Earl 'Chinna' Smith

Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute-Melchizedek the High Priest, is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late 1960s. He is well known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and as guitarist for Bob Marley & the Wailers, amongst others, and has recorded with many reggae artists, appearing on more than 500 albums, as well as playing on thousands of exclusive sound system dubplates, 45 singles and discomixes. He has played on releases from Augustus Pablo's Rockers All Stars, Niney the Observer's All Stars, Joe Gibbs (producer) & The Professionals, Errol Thompson (sound engineer) and Clive Chin's Impact All Stars, Bunny Lee's The Aggrovators, Lee "Scratch" Perry's band The Upsetters, and many more.

Biography

Smith was born 6 August 1955, and raised by family friends in the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston. His father and godfather were both sound system owners, his father's, Smith's, operated by Bunny Lee. Earl tried to emulate them using a toy sound system, leading to his nickname of "Tuner" (after a hi-fi amplifier), which was corrupted to "Chuner" and later "Chinna". Smith became interested in guitar as a teenager and made his own from sardine cans and...

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