the shadows.
Horace Andy at Studio One
In January 1970, Hinds showed up at Studio One to audition for label-head Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd as a part of a duo with friend Frank Melody. Dodd wasn't keen on the pairing, but later that week, Hinds tried again on his own with the self-composed ballad titled "Got to Be Sure," and this time the Coxsone was sold. That song was cut as the singer's debut single for the label. However, Coxsone was wary of releasing it under Hinds’' own name, concerned that the family relation with Justin Hinds and Horace’s similar singing style might count against the teen.
Name Change to Horace Andy
Coxsone insisted on a name change and decided to throw out a red herring by rechristening him Horace Andy, a tribute to the equally legendary former Paragon -turned-solo star Bob Andy. "Got to Be Sure" was followed up with several more singles during 1971, "See a Man's Face" and "Night Owl" and the Nina Simone influenced "Fever" and the evocative "Mr. Bassie" arriving the next year.What separated Andy from that group and virtually all Jamaican male vocalists of the early '70s (a notable exception being Junior Murvin) was his clear, powerful, high tenor voice. With the ability to shift from sultry croon to full-throated wail, as well as his delicately impeccable phrasing, Andy could be positively stunning. By the age of 21 Horace Andy was already a music-scene veteran, having cut the aforementioned hit records "Skylarking," "The Love of a Woman," and "I Found Someone," among others.
Connecting with King Tubby
In the early '70s Horace Andy was one of the most in-demand vocalists in Jamaica, recording great sides for Bunny Lee; the pair formed a relationship that would last for nearly the rest of the decade and account for some of Andy's best recorded work including “Just Say Who”, “You Are My Angel”, “Something on My Mind.” It was this relationship with Lee that hooked up Horace Andy with the great King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock) who found Andy’s work as ideal for his experimentation with the emerging dub sound at the time. Horace Andy’s distinctive, soulful, and emotive vocals (often described as “ethereal” and “otherworldly” provided an ideal foundation for dub remixing. His voice was easily identifiable and adaptable for Tubby’s studio manipulations. In addition, Horace Andy frequently collaborated with King Tubby, voicing tracks that Tubby would later remix and Dub-out.
King Tubby
King Tubby’s first interaction with the music industry started in the late 1950s with the rising popularity of the sound system in Jamaica at the time as one of the main sources of poor-people entertainment. He was born Osbourne Ruddock on January 28, 1941, in Kingston, Jamaica where he developed a huge reputation as a radio repairman. In time he expanded into television and sound equipment repairs. His growing reputation saw him being sought after by sound system operators. In time he began building amplifiers for sound system operators before developing his own sound system King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi in 1958.
Dub Experimentation
Tubby's would later experiment with creating cuts of records and introducing echoes and removing and adding parts of the pre-recorded sound effects. His relationship with Bunny Lee opened the door to exploring Horace Andy’s recordings. This partnership allowed Tubby to experiment with Andy's vocals, creating innovative Dub versions that showcased his production skills. King Tubby would often use Andy's vocals as a starting point, then employ his audio processing techniques, such as echo, delay, and phasing, to create haunting, spatial effects. This transformed Andy's voice into an instrument, adding depth and texture to the Dub tracks. Furthermore, Horace Andy's songs often featured strong, rootsy rhythms, which provided a solid foundation for Tubby's Dub explorations. Tubby would break down and reassemble these rhythms, creating new grooves and emphasizing the drum and bass elements. The partnership between Andy and Tubby allowed for experimentation and creative freedom where Andy’s vocals served as a catalyst for Tubby's innovative production techniques which pushed the boundaries of what was possible in audio processing and remixing at the time. By combining Horace Andy's unique vocals and style with King Tubby's production genius, they helped shape the sound of Dub music, influencing generations of producers and artists to come.
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