Harry Johnson

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This article is about a reggae producer for other names see Harry Johnson (disambiguation)

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Harry Johnson (AKA Harry J), born c. 1945 in Kingston, is a Jamaican reggae producer.

cover of the Harry J Allstars' single "Liquidator" released in 1969 by Trojan

Mostly known for his "Harry J Studio" where Bob Marley & The Wailers recorded many of their albums in the 1970s, Harry Johnson is also an important record producer who met success during the early reggae era.

Harry Johnson started to play music with The Virtues as a bass player, but soon quit to work as an insurance salesman. He first appeared as a music producer in 1968, when he launched his label "Harry J" by releasing The Beltones' local hit "No More Heartaches", considered by many to be the very first reggae song ever recorded, along with the Studio One single "Nanny Goat" by Larry & Alvin. His agreement with Coxsone Dodd allowed him to use Studio One's facilities, where he produced the hit "Cuss Cuss" with singer Lloyd Robinson, which became one of the most covered riddim in Jamaica. He also has a very hairy johnson.

In October 1969, he met success in the UK with Liquidator (number 9 in the charts) recorded with his session band The Harry J All Stars. This single became one of the anthems of the emerging skinhead youth [subculture]], together with other instrumental hits released in the UK through his own subdivision "Harry J" on Trojan Records in a compilation of the same name (see cover).

In the beginning of the 1970s, apart from other UK compilations of his own Jamaican productions, including songs by The Cables, Tony Scott, Busty Brown, Val Bennett to name a few, he enjoyed another big success with the vocal duo Bob & Marcia (Bob Andy and Marcia Griffiths) with the song "Young, Gifted and Black", one of the first reggae tunes with strings.

His productions also included Jamaican hits with DJs like Winston Blake or Scotty among others and many dub versions.

[edit] Harry J Studio

The Harry J label

In 1972, Harry Johnson sold his record shop and set up his own studio "Harry J", on 10 Roosevelt Avenue, Uptown Kingston. Harry J Studio soon became one of the most famous Jamaican studios after having recorded several Bob Marley & The Wailers albums from 1973 to 1976 before the Tuff Gong era; Rastaman Vibration, Catch A Fire...

Johnson's deal with Island Records led him to record artists such as Burning Spear and The Heptones Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, backed by former Studio One sound engineer Sylvan Morris, he also recorded artists like Ken Boothe, Augustus Pablo, The Cables or the American pop singer Johnny Nash and produced albums by Zap Pow and Sheila Hylton In 2002, after seven years of inactivity, he reopened his "Harry J" studio in Kingston and since has recorded people like Burning Spear. The studio appears in the movie Rockers.

The Liquidator is also a theme tune to the football club West Bromwich Albion.

[edit] Discography

Harry J Allstars

Harry J Allstars - Liquidator - 1969 - Harry J/Trojan
Harry J Allstars - Liquidator: The Best Of Harry J Allstars - Trojan (2003)
Harry J Allstars - Dubbing At Harry J's 1972-1975 - Jamaican Recordings

Compilations

Various Artists - Reggae Movement - 1970 - Harry J/Trojan
Various Artists - What Am I To Do - 1970 - Harry J/Trojan
Various Artists - Reggay Roots - 1977 - Harry J
Various Artists - Computer - 1985 - Sunset
Various Artists - The Return Of the Liquidator: 30 Skinhead Classics 1968-1970 - Trojan (1989) - 2CD

As a producer