Trenchtown
Encyclopedia
Trench Town is a neighborhood located in the parish of St. Andrew
which shares municipality
with Kingston
, the capital
and largest city of Jamaica
. In the 1960s
Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town boasts the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum, a visitor friendly National Heritage Site presenting the unique history and contribution of Trench Town to Jamaica. Trench Town is the birthplace of rocksteady
and reggae
music, as well as the home of reggae and Rastafari ambassador Bob Marley
. The neighborhood gets its name from its previous designation as Trench Pen, 400 acre
s of land once used for livestock
by Daniel Power Trench, an Irish immigrant
of the 18th century (descendants of the Earls of Clancarty
). The Trench family abandoned the land in the late 19th century. It is a common misconception that the name comes from the large open storm-water drain
that runs through the neighbourhood in the middle of Collie Smith Drive. Trench Town is home to the communities of Wilton Gardens [Rema], Federal Gardens, Arnette Gardens [Jungle], Havana, Buckers and others. Trench Town today is also the home of two of Jamaica's top Premier League football club teams, Arnette Gardens
and Boys' Town
.
, Trench Pen, in southern St. Andrew (neighboring western Kingston), was a growing squatter
settlement for the rural to urban
migrants. Trench Pen was developed into Trench Town when the colonial government's
Central Housing Authority (CHA) initiated a model township
project which included owner occupied housing, rental social housing
, schools, a theatre (the Ambassador), a park (Vin Lawrence Park), YMCA
& YWCA
, health clinic
and fire station
. Approximately 200 acres of Trench Pen was used to create Trench Town while the remaining land became known as Rose Town, a residential community
. Many who came from rural Jamaica to find work settled in the western side of Kingston as there were available 'idle' lands and also the area was a desirable location being close to downtown and the market district.
The new residences consisted of one- and two-storey
'knog' buildings, built in clusters or around a central courtyard
with communal cooking and bathroom facilities. These residences became the famous Government Yards of Trench Town. Knog construction refers to a labor-intensive traditional method of construction where a timber frame structure is in-filled with brick or rubble then covered with a wire mesh and plaster
ed. The architecture used was that of a rural Caribbean
vernacular with hip roof
s and wide verandas
. Trench Town was a highly planned community with a hierarchical
grid of streets, a central sewage system and an effective garbage disposal system.
Trench Town became famous for the incalculable talent which emerged from the socio-architectural experiment. The orderly and unique development nurtured a lifestyle amongst its residents which encouraged sharing and unity. In the 1950s
and 60s bread and milk were delivered door to door, each month the CHA would inspect the residences to ensure compliance and tenants paid their twelve shilling
s per month on time. Trench Town is mainly known for the vast number of musician
s it produced. The community has also produced some of Jamaica's top professional, business and political leaders as well as famous sports and religious personalities. It is a confirmed phenomenon that such a small area contributed so widely across the board to Jamaica's formal and popular culture.
Like the rest of Jamaica, Trench Town became unstable and dangerous in the early 1970s
when politics became violent. The two major Jamaican political parties — the People's National Party
and the Jamaica Labour Party
– had emerged in Kingston and enforced code that ensured only their party's supporters had access to jobs and services. The lower part of Trench Town below Seventh Street was sympathetic to the JLP, which in the 70s put it at war with its northern neighbor Arnette Gardens, a PNP stronghold. The road connecting the two, Seventh Street, became the front-line in an all-out war which saw the entire two blocks
of Government Yards between Fifth Street and Seventh Streets being destroyed. Time and political maturity have caused the cessation of political conflict. The community's [and Jamaica's] greatest challenge today is poverty
.
Traditional community organization
s such as Boys Town [YMCA] and Joy Town [YWCA] continue to contribute to the welfare of the residents. New organizations such as AIR (Agency for Inner-city Renewal), the Trenchtown Reading Centre [FACE Jamaica], and the Trench Town Development Association, were formed to increase positive social attitudes, increase literacy
and encourage government spending and development in the area. Crime in the neighbourhood has declined significantly; the murder rate in western Kingston has dropped sharply since the mid-1990s
.
