Sonia Pottinger
Encyclopedia
Sonia Eloise Pottinger OD
(June 1931 St. Thomas, Jamaica– 3 November 2010 Kingston, Jamaica) was a Jamaica
n reggae
record producer
.
The most important Jamaican woman involved in music business, Sonia Pottinger was the first female Jamaican record producer and produced artists from the mid 1960s until the mid 1980s.
Married to music producer Lyndon Pottinger, she opened her Tip Top Records Shop in 1965 and started to record musicians in 1966. The first single she issued was "Every Night" by Joe White & Chuck. Other artists recorded during this period include Roland Alphonso
.
Throughout the rock steady
and early reggae eras, she became very prolific with hits by The Ethiopians
("The Whip"), Delano Stewart, The Melodians
("Swing And Dine"), Ken Boothe
, Alton Ellis
and Toots & the Maytals
, released on her Gay Feet, Tip Top, Rainbow, and High Note labels. In the early 1970s her work was less prolific, but in 1974 she bought the Treasure Isle label from long time friend Duke Reid
shortly before his death. Her rights to the label's recordings were challenged by the Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio Limited (the company created by Reid's rival Clement "Coxsone" Dodd), Reid's son Anthony and his company Treasure Isle Records International Limited, and Edward "Bunny" Lee
, but the case was decided in her favour in 2009.
In the 1970s, she produced albums by Bob Andy
, Marcia Griffiths
, Culture
, U Roy and Big Youth
.
Her most well known production is Culture's Harder Than The Rest album, released in 1978.
In the dancehall
era show produced Archie & Lynn's "Rat in the Centre". She retired from the music business in 1985.
Sonia Pottinger died at her home in Kingston
on 3 November 2010, after suffering for some time with Alzheimer's disease
. A thanksgiving service in her honour was held on 19 November 2010, attended by Minister of Culture Olivia 'Babsy' Grange and major figures from the Jamaican music industry including Judy Mowatt
, Alvin Ranglin
, Donovan Germain
, and Tommy Cowan
.
Order of distinction
The Order of Distinction in Jamaica is the fifth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament – The National Honours and Awards Act.The Motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service"....
(June 1931 St. Thomas, Jamaica– 3 November 2010 Kingston, Jamaica) was a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
The most important Jamaican woman involved in music business, Sonia Pottinger was the first female Jamaican record producer and produced artists from the mid 1960s until the mid 1980s.
Married to music producer Lyndon Pottinger, she opened her Tip Top Records Shop in 1965 and started to record musicians in 1966. The first single she issued was "Every Night" by Joe White & Chuck. Other artists recorded during this period include Roland Alphonso
Roland Alphonso
Roland Alphonso O.D. or Rolando Alphonso aka The Chief Musician was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of The Skatalites....
.
Throughout the rock steady
Rock Steady
Rock Steady is the fifth album by American rock band No Doubt. It was released on December 11, 2001 on Interscope Records. The band began writing the album with initial recording sessions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, then traveled to London and Jamaica to work with various performers,...
and early reggae eras, she became very prolific with hits by The Ethiopians
The Ethiopians
The Ethiopians were a ska, rocksteady, and reggae vocal group, founded by Leonard Dillon , Stephen Taylor and Aston Morris.-History:...
("The Whip"), Delano Stewart, The Melodians
The Melodians
The Melodians were a reggae band formed in the Greenwich Town area of Kingston, Jamaica in 1965, by Tony Brevett , Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton...
("Swing And Dine"), Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe OD is a Jamaican recording artist.-Biography:Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school...
, Alton Ellis
Alton Ellis
Alton Nehemiah Ellis, OD, was a Jamaican musician best known as one of the innovators of rocksteady music and was often referred to as the "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.-Biography:Ellis was born in 1938 and...
and Toots & the Maytals
Toots & the Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. According to Sandra Brennan at Allmusic, "The Maytals were key figures in reggae music...
, released on her Gay Feet, Tip Top, Rainbow, and High Note labels. In the early 1970s her work was less prolific, but in 1974 she bought the Treasure Isle label from long time friend Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
shortly before his death. Her rights to the label's recordings were challenged by the Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio Limited (the company created by Reid's rival Clement "Coxsone" Dodd), Reid's son Anthony and his company Treasure Isle Records International Limited, and Edward "Bunny" Lee
Bunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
, but the case was decided in her favour in 2009.
In the 1970s, she produced albums by Bob Andy
Bob Andy
Bob Andy is a Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter. He is widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters.-Career:...
, Marcia Griffiths
Marcia Griffiths
Marcia Llyneth Griffiths is a successful female singer, also called the "Queen of Reggae". One reviewer described her noting "she is known primarily for her strong, smooth-as-mousse love songs and captivating live performances".Griffiths started her career in 1964...
, Culture
Culture (band)
Culture was a Jamaican roots reggae group founded in 1976. Originally they were known as the African Disciples.The members of the trio were Joseph Hill , Albert Walker and Kenneth Dayes ....
