Claudius Linton

ROCK OBAMA! New Kingman & Jonah single.
Buy it right here, right now, blast it from your car tonight! "If Claudius Linton's 'Roots Master' CD is anything to go by, Kingman & Jonah's 'Sign Time' should be the reggae album of the year!" - www. SmallAxe. eu
Order now at www. SunKingRecords. com
Claudius "Kingman" Linton returns with his first new recordings in two decades. On the heels of his acclaimed CD collection of rare unearthed classic cuts, the roots reggae originator's incredible conscious collaboration with US musician/producer Ian "Jonah" Jones offers 13 new tunes full of vintage roots riddims, unstoppable melodies and a powerful positive message for our times.
All this backed by some of Jamaica's most legendary roots musicians: Ansel Collins, Horsemouth Wallace, Dwight Pinkney, Keith Francis and many more...
Ships April 22. Pre-order now at www. SunKingRecords. com and receive a free MP3 dubplate!
'ROOTS MASTER: The Vintage Roots Reggae Singles, Vol. 1' **Click to Order Now at www.SunKingRecords.com**
and get a free Kingman & Jonah MP3 single!
HEAR THE TUNES WATCH THE VIDEO
"ALBUM OF THE YEAR" - Bobby Bobson, Music Is Our Occupation blog
"This is the unearthed Holy Grail of reggae." - DJ Greedy G
"Roots Master" debuted at No. 12 on CRM-FM Radio in the Netherlands
and has been added at stations in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Holland and of course JAMAICA, as well as on Web radio. Call and ask your favorite reggae DJ to spin Claudius tonight!
Reggae Founder Rediscovered: After 20-Year Silence, Kingman Is Back
Claudius Linton returns with Enhanced Reissue CD
plus new band Kingman & Jonah.
KINGMAN IS BACK! Claudius “Kingman” Linton, considered “one of the greatest reggae singers of all time,” is back after a 20-year absence from the music scene. Rediscovered by American indie-rock producer Ian “Jonah” Jones, Linton returns with the first-ever CD release of his 1970’s roots reggae singles. Roots Master: The Vintage Roots Reggae Singles, Vol. 1 is out on Sun King Records in November 2007.
Watch the 10-minute behind-the-scenes video on the "Roots Master" CD to learn more. The enhanced CD offers 16 tracks from roots reggae founder Linton, the soulful musical companion of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Includes new stereo mixes from the original analog tapes of Claudius's 1 hit “Crying Time,” “Backra Massa,” “Twentieth Century,” and more. Plus classic cuts rescued from vintage vinyl pressings, unreleased material and the bonus video documentary.
This first collection of essential classics, from the singer who originated the vocal style made popular by reggae talents like Culture and Burning Spear, will be followed in early 2008 by Kingman & Jonah's Sign Time. The CD of brand new songs by Kingman & Jonah features an all-star band of legendary Jamaican musicians dubbed “the Buena Vista Social Club of reggae.”
“A master musician is back,” says Jones, “and better than ever.”
ABOUT CLAUDIUS LINTON (KINGMAN)
With a toot of the horn, Bob Marley pulled his BMW off the rutted Jamaican road and hopped out to warmly greet a Rasta sitting on the grass. Onlookers gaped as the man who made reggae a global sensation sat down on the dusty roadside to talk and share a laugh. Who was this man who could readily command an audience from the island's favorite son? It was Marley's old Trenchtown friend Claudius “Kingman” Linton, the roots reggae singer known around the Kingston recording studios for his soulful voice and his knack for a killer melody.
Claudius and singing partner Cecil Hemmings, known first as the Angelic Brothers and later the Hofner Brothers, rose with Trenchtown's other reggae greats from early 1960's ska singles to the crest of reggae's '70's heyday. The Hofner Brothers popularity soared when their single “Kingman Is Back” competed in the finals of the 1972 Jamaican Festival Song Competition against the tunes from Junior Byles and Toots & the Maytals. Toots won the contest, but the crowd roared for more of Claudius's powerful vocals and electrifying stage show.
Linton and Hemmings parted ways after recording a half-dozen singles, and Claudius went out on his own, releasing his catchy songs and strong messages of unity and peace during key moments of Jamaica's violent election cycles. “We were telling people of what Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King said; but they wouldn't listen,” Linton says. “Today we're singing about Baghdad, about Iraq. But it's the same oppression, it's the same urgent message coming through on our new Kingman & Jonah CD. We are trying to sing some reality to the people.”
In 1976, Claudius hit the top of the charts with the Rasta consciousness anthem “Crying Time,” and followed it up with another 10 years of the classic roots reggae tracks now compiled on the reisssue CD Roots Master. Today, the original 45s can trade hands for hundreds of dollars.
Linton is the living history of reggae. Singing lessons with “father of reggae” Joe Higgs along with fellow future stars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. The Rolling Stones Jamaican recording sessions for Goat's Head Soup. Linton was there. But after recording “Reduce The Arms Race”/”Chun Pon Nanie” with famed reggae producer Jack Ruby in 1984, Claudius disappeared from the scene.
Today Kingman is back. A chance meeting on the beach in Negril, JA, united him with American producer/musician Ian "Jonah" Jones. They began recording new material right away, and Jones began the worldwide hunt for Claudius's old singles. “When I began to compile Claudius' back catalog, his fans started appearing from around the globe to help out. They all asked me to produce a reissue collection so they wouldn't have to spend a fortune searching for expensive and rare singles,” Jones says. “And they all want Claudius to get his due, at long last, as a crucial reggae talent.”
THE ROOTS MASTER CD COMPILATION
It's hard to imagine songs this memorable were lost for three decades. But with a couple of reel-to-reel tapes that Claudius had hidden away for a quarter-century — and the help of reggae collectors around the world — Roots Master compiles not only rare tracks salvaged from vintage vinyl pressings, but new mixes of Claudius's biggest songs from the original analog tapes. No longer do fans have to pay big bucks for a scratchy 45 record. On Roots Master, Claudius' voice soars out crisp and clear from meticulously restored multi-track analog tapes, practically as unfettered as the day he recorded them.
Backing him on most of the '70s and '80s roots reggae cuts compiled on Roots Master are his favorite rhythm section — the Soul Syndicate with Earl “Chinna” Smith on guitar — plus a selection of session greats like Jackie Mittoo, Ansel Collins, Fish Clark, Vin Gordon, the Upsetters Band and many more.
“From the time I first met Claudius in Jamaica at the end of last year, his singular talent as a songwriter, musician & singer has never ceased to amaze me. His musical idiom is clearly within the realm of classic roots reggae, but I believe his vocal talent defies that narrow niche classification. He is a remarkable soul singer in the most timeless sense of the word,” says Walter Carlton, the designer who created the visual identity for the project.
THE MESSAGE IN THE MUSIC
Always in the music: the message. As can be heard in the new songs of Kingman & Jonah, Claudius has always sung powerful “conscious” reggae music. On Roots Master, we at last have an opportunity to hear the roots of his unwavering call for peace, social justice, morality and spiritual elevation. From 1974's “You think it's peace and safety, 20th Century, ruling is gone” to 1984's “Reduce the arms race, Mr. President... start saying your heavenly grace!”
These songs reflect the social turmoil of the times in which they were written, but Claudius' social message is as relevant today as ever. “Energy crisis time....”
OUT NOW! 'ROOTS MASTER: The Vintage Roots Reggae Singles, Vol. 1' **Click to Order Now at www.SunKingRecords.com!**