Trench Town is known in popular culture
due to numerous ska
, rocksteady
, and reggae
musicians, including The Abbysinians, Wailing Souls, The Paragons
, The Techniques
, Toots & the Maytals
, Dean Fraser
, Ernest Ranglin
, Alton Ellis
, Hortense Ellis
, Delroy Wilson
, Joe Higgs
, Adina Edwards, Junior Braithwaite
, Lord Tanamo
, Stranger Cole
, Cynthia Schloss, Lascelles Perkins, Dobby Dobson
, Noel 'Scully' Simms
, the Folkes Brothers
, Wilfred 'Jackie' Edwards, Leroy Sibbles
, Bongo Herman
, Roy Shirley
, Massive Dread
, Peter Tosh
and Bunny Wailer
, but most notably Bob Marley
, who spent much of his youth in a "government yard" on First Street. His songs "Trenchtown", "Natty Dread", "Trenchtown Rock" and "No Woman, No Cry
" make reference to it. It was also home to Rastafari elder Mortimo "Kumi" Planno
.
Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica
Saint Andrew is a parish, situated in the southeast of Jamaica in the county of Surrey. It lies north, west and east of Kingston, and stretches into the Blue Mountains and at the 2001 census had the highest population of all the parishes in Jamaica. The Right Excellent George William Gordon Saint...
which shares municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
with 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...
, the capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
and largest city of 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...
. In the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town boasts the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum, a visitor friendly National Heritage Site presenting the unique history and contribution of Trench Town to Jamaica. Trench Town is the birthplace of rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
and 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...
music, as well as the home of reggae and Rastafari ambassador Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
. The neighborhood gets its name from its previous designation as Trench Pen, 400 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s of land once used for livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
by Daniel Power Trench, an Irish immigrant
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
of the 18th century (descendants of the Earls of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty, in the Irish counties of Cork and of Galway, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.-First creation: MacCarty family of Muskerry:...
). The Trench family abandoned the land in the late 19th century. It is a common misconception that the name comes from the large open storm-water drain
Storm drain
A storm drain, storm sewer , stormwater drain or drainage well system or simply a drain or drain system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from paved streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems...
that runs through the neighbourhood in the middle of Collie Smith Drive. Trench Town is home to the communities of Wilton Gardens [Rema], Federal Gardens, Arnette Gardens [Jungle], Havana, Buckers and others. Trench Town today is also the home of two of Jamaica's top Premier League football club teams, Arnette Gardens
Arnett Gardens F.C.
The Arnett Gardens Football Club is a Jamaican football club, which currently plays in the Jamaican National Premier League.The team is based in the Arnett Gardens community of South Saint Andrew, Jamaica, and plays in the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex....
and Boys' Town
Boys' Town F.C.
Boys' Town Football Club is a Jamaican football club, which currently plays in the Jamaican National Premier League.The team is based in Kingston, Jamaica, with their home ground at the Collie Smith Drive Sporting Complex, which can hold up to 2000 spectators.-Achievements:*Jamaican National...
.
History
During the 1930s1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
, Trench Pen, in southern St. Andrew (neighboring western Kingston), was a growing squatter
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
settlement for the rural to urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
migrants. Trench Pen was developed into Trench Town when the colonial government's
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
Central Housing Authority (CHA) initiated a model township
Township
The word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. However there are many exceptions to this rule. In Australia, the United States, and Canada, they may be settlements too small to be considered urban...
project which included owner occupied housing, rental social housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
, schools, a theatre (the Ambassador), a park (Vin Lawrence Park), YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
& YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
, health clinic
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
and fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
. Approximately 200 acres of Trench Pen was used to create Trench Town while the remaining land became known as Rose Town, a residential community
Residential community
A residential community is a community, usually a small town or city, that is composed mostly of residents, as opposed to commercial businesses and/or industrial facilities, all three of which are considered to be the three main types of occupants of the typical community.Residential communities...
. Many who came from rural Jamaica to find work settled in the western side of Kingston as there were available 'idle' lands and also the area was a desirable location being close to downtown and the market district.
The new residences consisted of one- and two-storey
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
'knog' buildings, built in clusters or around a central courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
with communal cooking and bathroom facilities. These residences became the famous Government Yards of Trench Town. Knog construction refers to a labor-intensive traditional method of construction where a timber frame structure is in-filled with brick or rubble then covered with a wire mesh and plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
ed. The architecture used was that of a rural Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
vernacular with hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
s and wide verandas
Verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...
