Jah Stitch is a 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...

 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...

 best known for his recordings in the 1970s.

Biography

After an introduction to music singing in a yard with the likes of The Wailers, The Heptones

The Heptones

The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady with their three-part harmonies.-History:Leroy Sibbles, Earl...

, Roy Shirley

Roy Shirley

Roy Shirley also known as King Roy Shirley and The High Priest was a Jamaican singer whose career spanned the ska, rocksteady and reggae eras, and whose "Hold Them" is regarded by some as the first ever rocksteady song...

, and Stranger Cole

Stranger Cole

Stranger 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:...

, James became well-known in Jamaica by deejaying with the Lord Tippertone and Black Harmony sound systems, working as Jah Stitch. His debut single was the Errol Holt

Errol Holt

Errol Holt , also known as Errol Carter and by his nickname Flabba, is a Jamaican bass guitar player who was a member of The Morwells and the Roots Radics and has played on hundreds of Jamaican albums.-Biography:...

-produced "Danger Zone". Big Youth

Big Youth

Manley Augustus Buchanan , better known as Big Youth , is a Jamaican deejay, mostly known for his work during the 1970s....

 was an early influence on Stitch's deejay style and he had several hits working with producer 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:...

, with deejay versions of songs by Johnny Clarke

Johnny Clarke

Johnny Clarke , Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.-Biography:Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the...

, as well as tracks such as "African Queen" with Yabby You

Yabby You

Vivian Jackson , better known as Yabby You , was a reggae vocalist and producer, who came to prominence in the early 1970s through his uncompromising, self-produced work.-Biography:...

. Shortly before the One Love Peace Concert

One Love Peace Concert

The One Love Peace Concert was a large concert held on April 22, 1978 at The National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.This concert was held during a political civil war in Jamaica between opposing parties Jamaican Labour Party and the People's National Party...

in 1976, Stitch survived being shot, providing the inspiration for "No Dread Can't Dead". His success in Jamaica continued and in 1977 he toured the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

In the mid-1980s, he worked as a selector

Selector (disc jockey)

Selector is the term originally used for a reggae/dancehall disc jockey ....

 on Sugar Minott

Sugar Minott

Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott was a Jamaican reggae singer, producer and sound-system operator.-Biography:...

's Youth Promotion sound system, now under the name Major Stitch.

He resumed his recording career in 1995, working with Trevor Douglas and Jah Woosh

Jah Woosh

Neville Beckford , better known as Jah Woosh was a Jamaican reggae deejay and record producer, primarily known for his work in the 1970s.-Biography:...

. His peak 1970s output for Bunny Lee and Yabby You was collected in 1996 by Blood and Fire on the Original Ragga Muffin (1975–77) compilation.

Studio albums

• No Dread Can't Dead (1976) Third World
• Watch Your Step Youthman (1977) Third World
• Straight to Babylon Chest (1979) (with Prince Jazzbo
  Prince Jazzbo
  Prince Jazzbo is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer.Prince Jazzbo began recording with Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label in the early 1970s...
  
  )
• Moving Away (1979) Live & Love
• Jah Woosh Meets Jah Stitch at Leggo Sounds (1995) Leggo

Compilations

• Original Ragga Muffin (1975–77) (1996) Blood and Fire
• The Killer (1999) Culture Press
  Culture Press
  Culture Press is an independent record label from UK specialized in Jamaican music. Many of their releases are of questionable legality and are often titled incorrectly.-LP Discography:*VSLP5000 - Bob Marley - Interviews...
  
  
• Love & Harmony Rhino (with Jackie Mittoo
  Jackie Mittoo
  Jackie Mittoo was a Jamaican keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a founding member of The Skatalites and was a mentor to many younger performers, primarily through his work as musical director for the Studio One record label.-Biography:He was born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town,...
  
  )
• Dread Inna Jamdown (2007) Jamaican Recordings

External links

• Jah Stitch at Roots Archives