WHEN LESLIE KONG WAS KING!

BY HOWARD CAMPBELL Observer senior writer

A musical energy surged through Jamaica in 1962. A number of songs that later earned the stamp ‘classic’ were recorded in the months leading to Independence in August.

Several of them were produced by Leslie Kong, a Chinese businessman who operated Beverley’s Records along with his brothers Fats and Cecil.

Kong, who died in August 1971, was the first producer to record Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley. The latter’s initial songs, Judge Not, One Cup of Coffee and Terror, were all done in 1962.

Cliff cut his first song, Dearest Beverley, the previous year. He had a fruitful 10-year association with Kong that yielded hits like Hurricane Hattie, Wonderful World Beautiful People, Sitting in Limbo and The Harder They Come.

“He was a good man. When yuh talk about unsung heroes, that’s Leslie Kong. He made the most international hits…out of [producers] Coxsone [Clement Dodd], Duke Reid and King Edwards [Vin Edwards],” Cliff said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer in December.

Derrick Morgan, who was introduced to Kong by Cliff, scored with Be Still, She’s Gone and the independence anthem, Forward March for Beverley’s Records in 1962. In a 2020 interview with the Observer, he described Kong as “a great guy”.

“He was very creative an’ dat’s why di songs he did with his artistes became international. You name dem… Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker ( Israelites, Shantytown), Toots ( Pressure Drop, 54-46, Monkey Man), The Melodians ( By The Rivers of Babylon),” Morgan added.

The Kong brothers operated a successful ice cream parlour, record shop and cosmetics store on Orange Street in downtown Kingston. Cliff recalls entering their establishment one evening after being turned down by Dodd, Reid and Edwards.

After an impromptu audition the brothers agreed to record him. Dearest Beverley was the first song released by Beverley’s Records.

The Kongs were part of a strong Chinese presence in the early years of Jamaican music. Other key players included Byron Lee, leader of the Dragonaires band; producers Vincent “Randy” Chin of Randy’s Records; Justin Yap of Top Deck Records; and Sonny and Victor Wong of the Vikings band.

Several of Kong’s productions, including Be Still, Pressure Drop, Israelites, Shantytown, Wonderful World Beautiful People and By The Rivers of Babylon, did well in the United Kingdom.

Just after completing work on an album with The Wailers, Leslie Kong died of a heart attack, at age 37. The Beverley’s Records catalogue is one of the most formidable in reggae.