. Trench Town was a highly planned community with a hierarchical
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
grid of streets, a central sewage system and an effective garbage disposal system.
Trench Town became famous for the incalculable talent which emerged from the socio-architectural experiment. The orderly and unique development nurtured a lifestyle amongst its residents which encouraged sharing and unity. In the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
and 60s bread and milk were delivered door to door, each month the CHA would inspect the residences to ensure compliance and tenants paid their twelve shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s per month on time. Trench Town is mainly known for the vast number of musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s it produced. The community has also produced some of Jamaica's top professional, business and political leaders as well as famous sports and religious personalities. It is a confirmed phenomenon that such a small area contributed so widely across the board to Jamaica's formal and popular culture.
Like the rest of Jamaica, Trench Town became unstable and dangerous in the early 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
when politics became violent. The two major Jamaican political parties — the People's National Party
People's National Party
The People's National Party is a social democratic and social liberal Jamaican political party, founded by Norman Manley in 1938. It is the oldest political party in the Anglophone Caribbean and one of the main two political parties in Jamaica. Out of the two major parties, it is considered more...
and the Jamaica Labour Party
Jamaica Labour Party
The Jamaica Labour Party is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party. Despite its name, the JLP is a centre-right, conservative party.-Background:...
– had emerged in Kingston and enforced code that ensured only their party's supporters had access to jobs and services. The lower part of Trench Town below Seventh Street was sympathetic to the JLP, which in the 70s put it at war with its northern neighbor Arnette Gardens, a PNP stronghold. The road connecting the two, Seventh Street, became the front-line in an all-out war which saw the entire two blocks
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
of Government Yards between Fifth Street and Seventh Streets being destroyed. Time and political maturity have caused the cessation of political conflict. The community's [and Jamaica's] greatest challenge today is poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
.
Traditional community organization
Community organization
Community organizations are civil society non-profits that operate within a single local community. They are essentially a subset of the wider group of nonprofits. Like other nonprofits they are often run on a voluntary basis and are self funded...
s such as Boys Town [YMCA] and Joy Town [YWCA] continue to contribute to the welfare of the residents. New organizations such as AIR (Agency for Inner-city Renewal), the Trenchtown Reading Centre [FACE Jamaica], and the Trench Town Development Association, were formed to increase positive social attitudes, increase literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
and encourage government spending and development in the area. Crime in the neighbourhood has declined significantly; the murder rate in western Kingston has dropped sharply since the mid-1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
.
Trench Town is known in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
due to numerous ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
, and 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...
musicians, including The Abbysinians, Wailing Souls, The Paragons
The Paragons
The Paragons were a rocksteady band from Kingston, Jamaica, active in the 1960s. Their most famous track was "The Tide Is High", written by band member, John Holt.-Career:...
, The Techniques
The Techniques
The Techniques were a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group mainly active in the 1960s.-History:The group was formed by Winston Riley in 1962 while still at school, with the initial line-up also featuring Slim Smith, Franklyn White, and Frederick Waite...
, 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...
, Dean Fraser
Dean Fraser
Dean Fraser is a Jamaican saxophonist who has contributed to hundreds of reggae recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the Musgrave Medal by the Jamaican government in 1993 in recognition of his services to music.-Biography:Fraser started to play the clarinet at the age of 12...
, Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin O.D. is a Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s...
, 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...
, Hortense Ellis
Hortense Ellis
Hortense Ellis was a reggae musician, and the younger sister of fellow artist, Alton Ellis.-Biography:Her father worked on the railways while her mother ran a fruit stall. She was 18 years old when she appeared on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, then Jamaica's foremost outlet for young...
, Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer.-Biography:Wilson released his first single "Emy Lou" in 1961 for record producer, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, at the age of thirteen...
, Joe Higgs
Joe Higgs
Joe Higgs was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson...
, Adina Edwards, Junior Braithwaite
Junior Braithwaite
Franklin Delano Alexander Braithwaite, better known as Junior Braithwaite, was a reggae musician from Kingston, Jamaica, the youngest member of the vocal group, The Wailing Wailers. The Wailing Wailers was a vocal group Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer started in 1963, together with Braithwaite, when...
