Bruce Ruffin

Bruce Ruffin (born 17 February 1952) is a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae artist.

Biography

Ruffin got his start singing with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires briefly, before in 1967 joining the Techniques, one of the more successful rocksteady vocal groups of the late 1960s. There he sang alongside Pat Kelly, Winston Riley and Junior Menns. He was one of several talented singers to drift through the Techniques' ranks, but his stay with the group was highlighted by several rocksteady hits that he wrote, the most notable of which was "Love Is Not a Gamble".

Restless, Ruffin left the Techniques a year later, returning in 1969 as a solo artist with the upbeat reggae song, "Long About Now".

His greatest success came in the 1970s as a reggae-pop solo artist and writer. He continued to record with a number of record producers (Leslie Kong, Herman Chin Loy, Lloyd Charmers) and had some success with cover versions, including Paul Simon's "Cecilia". However, it was a José Feliciano tune, "Rain", that would give his solo career momentum, recorded on Trojan Records, it was a UK number 19 hit in 1971 – the B-side of which was the karaoke favourite "Geronimo".

In 1972 he secured a crossover hit...

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