Dennis Brown: The Legend Continues is the first in a streaming series of live concerts from Keeling Reggae, a company owned by veteran singer/businessman Keeling Beckford.
It will be available in mid-October, said Beckford who filmed the show during the 1980’s at Ranny Williams Entertainment Center in Kingston, Jamaica.
Brown, who died in 1999 at age 42, and Beckford were close friends. The concert was previously available on VHS and DVD.
Beckford said ‘The Legend Continues’ will be followed in November and December, respectively, by Reggae Heroes and The Skatalites in New York, other popular concerts he filmed.
Reggae Heroes features Beres Hammond, Shabba Ranks, Maxi Priest and J C Lodge in concert at the Latin Quarters club in New York. The Skatalites show took place at Club Jamaica on Broadway.
The series is Keeling Reggae’s foray into the increasingly popular and lucrative streaming medium. In recent years, Beckford has tediously transferred footage from his vast catalog of tapes to streaming.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, he and his team video-taped some of the biggest music events in Jamaica, including Reggae Sunsplash, Sting and Reggae Sumfest.
His company, which opened in Manhattan in 1985, also has taped interviews with reggae greats such as Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe and The Heptones.
“I started the whole video taping thing before Derrick Harriott an’ all of dem. Me’s a trailblazer in dis thing,” said Beckford, who now operates his business out of Union City, New Jersey.
Beckford is from Kingston. He started his music career as a teenager with producer Enid “Dell” Barnett’s Del Tone record label. She was responsible for most of his early songs including the 1968 hit, Combination.
Last November, the Keeling label released Try Me: Keeling Beckford The Rock Steady Years, a 13-song album recalling his years with Del Tone.
Last week, Beckford released the remix to Ska Time, a song he recorded six months ago with the Loud City Band from Oregon.
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