Santa Davis profile picture

Santa Davis

Love God and Live, Curse him and Die

About Me

Santa was born Carlton Davis in Kingston, Jamaica. At age eleven he joined the St. Peter Claver Drum Corp in Kingston and set his sites on becoming a professional drummer. He joined the group Kofi Kali and the Graduates and later united with his childhood friendGeorge "Fully" Fullwood in the group Soul Syndicate (featuring top session players like Tony Chin, Cleon Douglas, Scotty,Fully, Keith Sterling and Earl "Chinna" Smith). He first gained notoriety for his work on the song "Skeng-epp" by Rupee Edwards which was a number one hit in Jamaica and celebrated similar success in England. Recognized as one of the top reggae recording and live drummers in the world, he has toured with names like Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Andrew Tosh, Wailing Souls, Ini Kamoze, Big Mountain, Michael Rose, and too many more too mention. As a studio drummer, his work has helped to shape what is still today the standard in Reggae Music. His recording credits include some of the most classic reggae tunes of all time. Songs like Africa Unite, Comin' In From The Cold, andChant Down Babylon from the internationally acclaimed albums Survival and Uprising by reggae superstar Bob Marley. His credits also include most songs on the album Liberation by Bunny Wailer, Marcus Garvey and Tradition by Burning Spear, Love is Overdue and All I Have is Love by Gregory Isaacs, Money in My Pocket and West Bound Train by Dennis Brown, the Grammy nominated album All Over The World by Wailing Souls on Sony Music, the classic Stalag 17 instrumental (used by many Jamaican DJ/Rappers), the entire albums Rastafari and Disarmament by Ras Michael, the Grammy nominated album Make Place For The Youth by Andrew Tosh and many more songs with well known artist like Big Youth, Abyssinians, Barrington Levy, Delroy Wilson, Mighty Diamonds, Michigan & Smiley, Horace Andy, Jacob Miller, Tony Tuff, Sugar Minot, Joe Higgs, Wailing Souls, Mutabaruka and Big Mountain to name a few.As the original drummer for Roots Radics (with Errol "Flabba" Holt), Santa Davis was the first drummer to record at the legendary Channel One Studio in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1981 Santa became Peter Tosh's official drummer, touring the globe extensively and performing on the internationally acclaimed albums Mama Africa and the Grammy winning album No Nuclear War for EMI. He later went on to be the official drummer for other groups like Back-N-Service (with Fabian Cooke, Michael Hyde and Stevie "TigerTone" Verhault ), Big Mountain (touring internationally and performing on their album Free Up and the group Caribbean Pulse. However, Santa's experience as a musician is not limited to only reggae music. He has recorded and jammed with major artists like Isaac Hayes, Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan , Pink ,Eddie Griffin,and Willie Nelson on his album "Countryman" in 2005. At present, Santa is the official drummer for Ziggy Marley.Santa is undeniably a legend in Reggae Music's rich history and remains one of the hottest and most sought after drummers in the business, but if you ask him he'll tell you he's "just a link in the chain".

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/20/2006
Band Website: santadavis.com
Band Members:
Type of Label: None