“Wi used to hang out a lot, go dance an’ listen music. Jimmy was jus’ a great guy,” said Lowe-Chin.
Riley died of cancer on March 23 in New York at age 68. The father of singer Tarrus Riley, he had a 47-year career that started with the Sensations and The Uniques vocal groups.
Lowe-Chin produced Contradiction, Riley’s last studio album for his Chiney K Records. It was released in 2013 by VP Records.
Riley was still recording in the months up to his death. Chin recalled his zest for going into the studio.“Him was determine to get better an’ do a next album. That was the thing wid Jimmy…always willing, always ready.”
Riley’s solo career took off in 1979 when he teamed with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare’s emerging Taxi label. They collaborated on Love And Devotion andMy Woman’s Love, two of the biggest hits in Jamaica that year.
There will be a ‘musical get-together’ this evening in memory of Jimmy Riley at Beres Hammond’s Harmony House studio.
His funeral service is scheduled for Webster’s Memorial United Church tomorrow at 1:00 pm.
— By Howard Campbell—
You must log in to post a comment.