Slim Smith

Slim Smith (born Keith Smith; 5 October 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica – 9 October 1972) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book Reggae: The Rough Guide (1997), Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge in the rocksteady era".

Biography

Smith initially came to notice as one of the members of the Victors Youth Band, who were praised at the 1964 Jamaican Festival. Following this he became a founding member and lead vocalist of The Techniques. Their recordings mainly took place for producer Duke Reid and were issued on his Treasure Isle label. In 1964 they recorded several songs for Byron Lee, two of which, "Don't Do It" and "No One", were included on the LP The Real Jamaica Ska released by Epic Records and co-produced by Curtis Mayfield. After the Techniques disbanded in 1965, he formed The Uniques, who released a handful of singles including the R&B influenced "Do Me Good" released on Ken Lack's Caltone Records label in 1966.

In 1966 Slim Smith commenced recording for Prince Buster and Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label, a major rival to Duke Reid. His hits from this period included "The New Boss", "Hip Hug" and "Rougher Yet...

Read full biography on Wikipedia →