The Slickers
The Slickers were a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae group in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
They are best known for the song, "Johnny Too Bad", which featured on the film soundtrack of The Harder They Come,[1] and which was sung with additional lyrics by John Martyn on his Grace and Danger album.
The Slickers centred around Derrick Crooks, who had been one of the founding members of The Pioneers along with his brother Sydney. In the mid-1960s, The Slickers consisted of the Crooks brothers and Winston Bailey.[2] Derrick was the only constant member,[3] with Abraham Green joining the Crooks brothers at the time "Johnny Too Bad" was recorded.[2] The Slickers have often been wrongly assumed to simply be an alias for The Pioneers due to their similar vocal stylings.[3] The Slickers toured the United Kingdom and United States on the back of the success of "Johnny Too Bad", and continued until 1979, when they recorded the Breakthrough album, before splitting up.
The song was covered many times, notably by Jimmy Cliff in 1972 on his Columbia Records album The Harder They Come and later covered by the British reggae group, UB40. The song was also part of bluegrass artist Peter Rowan's live repertoire during much of the mid-1980's.
Albums
- Many Rivers to Cross (1976), Klik
- Breakthrough (1979), Tad's
References
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 242. CN 5585.
- ^ a b Moskowitz, David V. (2006) Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-33158-8, p. 271-2
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, p. 274
External links
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