, U Roy and Big Youth
Big Youth
Manley Augustus Buchanan , better known as Big Youth , is a Jamaican deejay, mostly known for his work during the 1970s....
.
Her most well known production is Culture's Harder Than The Rest album, released in 1978.
In the dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
era show produced Archie & Lynn's "Rat in the Centre". She retired from the music business in 1985.
Sonia Pottinger died at her home in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
on 3 November 2010, after suffering for some time with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. A thanksgiving service in her honour was held on 19 November 2010, attended by Minister of Culture Olivia 'Babsy' Grange and major figures from the Jamaican music industry including Judy Mowatt
Judy Mowatt
Judy Mowatt was born in the year 1948 in Gordon Town, St. Andrew Jamaica. She is an internationally acclaimed reggae artist who rose to fame as 1/3 of the trio the I THREE who were the Back-Ground vocalists for Bob Marley.-Biography:...
, Alvin Ranglin
Alvin Ranglin
Alvin 'GG' Ranglin is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.-Biography:Ranglin started to sing in public in his teens with an Adventist Church background. As a radio and television technician involved in the jukebox industry, he soon acquired his own sound system he named "GG"...
, Donovan Germain
Donovan Germain
Donovan Germain is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era.-Biography:Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s. He began production in 1972, visiting Jamaica for recording sessions, working in both roots reggae and...
, and Tommy Cowan
Tommy Cowan
Tommy Cowan is a producer and singer, initially working in reggae but later concentrating on gospel, who has been involved in the music business since the 1960s...
.
Partial discography
- Various Artists - Dancing Down Orange Street (High Note, 1969)
- Various Artists - Musical Feast (Heartbeat RecordsHeartbeat RecordsHeartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington , Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of Linton Kwesi Johnson's Dread Beat an' Blood...
, 1991) - Various Artists - The Reggae Train (More Great Hits From The High Note Label) (Heartbeat, 1996)
- Various Artists - Put on Your Best Dress: Sonia Pottinger's Rock Steady 1967-1968
- Various Artists - Queen Patsy & Stranger ColeStranger ColeStranger Cole, also known as StrangeJah Cole is a Jamaican singer whose long recording career dates from the early days of ska in 1962 through to the 2000s.-Biography:...
(Fabulous Songs of Miss Sonia Pottinger Vol.1) (Rock A Shacka, 2007) - CultureCulture (band)Culture was a Jamaican roots reggae group founded in 1976. Originally they were known as the African Disciples.The members of the trio were Joseph Hill , Albert Walker and Kenneth Dayes ....
- Harder Than The Rest (High Note, 1978) - Culture - Culture In Dub (High Note / Heartbeat, 1978)
- Culture - Cumbolo (High Note, 1979)
- Culture - International Herb (High Note, 1979)
- Culture - Trod On (High Note / Heartbeat, 1993)
- Culture - Production Something (High Note / Heartbeat, 1998)
- Various Artists - Old Hits of the Past (High Note)
- Joe White & Chuck Josephs - Every Night (Gay Feet)
- Joe White & Chuck Josephs - My Love For You (Gay Feet)
- The Hippy BoysThe Hippy BoysThe Hippy Boys was formed in 1968 by Lloyd Charmers. The band included guitarist Alva "Reggie" Lewis, organist Glen Adams and brothers Aston 'Family Man' Barrett on bass guitar and Carlton Barrett drums respectively....
- Dr No Go (High Note) - Various Artists - Time To Remember (High Note)
- Phyllis DillonPhyllis DillonPhyllis Dillon was a Jamaican ska and reggae singer who recorded for Duke Reid's lucrative Treasure Isle record label in the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Life and career:...
- One Life To Live (Treasure Isle) - Bob AndyBob AndyBob Andy is a Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter. He is widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters.-Career:...
- Lots Of Love And I (High Note) - Sonia Spence - In The Dark (High Note & Sky Note)
- Claudell Clarke - How Great Is Our God (Glory)
- Otis Wright - Sacred Songs (High Note, 1969)
- Otis Wright - Soul Stirring Gospel (Glory)
- Otis Wright - Man Of Galilee (Glory)
- Various Artists - Chorus Time (Glory)
- Various Artists - Hottest Hits Vol.1 (Treasure Isle). Compiled and produced by Sonia Pottinger
- Various Artists - Hottest Hits Vol.2 (Treasure Isle). Compiled and produced by Mrs Sonia Pottinger
- Various Artists - Treasure Dub Vol.1. Mixed by Errol Brown. Produced by Sonia Pottinger
- Various Artists - Treasure Dub Vol.2. Mixed by Errol Brown. Produced by Sonia Pottinger
- Justin HindsJustin HindsJustin Hinds was a Jamaican ska vocalist, with his backing singers the Dominoes.He is best known for his work with Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Records, where his most notable song, "Carry Go Bring Come" recorded in late 1963, went to number one in Jamaica...
& the Dominoes - From Jamaica with Reggae. Produced by Sonia Pottinger