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Ernie Smith Sings Folk Songs
of Jamaica
This CD Contains 14 Folk Songs
There Are 3 songs In the Player to Preview
$12.00
Ernie Smith's professional musical
career began with his first recording in
1967, an original composition - "I Can't Take It",
later recorded by Johnny
Nash as "Tears On My Pillow." Hits followed in quick
succession,
including "Bend Down," "Ride On Sammy,"
"One Dream," and "Pitta Patta."
Duppy Gunman"
In 1972 at the World Popular Song Festival of the Yamaha
Foundation in
Tokyo, he won the grand prize competing with songwriters like
Neil Sedaka,
and Michael Legrand, with his original composition of "Life
is Just for
Living."
Ernie became the first Jamaican musician to win an International
award. For
this historic achievement, he became the first musician in
the field of
Popular Music to be honoured by the Jamaican Government.
In 1976, Ernie was forced into exile in North America because
of his
controversial political commentary in the song, "The
Power and the Glory".
Ironically, the once-banned song is still relevant and even
more popular.
Today, twenty-six years after its release it is the battle
song for all the
talk shows and community activists.
In the first 3 of the 13 years in exile from his homeland,
he thrilled
audiences In Canada, where he resided for 3 years, and was
a pioneer in
bringing Reggae to the mainstream. Critics hailed his album
"To Behold
Jah" (1979) as "one of the most important albums
to come out of Canada for
[the] year [1979]."
Ernie has written well over 200 songs, some of which have
been recorded by
other artistes, including Rita Marley, Chakka Demus and Pliers,
Twiggy, Ken
Lazarus, John Jones, Eddie Lovette, Yellow Man Johnny Nash,
among others.
Ernie played on many of the world stages including repeat
performances at
Madison Square Garden, New York (1973,1974 and 1999); Place
de Nacion,
Montreal; Camp Fortune, Ottawa; Ontario Place, Alexandria
Palace,
Convocation Hall, Toronto; The Martinez Ballroom, Cannes,
Disney World,
France; Rio, Brazil; Expo 93, Taejon, and Muju Resorts, Korea;
Nippon
Budokon Hall, Tokyo, Japan; Henry J. Bean Club, Brussels;
San Marino,
Milan, Rome, Italy; other European venues including, Amsterdam,
Switzerland
Germany; the East Coast of the USA and middle America including
July Jam
Festival, Lincoln, Nebraska; Belize City, Central America;
Georgetown,
Guyana, South America several venues in the Caribbean including
Barbados,
Trinidad, St Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Maarten, Cayman Islands
and Jamaica.
Artists with whom Ernie has shared performance stages:
Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, The Police, Jimmy Cliff, John Holt,
Ken Boothe,
Gregory Isaacs, The Mighty Diamonds, Byron Lee and the Dragoneers,
Leroy
Sibbles, Eric Donaldson, Toots and the Maytals, Carlos Malcolm,
The
Vikings, Fab Five, Bare Essentials, Carlene Davis, Freddy
McGregor, Tony
Rebel, Buju Banton, Beres Hammond, Culture, Hugh Masekela,
Johnny Cash,
Johnny Nash, Skeeter Davis, James Carr and many more |
