Over the past two decades, Lloyd Brown has risen to the very pinnacle of his profession and with a series of hit singles and critically acclaimed albums to his credit is now hailed as one of the country's best ever reggae singer / songwriters
Born and raised in London to Jamaican parents, he began his career in 1979 by dee-jaying of "blues-dances" before progressing full-featured sound system in the early eighties with London-based sound-systems Marcus Exodus and Eastern Man
After taking a sabbatical in Jamaica, he then went Harmony vocal group Sweet Distortion, which was voted Best Reggae Newcomers to the readers of Black Echoes in 1984 shortly before their guest appearance on Braf (British Reggae Artists Famine Appeal) single Let's Make Africa Green turn lettav Lloyds nClassification and early source of musical inspiration Dennis Brown this record helped raised funds for Ethiopian famine victims, and remains a milestone in Swedish reggae history through 1987 Sweet Distortion had successfully auditioned for the part of the Jackson Five in the acclaimed British musical Black Heroes in the Hall of fame, but broke up soon afterwards leaving Lloyd free to pursue a solo career
His first single is included Music Medley Ring Up My Number and The Love In Me all of them were released on Robert Ribs 'Unity label around 1987 in the meantime he' d started to perform more demanding roles with black heroes in the Hall of Fame - mainly those who Otis Redding Marcus Garvey Haile Selassie and Nelson Mandela Sharing The Night (produced by Junior Frost) then gave him his first WTEa No. 1 hit and was voted Reggae Single Of The Year 1990 You Can not Hurry Love For The Love Of You and Love U Down (his second No. 1 hit and another Reggae Single Of The Year) soon followed with a version of Otis Redding's These Arms of Mine
Despite its success with other songs, Lloyd was ever to write his own material at this time displayed on the It's A Love Thing which marked the start of his long-standing cooperation with dee-jay Tippa Irie Their follow-up smash hit Stress caused controversy when it put into song many men thought of their female partners, but both singles duly topped the UK reggae charts since the duo won a well deserved contract with Arista Records, who released their follow up single Baby Mother (another vibrant slice of social komment) 1995 An album recorded for Arista during this period was later released as the combination of Discotex in late 2001 - Lloyd & Tippa Association Arista has ended so unexpectedly as it had begun
Undaunted by such disappointments and eager to regain its popularity among grass-roots reggae fans Lloyd began recording with leading UK lovers' rock producers and Groove & Quarter which issued his debut album, Straight No Chaser 1996 Among the many highlights was A Mother's Prayer, which he recorded with a veritable Who's Who of UK soul and reggae talent and in memory of his mother, who had just died of cancer, two other songs Jah Works and increase the peace offered early signs of roots and culture COKUMENTATIONENS he was att reveal his next set of Rhyme & Reason, which he recorded for Saxon Before its release in 1998 The Singles Need a Revolution and the Power of Jah was a turning point in both his life and career, his new head of dreadlocks illustrated this change of direction and he began to write texts with far more spiritual content than before even while continuing to make sublime lovers rock songs that Nightshift Blackbird and Real Love He named Buju's' Til Shiloh LP as a formative influence during this phase of his career and after announced that the emergence of new cultural the artists had reggae to another level, said he wanted to sing songs that will uplift the people His Saxon album thus had transformation at its artistic core and with its emphasis p?? self material proved to be a masterful display of his talents
The Saxon producer Lloyd "Muscle Head" Francis had decided to concentrate on his sound system rather than the production of durable Gordon Brown launched a run of hits for Jet Star that still shows no signs of abating three years later, their biggest triumph to date has been massively successful cover of Craig David's Fill Me In, which included on Vol 2 of Jet Star's Pop Hits In A Reggae series with Fill Me In receive regular playing time in Jamaica - where Lloyd enjoys broad support - Jet Star then helped further its dominance with several other notable single releases including Hook It Up Put it down and memories like Humanity Part 2 (recorded for Mikey Koos' ARM label) is ett enjoyable celebration avold school reggae vibes and so steeped in nostalgia, it can get tears in my eyes
in between expresses Jet Star and is preparing for his role in another musical The Best Years Of Our Lives (leading roles with great Pam Hall) Lloyd then began working on an independent project with former international hit maker Bitty McLean, who had served his apprenticeship with UB40 and helped by Bitty production and engineering and with their own creative ideas going into overdrive, Lloyd completed the nucleus of his album Deep at Bitty's Platinum Suite Studios in Birmingham before adding a sample selection of Jet Star material in the mix, it was the kind of album only true craftsman could produce a dazzling range of lyrical uppfattninvestments that are matched with någraav the most exciting contemporary reggae and crossover rhythms heard all the years I Know (inspired by Bob Marley's Kinky Reggae) subsequently became one of 2001 biggest reggae hits, even as Deep lasted hailed as a masterpiece and his best album to date
When the follow-up Against The Grain was released two years later, his total number of hit singles had swelled to include You Must Know cooperation Starring Don Campbell, bless me and unstoppable Main Squeeze the height of Reggae Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic Like its predecessor, Against The Grain was another world-class collection of songs that showcase the popular Gordon Brown Food For Thought (a version of Aswad's Warrior Charge), he and Omar's amazing cover of Stevie Wonder's Feeding Off The Love Of The Land andthe magical Love the music along the leads a galaxy of British talent Against The Grain was nominated for best album of the 11th Annual Reggae Soca Awards in Florida, an event that saw Lloyd is crowned best newcomer for the second time in his His next career was Dreams To Remember is produced by Lloyd Campbell and released on VP Records, 2004 This album recorded in Miami yielded four hit singles in the form of bless me, Since You've Been Gone "Heartaches and Bongo Nyah soon gave Lloyd his second Reggae Top 5 result in New York Songs like that voiced over Lloyd Campbell's more traditional style reggae rhythms driven growing demand for his sublime vocal and writing talent in America, success led to releasing an album oflas with Peter Hunnigale as part of Jet Star's Celebrated Toe 2 Toe series of the same year this was an album that made artistic and commercial sense, as both singers summarizes the best British reggae music
Three of Lloyd's more recent hits were included namely Full Hundred No Watch Dat and the imminent black bags along with other tracks that inspired comparisons with the reggae legend Beres Hammond
red hot form as it saw him embark on a series of European tour dates with Sanchez in the summer of 2004 when he continued his journey towards something finally international recognition
His second album for VP Really Together featuring Fiona cited by Lloyd as a "true work of love" that Fiona was an artist he really admired and wanted to work with,who have shown their place in the finished product, also with panels of Grammys, which has been nominated for album of the nomination for Best Reggae Album 2005
Now armed with album number 10 called Said And Done in the bag (completely self-produced) and his own studio RiddimWorks will really to demonstrate their skills as a producer in his own right with everything he has absorbed over the past two decades,
John Masouri
| ~ Biography obtained from: http://artistwiki.com/lloyd-brown/biography |
