Whilst better known these days as a producer of reggae hits for Jet Star, Danny Ray has a lengthy history in the music industry as both singer and producer. His most recent hit is the cover of Bob Marleys Waiting In Vain that opens this album. Its a song Danny also versioned back in the seventies, when he received Marleys personal blessing, and on this evidence, you can understand why.
Jamaican by birth and inspired by the late Wilfred Jackie Edwards, Danny sang on Kingston talent shows before moving to England whereupon he joined the RAF. He was later posted to Germany, where he formed a band called Danny Ray & The Vibrations. Danny then returned to England, where he formed Danny Ray & The Falcons. This group were briefly signed to MCA, but Danny went solo soon afterwards and signed to Trojan for his debut album, The Same One.
The single Playboy, was lifted from the album and began a massive chain of hits such as The Choking Kind, Don't Stop, Just Because, I'm Gonna Get Married and Sister Big Stuff. Trojan went into liquidation in 1974. By this time, Danny had turned actor and landed a lead role in the movie Moon Over The Alley, telling the story of a Jamaicans immigration problems. He continued singing however, and after the success of songs like Waiting In Vain, Rastaman Live Up, I Can't Get Used To Losing You and Revolution Rock - a song later covered by the Clash on their multi platinum selling album London Calling and also featured as the theme song in their movie Rude Boys. Danny formed his own Black Jack label and began producing hits by the likes of Jackie Edwards, Dave Barker,Winston Francis and Christine Joy White, who experienced some of her greatest successes with Black Jack. A handful of these songs (the unforgettable Youll Lose A Good Thing for instance) are reprised once more for this outstanding new collection, together with Dennis Browns cover of Fleetwood Macs Black Magic Woman and duets featuring Danny and Shirley James, including their 1982 National Hit, Why Dont You Spend The Night.
As ever, the emphasis at Black Jack was on quality vocal music, and Danny has continued in this same vein throughout his musical career, no matter what role he's occupying. His next triumphs arrived once he'd returned to Jamaica in the early nineties, whereupon he teamed up with his cousin Computer Paul to produce artists like Tanya Stephens and Ghost for the Boomerang label. Big-time productions like Benjy Myazs Shine On and Tinga Stewarts After All Is Said And Done date from this period, and both deserved mainstream success at a time when Jamaican singers, as opposed to deejays, were on the rise once again.
Danny then headed for England during the summer of 2000, whereupon he became in-house producer at Jet Star Phonographs and masterminded a number of different projects, including the best-selling Pop Hits Inna Reggae series. A succession of hits was to follow, with artists like Luciano (Great Controversy), Peter Hunningale, Lloyd Brown, Don Campbell, Glen Washington, George Nooks, Ambelique and J. C. Lodge queuing up to receive the magic touch, both for Jet Star and also Danny Ray's own labels. The cream of his own vocal hits and productions can now be heard on this impressive selection, which no lovers of first-class, traditional reggae music should overlook.
John Masouri