, Lord Tanamo
Lord Tanamo
Lord Tanamo is best known as a mento and ska performer and songwriter. He helped create the sound we now know as ska, by combining elements of calypso gleaned from Lord Kitchener, with the lilting mento rhythms of his childhood...
, 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:...
, Cynthia Schloss, Lascelles Perkins, Dobby Dobson
Dobby Dobson
Highland "Dobby" Dobson is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer, nicknamed 'The Loving Pauper' after one of his best known songs.-Biography:...
, Noel 'Scully' Simms
Noel Simms
Noel Simms , often known by his nickname Scully, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae percussionist and singer.-Biography:...
, the Folkes Brothers
Folkes Brothers
The Folkes Brothers were a Jamaican mento group, composed of John, Mico, and Junior Folkes. Their 1960 single "Oh Carolina" was the first hit record produced by Prince Buster, and is regarded as a landmark in the history of ska and reggae music....
, Wilfred 'Jackie' Edwards, Leroy Sibbles
Leroy Sibbles
Leroy Sibbles is a Jamaican-Canadian reggae musician. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s.In addition to his work with The Heptones, Sibbles was a session bassist and arranger at Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd's Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio and the associated Studio...
, Bongo Herman
Bongo Herman
Herman Davis , better known as Bongo Herman, is a Jamaican hand-drummer, percussionist and singer who has had a successful career stretching back to the early 1960s.-Biography:...
, 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...
, Massive Dread
Massive Dread
Massive Dread is a reggae deejay who first recorded in the late 1970s for Tapper Zukie, and came to prominence in the early 1980s, touring with Byron Lee and The Dragonaires...
, Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
and Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer, , also known as Bunny Livingston and affectionately as Jah B, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh...
, but most notably Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, who spent much of his youth in a "government yard" on First Street. His songs "Trenchtown", "Natty Dread", "Trenchtown Rock" and "No Woman, No Cry
No Woman, No Cry
"No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley & The Wailers. The song first became known in 1974 through the studio album Natty Dread. The live version from the 1975 album Live! is perhaps best known — it was this version which was released on the greatest hits compilation Legend. The original...
" make reference to it. It was also home to Rastafari elder Mortimo "Kumi" Planno
Mortimer Planno
Mortimo "Kumi" Planno, was a renowned drummer and Rastafari elder and considered one of the ideological founders of this back-to-Africa movement...
.
Places to See & Things to Do
- Trench Town Culture Yard Museum
- Trenchtown Reading Centre
- Vin Lawrence Park (locally called simply 'the park')
Notable people
- Dean FraserDean FraserDean Fraser is a Jamaican saxophonist who has contributed to hundreds of reggae recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the Musgrave Medal by the Jamaican government in 1993 in recognition of his services to music.-Biography:Fraser started to play the clarinet at the age of 12...
, saxophonistSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and recording artist. - Ernest RanglinErnest RanglinErnest Ranglin O.D. is a Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s...
ODOrder of distinctionThe 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"....
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, and recording artist. - Alton EllisAlton EllisAlton 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...
(Alton Nehemiah Ellis) OD, rocksteady singer and recording artist. - Delroy WilsonDelroy WilsonDelroy Wilson was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer.-Biography:Wilson released his first single "Emy Lou" in 1961 for record producer, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, at the age of thirteen...
, ska, rocksteady, and reggae singer and recording artist. - Joe HiggsJoe HiggsJoe Higgs was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson...
(Joseph Benjamin Higgs), reggae musician and recording artist. - Peter ToshPeter ToshPeter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
(Winston Hubert McIntosh), reggae musician and recording artist. - Bunny WailerBunny WailerBunny Wailer, , also known as Bunny Livingston and affectionately as Jah B, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh...
(Neville O'Riley Livingston), reggae singer, songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, percussionistPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, and recording artist. - Bob MarleyBob MarleyRobert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
(Robert Nesta Marley) OMJamaican Order of MeritThe Order of Merit is part of the Jamaican honours system and is the third highest honour conferred by the nation of Jamaica. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or on distinguished citizen of another country who has achieved eminent international distinction in the field of science,...
, reggae singer, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist. - Mortimer PlannoMortimer PlannoMortimo "Kumi" Planno, was a renowned drummer and Rastafari elder and considered one of the ideological founders of this back-to-Africa movement...
, revered Rastafari elder.