VETERAN MUSICIAN REMEMBERS THE RECORDING OF JOHN HOLT’S “ALI BABA!”

 (L-R) John Holt, Jackie Jackson and his wife Karen  Smith.—

In tribute to singer John Holt who died on October 20 in London, England, the Jamaica Observer presents ‘Holt a Day’, a daily feature leading up to his funeral, which is slated for November 15.

WITH his melodic voice and catchy lyrics, singer John Holt brought to life the Arabian Knights tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and nursery rhyme Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son in his rocksteady single Ali Baba.

Recorded for Duke Reid on his Treasure Isle label in the late 1960s, the track was big rocksteady hit

for the Paragons.

Jackie Jackson, 67, was the resident bass guitarist of Treasure Isle’s Tommy McCook and the Supersonics band.

He recalls the day Ali Baba was recorded.

“It was a Sunday afternoon. We went to record the Paragons and the Melodians. But we spent the entire evening trying to perfect Ali Baba. The Melodians had to come back the Wednesday,” said Jackson.

According to the guitarist, the version on the street is one of the rehearsal takes.

“The engineer recorded the rehearsal run. Duke [Reid] heard it and compared it to the three other cuts and said: ‘No, man, this is the cut,” he said.

Jackson said he played on all of the Paragons’ hits including Wear You to the Ball, On the Beach, Memories by the Score, You and Your Smiling Face, and Happy Go Lucky Girl.

Jackson, along with his wife, singer Karen Smith, and Lloyd Parks will be performing Memories by the Score at Holt’s funeral at the National Indoor Sports Centre in St Andrew.

— Brian Bonitto