Barrington Levy was born on the 30th April 1964, in Clarendon, Jamaica, and in 1976 he formed the Mighty Multitude with his cousin Everton Dacres. They started off playing the sound systems and cut their first single, "My Black Girl," the following year. Things didn't really work out for the pair and Levy broke out on his own a couple of years later to record his debut solo single at the age of 14, "A Long Time Since We Don't Have No Love." The single failed to make any impact, however the teen's live appearances in the dancehalls were proving to be popular events. It was at one of these that he met former singer turned producer Junjo Lawes and New York-based producer Hyman "Jah Life" Wright. The pair took the youth into Channel One studio, accompanied by the Roots Radics, and recorded a clutch of cuts. It was here that he recorded several singles, including "Al Yah We Deh", "Looking My Love", "Englishman", "Wedding Ring Aside" all of which became hits, but it was the mighty "Collie Weed" that really established Levy's career.
Levy's next few singles were similarly successful, including "Shine Eye Girl", "Wicked Intention", "Jumpy Girl", "Skylarking" (by Horace Andy), "Disco Music", "Reggae Music". Levy then joined forces with producer Alvin Ranglin for another string of hits, "Never Tear My Love Apart", "Jah", "You Made Me So Happy" and "When You're Young and in Love". Levy's smooth, rich vocals were made for duets, both with other vocalists and DJs, and it wasn't long before the young star was also recording collaborative singles. Toyan was a great foil on "Call You on the Phone," with Jah Thomas he recorded "Moonlight Lover" and "Sister Debby," and then with Trinity cut "Lose Respect" and a follow-up, "I Need a Girl. In 1980 he appeared at Reggae Sunsplash rave reviews and again 1981. Though LPs were not very important in Jamaica at the time, Levy released three albums before 1980: Bounty Hunter, which boasted three smash singles, "Reggae Music," "Shine Eye Girl," and "Looking My Love" and the other tracks that were just about as good. In Britain, the Burning Sounds label released Shine Eye Gal. This was a hits laden package which included the title-track, "Collie Weed," and "Ah Yah We Deh." This was quickly followed by the mighty Englishman (released by the Greensleeves label), an absolutely fabulous and critically acclaimed record, which was overseen by the unbeatable studio grouping of Junjo Lawes and two of King Tubby's protégés, Scientist and Prince Jammy. Jammy was the established veteran of this trio, but Lawes, barely into his twenties, was swift to ascertain his own reputation as one of the island's top producers, and Scientist. Although still only in his late teens he was already a noted engineer and famed remixer, whose talents Lawes would utilize at every opportunity. Most notably though, on the Scientist V Prince Jammy dub clash album.
By the early 80's Levy was one of the biggest Jamaican stars, and saw his international fame growing as well, especially in England. Unfortunately for Levy though his popularity also began to bear some serious drawbacks. Even before stardom arrived, the singer had noticed with delight, fans taping his sets at the dancehalls, but now these tapes were coming back to haunt him. Suddenly, the shelves were buckling under the weight of bootlegged albums, featuring not just older pirated live material, but also unreleased outtakes and recycled older singles. In response, Levy didn't release a new album for two years, but channelled his efforts into new singles, which more than made up for it. From 1980 came such hits as the haunting Lawes-produced "Mary Long Tongue", "Too Poor" with producer Linval Thompson and a host of cuts with Karl Pitterson, including "I Have a Problem" and "Even Tide Fire a Disaster". As the decade progressed, the flood of hits continued. "I'm Not in Love," "You Have It," "Tomorrow Is Another Day," "Robberman," "Black Rose," "My Woman," and biggest smash of the batch "Money Move", which were all released between 1981 and 1983. During this period Levy even tried his hand at self-production, recording excellent songs such as "In the Dark" and "Love of Jah." Amongst these there was also some great singles recorded for Joe Gibbs.
Levy finally returned to LPs with Lifestyle, produced by Alvin Ranglin and Money Move. Money Move was brilliantly overseen by George Phang and boasted an astounding group of rhythms that Sly & Robbie had specially made for the producer.
In 1984 came another big hit with producer Jah Screw, "Under Mi Sensi." The pair also recorded a new album that year, Here I Come; the title-track of this would climb into the Top 50 singles chart in the U.K, and the album itself would also take Britain by storm and ensured that Levy received the Best Vocalist Award at Britain's Reggae Awards. That same year, Levy joined forces with another young singer who was tearing up the dancefloors, Frankie Paul, for the interesting sound clash set of Barrington Levy Meets Frankie Paul. 1985 brought Prison Oval Rock, which found the singer back with Lawes again, for another roots-fired set equal to its predecessors.
After such a powerful start to his career the late 1980s saw Levy's output begin to slow down. He did continue to perform and appeared again at Reggae Sunsplash in 1987 and would remain a top attraction at the festival until 1995. During this time He also released Love the Life You Live in 1988, but this was a rather patchy affair compared to the majesty of his previous releases, and it was to be his last new album for some time.
As the 1990's dawned, Levy signed for Island's Mango subsidiary, and released a fine album in Divine. He also joined forces with up and coming Rebel MC and Tenor Fly for the smash single "Tribal Base," which was a UK top 20 success. In 1993, Levy tried to break in the United States with Barrington, which was produced by Lee Jaffe, and featured a re-recorded of "Under Mi Sensi," and contained strong songs such as "Murderer" and "Jeep." Levy and his label, MCA Records however, did not have a good relationship and he soon left.
Back in Britain, the singer was scoring yet another hit with "Work." Also In 1994, Levy joined Beenie Man on the singles "Two Sounds" and another working of "Under Mi Sensi." Both soon re-appeared as fiery jungle remixes, with "Sensi," in particular, ramming the dancefloors.
Next up with Jack Scorpio at the controls, the singer was paired with Mega Banton for "She's Mine." Jah Screw then took these collaborations to the next logical step, and recorded an entire album imaginatively titled, Duets, (This is its American title and it was released in the U.S. by RAS. In the U.K., Levy's relationship with Greensleeves was still flourishing, and the album here was titled Barrington Levy's DJ Counteraction). From this set came the excellent, "Living Dangerously" with Bounty Killer, this shot up the Jamaican charts and set the pace in clubs around the world. "Bad Talk," its follow-up, didn't fair quite so well, but was still a fine offering. Time Capsule came hot on its heels in 1996. A short album, (a mere eight tracks plus five dubs), which more than made up for lack of quantity with quality. Over the next two years, his circle of friends was obviously growing, and diversifying. In 1998 came the exciting "Living Dangerously", and featured artists such as rap star Snoop Doggy Dogg and Southern California punk-reggae heroes Long Beach Dub All-Stars. In 2003, his debut album Bounty Hunter was reissued as Moonlight Lover on the Burning Bush label, and Two years later, the Sanctuary label collected his recordings with Henry Lawes and Alvin Ranglin for "Love Your Brother Man: The Early Years". Numerous compilations have also continued to appear featuring much of the singer's greatest work, and this helps to keep him known and respected by members of the younger generation of dancehall patrons.
With thanks and respect to Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide
