Count Lasher (Terence Parkins) was most likely mento's greatest talent. He was one of mento's very best vocalists (along with Harold Richardson) and one of its very best writers (along with Everart Williams). Lasher was equally at home recording in the rural and urban mento styles; and equally at home recording original compositions and old Jamaican mento/folk songs. He was Jamaica's biggest golden age mento star, full of charisma, whose popularity was only rivaled by the cross-over fame of Lord Flea.Lasher was one of mento's most prolific artists, recording at least 50 tracks right through the first part of the 1970s, by which time he had moved from various mento sounds to a brief dalliance with ska and then into reggae.Considering that he is Jamaica's first recording star, it's shocking and a travesty that biographical information and photos of Count Lasher are not to be found! (After 3 years of fruitless search, someone was kind enough to send me the above picture.) So this page will have to concentrate instead on the Count Lasher records that I've been able to hear.For all the many singles he recorded, Lasher has never to my knowledge produced an LP or CD of either new material or a collection of existing tracks. And although a handful of his tracks are available today, considering his stature, Count Lasher may be the single most neglected artist in the history of Jamaican recorded music.Count Lasher died in 1977 at the age of 51(This Bio {andso much more} can be found at www.mentomusic.com)
