Though he was a forerunner of what became the Waterhouse sound, little is known about singer Lacksley Castell who died suddenly in November, 1983 at age 24.
His younger brother, Trevor Castell, has steadfastly kept his name alive with posts of his songs on social media, and annual celebration of his birthday. He recently covered new versions of some of Lacksley’s songs for a seven-track EP to be released this summer.
Princess Lady, Johnny Brown and This Girl and I are among the self-produced tracks he has done to date. Recording them revived memories of growing up in Waterhouse.
“It’s a good feeling doing so because I live these songs all these years from day one and the reason why I haven’t done so before is because my family to take care of. Some songs bring back memories with a little emotion,” he said.
Castell, who lives in South Florida, has already recorded 10 songs. To give listeners an appreciation of his brother’s unique sound, he stays true to the original vocal style and arrangements.
Lacksley was older by two years of the Castell brothers. They grew up in Waterhose during the 1970’s, a time when that Kingston community was bursting at the seams with talent; Black Uhuru, the Wailing Souls, Don Carlos, Hugh Mundell and Junior Reid, were some of the artists who lived there.
Lacksley Castell recorded early in his career for producers Augustus Pablo and Lloyd “King Jammys” James. The latter is a legend of the Waterhouse music scene.
Most of his songs, including Princess Lady, were done for Negus Records which was also based in Waterhouse.
He died one month after the promising Mundell was murdered in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. But while Mundell’s songs maintain a loyal following in Europe, Castell is largely forgotten. That is something his sibling wants to change.
“It is very important to keep his legacy alive because it means the world to me. There is family and fans who didn’t get a chance to see him on stage performing such great songs,” he said. Reply
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