BY HOWARD CAMPBELL—-
Observer senior writer—
Errol Dunkley—
THE challenges of COVID-19 put the brakes on entertainment this year but Errol Dunkley did not sit around twiddling his thumbs. Indeed, it has been a busy year for the veteran singer.
This month the 69 year-old Dunkley began shopping his new album, Kool Runnings, to prospective distributors. Recorded over two years, he worked with the Roots Radics band, guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith and drummer Kirk Bennett on most of the sessions.
Dunkley’s last album, Love is Amazing, came out in 2004 on Studio One.
There are 12 songs on Kool Runnings including the title track and Sweets For my Sweet, both of which he wrote. There are also several covers, such as reggae versions of Nina Simone’s My Baby Just Cares For Me and the James Brown power ballad, Just A Prisoner.
“Is a song [ Just A Prisoner] mi always love suh mi jus’ seh mek mi lick it over inna my style,” said Dunkley, who has done his share of covers in a 55-year career.
Writing his own songs, however, is important.
“Publishing dat, yuh nuh. When yuh write yuh song dem a yuh pension dat,” he stressed.
Dunkley spent much of this year in England where he lived for over 20 years before returning to Jamaica permanently in 1997. The coronavirus lockdown in Europe forced him to stay put in London for an extended period.
While in his old stomping ground he did a lot of recording, including ‘specials’ to help pay the bills. Back in Jamaica he was at the recording studio doing “nuff special” for sound systems in Europe and South America.
Born in Denham Town, west Kingston, Errol Dunkley is a survivor of the rocksteady era. He got the breakthrough as a teenager with the pleading You’re Gonna Need Me, which was followed by early reggae hits like Black Cinderella and Movie Star.
His move to the United Kingdom in the early 1970s did not stop the hits, which included the John Holt-written OK Fred and A Little Way Different.
“Dem day deh wi did a create song. Jus’ guh studio an’ work wid musician an’ producer on how fi work out song. Dat’s why music from dem time still sound good,” he said.
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