Duke Reid

Duke Reid was one of the founding fathers of the Jamaican music business, perhaps second in importance only to his chief rival, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, both as a record producer and entrepreneur. Much like Dodd, Reid started his career in music as a DJ, then a sound system owner, then a label head (most notably of Trojan and Treasure Isle), then a highly accomplished producer who masterminded some of the greatest Jamaican music of the '60s. His career spanned the earliest days of ska to the rocksteady era, and on through the early '70s, when he helped lay the groundwork for the DJ/toaster era. In his prime, Reid cut a striking, flamboyant profile and was notorious for his tough-guy persona, the product of his previous career as a policeman. He usually carried a loaded revolver and ammunition belt, all prominently displayed, and sometimes a hand grenade or a machete for extra effect. His business tactics could be similarly hard-nosed, but Reid was no mere thug; his genuine skill as a producer remains the cornerstone of his legacy, in particular his work during rocksteady's heyday. Arthur S. "Duke" Reid was born in Portland, Jamaica, most likely in 1915. He moved to Kingston in his late teens and eventually took a job as a police officer, an occupation to which he devoted ten years of his life. He quit in order to help his wife run her successful grocery store. A longtime music lover, he started to attract more customers by playing records outside the shop -- mostly American R&B and jump blues, as well as some calypso. With business booming, the couple soon moved to a larger location on Bond Street, which was dubbed the Treasure Isle Liquor Store. Reid began hosting his own radio show, Treasure Isle Time, and also started a mobile sound system business, carting his...