General Trees
Encyclopedia
General Trees was one of the most popular jamaica
n dancehall
deejay
of the 1980s, best known for his hits in the latter half of the decade.
. The award raised his profile and he went on to record for a variety of producers in Jamaica. Further hits followed with "Gone A Negril" (#2 in 1986) and "Calling All Higglers", and he contributed to a "clash" album, Battle Of The Generals, that featured versions of "Lambada" and "Think Twice". Trees also recorded combination hits including "Coke Pipe" with Fancy Black, and "Nightmare" with Little John
. In the early 1990s he again worked with Johnson, who also acted as his manager, but a falling-out between the two led Trees to work for other producers. Although he never repeated his earlier popularity, he had some success with "Eye Nah See", "Great Jamaican Jockeys" and "Goodie Goodie". He was less active during the late 1990s, although he recorded "Lik Him But Nuh Kill Him" for Linval Edwards in 1999. After that he was largely silent until he reunited again with Johnson in 2005, recording new songs including "Run di Place Again", "Mother of the Land", and "She Says She Loves Me". A tour of Europe with the Black Scorpio sound system followed in December 2005. He then began working with the Stur-Gav sound system.
During breaks in his career, Edwards fell back on his other trade of shoe-making.
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 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,...
deejay
Deejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...
of the 1980s, best known for his hits in the latter half of the decade.
Biography
General Trees is widely regarded as the best Jamaican speed rapper of his era, the "fast style" of delivery commonly accepted as arriving in Jamaica from the UK, through London-born Phillip Papa Levi. He first found fame as a sound system star, working on Maurice Johnson's Black Scorpio system, which he had followed since the 1970s, his brother having preceded him as a deejay on the system. His name was given to him by Barry G, who thought he sounded like "a General with three voices in one". When Johnson opened his own studio, also named Black Scorpio, he began producing recordings, including those by artists that had performed with his sound system, including Trees and Lord Sassafrass. His debut single, "Mi God Mi King", topped the Jamaican singles chart, and a string of hits followed, including "Heel And Toe", "Monkey And Ape", "Ghost Rider", and "Crucifixion", although his best-remembered song is "Mini Bus", which lamented the demise of the "jolly bus", and which was awarded the title "Song Of The Year" in 1986 from the Jamaica Broadcasting CorporationJamaica Broadcasting Corporation
The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation was a public broadcasting company in Jamaica founded in 1959 by Prime Minister Norman Manley with the aim of emulating the success of other national broadcasting companies such as the BBC and CBC.-History:...
. The award raised his profile and he went on to record for a variety of producers in Jamaica. Further hits followed with "Gone A Negril" (#2 in 1986) and "Calling All Higglers", and he contributed to a "clash" album, Battle Of The Generals, that featured versions of "Lambada" and "Think Twice". Trees also recorded combination hits including "Coke Pipe" with Fancy Black, and "Nightmare" with Little John
Little John (musician)
John McMorris , better known as Little John, is a Jamaican dancehall musician best known for his 1980s recordings.-History:Born 1970 in Kingston, Jamaica, Litle John was so called as he began performing and recording at the age of nine...
. In the early 1990s he again worked with Johnson, who also acted as his manager, but a falling-out between the two led Trees to work for other producers. Although he never repeated his earlier popularity, he had some success with "Eye Nah See", "Great Jamaican Jockeys" and "Goodie Goodie". He was less active during the late 1990s, although he recorded "Lik Him But Nuh Kill Him" for Linval Edwards in 1999. After that he was largely silent until he reunited again with Johnson in 2005, recording new songs including "Run di Place Again", "Mother of the Land", and "She Says She Loves Me". A tour of Europe with the Black Scorpio sound system followed in December 2005. He then began working with the Stur-Gav sound system.
During breaks in his career, Edwards fell back on his other trade of shoe-making.
Discography
- Heart, Mind & Soul (1985)
- Ghost Rider (1985) Sunset
- The Younger Horseman (1985) Sunset
- Nuff Respect (1987) ShanachieShanachie RecordsShanachie Records was founded in 1976 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. According to Harvey Pekar , it is one of the largest independent record labels in the world, and is currently distributed by E1 Music. Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by Celtic...
- Battle Of The Generals (1987) King Dragon
- A Reggae Calypso Encounter (1987) Rohit
- Ragga Ragga Raggamuffin (1988) JA
- Everything So So (1990) World
- Reggae Calypso Encounter (1990) Rohit (YellowmanYellowmanYellowman is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, widely known as King Yellowman...
& General Trees)