GEORGE ‘Little Bop’ Clarke, an original member of seminal roots group Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, died on January 8 at his Rockfort, St Andrew, home.

Sam Clayton and Sustan James, Clarke’s ‘Mystic’ colleagues, confirmed his death. They said the funde player’s health had deteriorated considerably since last year.

Mystic Revelation of Rastafari

“He was very ardent in every aspect of life. He was a serious musician, serious Rastaman,” said Clayton, the group’s leader.

Originally from central Kingston, Clarke joined the informal Rasta sessions of Oswald ‘Count Ossie’ Williams in Rockfort, east Kingston, during the late 1950s. The sessions attracted Jamaica’s top musicians of the day, including trombonists Rico Rodriquez and Don Drummond.

Clarke was a member of the Count Ossie’s Wareikas group that played on Oh Carolina, a massive hit for the Ffolkes Brothers in 1959. Produced by Prince Buster, the song introduced Rastafarian culture to many Jamaicans.

Led by Count Ossie, the Wareikas evolved into Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. The diminutive Clarke played on the group’s Grounation and Tales of Mozambique albums, rated by musicologists among the great works produced in Jamaica.

Grounation and Tales of Mozambique had a strong influence on emerging Jamaican artistes such as poet Alan Hope (Mutabaruka) in the early 1970s.

Clarke last toured Europe with ‘Mystic’ in 2007.