Josey Wales – Reggaes Best Outlaw

Josey Wales was born Joseph Winston Sterling in West Kingston, Jamaica. He took his stage name from the Clint Eastwood Western The Outlaw Josey Wales and along with his sound-system partner Charlie Chaplin and the likes of Brigadier Jerry was widely regarded as one of the best DJs on the dancehall scene of the early ‘80’s.

Wales’s first DJ performances were with the Roots Unlimited Sound System in 1977, but it was as part of mentor U-Roy's King SturGav Hi-Fi Sound System in the early '80s, where he spent three and a half years, that he really made his name. At King SturGav he teamed up with fellow DJ Charlie Chaplin and the two sparring partners became one of the most potent one-two punches of the era, which in turn made King SturGav arguably the biggest sound system around.

His first recordings were live performances issued on producer Bunny Roots' label, but it was when he hooked up with the primary producer of the day, Henry "Junjo" Lawes and began moonlighting for his Volcano sound system that in 1983 he issued his first-ever single on the Volcano label, "Baby Come Home."The song wasn't much of a hit, but its follow-up, "Let Go Mi Hand," on the Mad Mad riddim, from an old Alton Ellis tune which was made popular by Michigan and Smiley’s use on ‘Diseases’, was a breakthrough smash that established Wales as a recording star, not just an electrifying live performer.

His debut album, ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ soon followed, helping to cement his status as one of Jamaica's top DJs, behind only Yellowman at his peak.
Further hits followed, including "Bobo Dread", which appeared on the ‘Two Giants Clash’ album recorded with Yellowman and "Drug Abusing", taken from his self-produced second solo album ‘No Way No Better Than Yard’.
In 1985 he cut an album for George Phang in called ‘Undercover Lover’ before moving over to producer King Jammy's label and recording a series of hits that included "Na Lef Jamaica," "Ha Fi Say So," "Right Moves," "It's Raining," and "Water Come a Mi Eye," among others. The ‘Rulin'’ album appeared in 1986 on the Black Solidarity label, and several collections of his work for Jammys also followed in the late '80s. By this time, however, Wales' conscious and Rastafarian style seemed increasingly out of date with other toasters, who were upping the ante for lyrical technique, with slackness and gun talk beginning to rule the dancehalls. Nonetheless Wales remained true to his beliefs and was an active presence on the Jamaican music scene for quite some time, both as a recording artist and as a mentor to up-and-comers like the young Shabba Ranks.

During the early ‘90s he mainly focused on collaborations, releasing duo albums with old cohorts U-Roy ‘Teacher Meets the Student’ and Charlie Chaplin ‘Kings of the Dancehall’ which appeared in 1992 and 1994, respectively, and a duet with Beres Hammond, "Hey Girl," was a smash hit in the U.K. reggae charts in 1993. The solo album ‘Cowboy Style’ was also released on in 1994 on Greensleeves and he also worked with the likes of Gussie Clarke, Tappa Zukie, Philip "Fatis" Burrell, and Bobby Digital during the decade. It was also during this decade, in 1997, that he was robbed at gunpoint in a Kingston bar. He was wounded in the incident and this ironically helped briefly revitalize his recording career, as he scored Jamaican hits with the singles "Bush Wacked" and "Who Shot the Colonel" (The Colonel being another of Wales’ aliases).
In 1998, Wales joined the reunited King SturGav Hi Fi Sound System, touring with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Brigadier Jerry, and U-Roy and to this day he remains a popular figure in the dancehall scene and still knows how to get a crowd moving, as was witnessed in 2008 at the Reggae Geel festival in Belgium.

(Respects to Steve Huey)