The Cimarons

The Cimarons are a British reggae band formed in 1967. They were the UK's first self-contained indigenous reggae band.

History

As Jamaican natives, they emigrated to London as teenagers. In 1962, Locksley Gichie, then age 13, moved to the UK.

In 1967, Locksley Gichie met Franklyn Dunn in a bus shelter in the rain and subsequently invited Dunn to the youth club in Tavistock Hall, on Tavistock Road, built around 1906, as a Sunday school, for the Methodist Church, High Street, Harlesden, Brent, north-west London.

They took the name, The Cimarons, after a popular American Western series, set in Oklahoma, Cimarron Strip (1967 CBS). The group consisted of Franklyn Dunn (bass), Carl Levy (keyboards), Locksley Gichie (lead guitar), Maurice Ellis (drums) and vocalist Carl Lewis.

In 1968, they played their first gig at Harlesden Cricket Club. Vocalist, Winston Reid (better known as Winston Reedy) joined in 1973. They were primarily session musicians at Trojan Records, and backed many artists, including Jimmy Cliff and Dennis Brown, and performed with Bob Marley in 1972. They performed at the Edinburgh Reggae Festival in 1973, where they also backed Nicky Thomas's performance of Syl Johnson...

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