Black Uhuru

**Black Uhuru** is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru (Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful period in the 1980s, with their album Anthem winning the first ever Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1985. The group formed in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1972, initially called Black Sounds Uhuru" (the Swahili word for freedom), with a line-up of Garth Dennis, Don Carlos, and Derrick "Duckie" Simpson. Their first release was a cover version of The Impressions' "Romancing to the Folk Song", which was followed by "Time is on Our Side"; Neither song was a success and they split up, with Carlos pursuing a solo career, as did Dennis, before joining The Wailing Souls. Simpson also briefly worked with the Wailing Souls, before forming a new version of Uhuru with Errol Nelson (of The Jayes) and Michael Rose, the group now taking the name Black Sounds Uhuru. Their Prince Jammy-produced debut album, Love Crisis, was released in 1977.

(read more on Wikipedia)

## Links to Kershaw

Kershaw as a fan of Black Uhuru mentioned on the No Off Switch blogsite, the nightmare of organising one of their gigs:

> *"Sadly, reggae concerts were always likely to be troublesome. A proportion of the city’s population seemed to think it was their birthright to storm through the front doors without tickets and racist of my stewards to suggest they might care to pay for admission like everyone else. Black Uhuru’s concert – the bits of it I caught – was one of the finest performances I saw in the Refec. But it was a nightmare of a gig to run. There were break-ins all over the building. I spent the evening racing, through blood and broken glass, from one emergency to another, all to the menacing muezzin wail of Michael Rose and the live serpent rhythms of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.*
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> *At one point, I was rushing across the Student Union bar, in the building next door to the Refec. There, sitting at a table, enjoying a pint with a few old buddies, was my dear friend Big John Bisbrowne. To call him Big John was, and still is, to diminish him. But at 24 stones, John looked anorexic alongside his pal, Jon Silsby. The pair had been students, and Ents stalwarts, back in the era of The Who and the Stones. Neither had fully detached himself from the old firm.*
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> *“Hugely likeable, with a plummy, booming voice and a thick black beard, Silsby was still living in Leeds and he had an open invitation to be my guest at all the gigs. Big John had moved to Burton on Trent but frequently came up to his old patch for the weekend. He was dating Our Elizabeth and often stayed with us, especially if I was putting on a band of his liking. Black Uhuru was one of them. John is one of the most naturally funny men I have ever met. And one of the sourest.*
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> *“Nursing their Tetley’s, and no doubt reflecting that Ents wasn’t what it used to be, the two veterans were on the point of having just one more pint before catching a bit of the band. When I ran in.*
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> *“’Ah, great! Boys,’ I said, ‘bit of trouble at the front door. Could do with your help, if you don’t mind.’”*
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> *“Big John raised one eyebrow at Silsby. They put down their beers and, as I hared off to the next crisis, they plodded out of the bar.*
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> *“About 10 minutes later, I was again tearing through the Refec foyer. In the war zone of the front doors, I spotted Big John in the thick of things. He was holding, in one hand, a wriggling invader fully off the ground. Hurling the guy clean over the barrier, as you and I might fling a bin bag into a skip, he turned to me, inflating with indignation.*
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> *“’When you invited me up for the weekend,” he said, “I was expecting an agreeable couple of days with old friends. And a Black Uhuru concert. Not a re-enactment of Rorke’s Drift.'”* [1]
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## Show Played

1987
* 06 August 1987: World Is Africa (LP - Sinsemilla) Island

1988
* 03 November 1988: Shine Eye Gal (LP - Black Uhuru) Virgin

1994
* 26 February 1994: World Is Africa (2xCD - Liberation: The Island Anthology) Mango

1996
* 28 January 1996: Shine Eye Gal (Live) (2xCD - Liberation: The Island Anthology) Mango

1998
* 05 January 1998: Boof N' Baff N' Biff (Fila Brazilia Remix #1) (v/a CD - Dubmission 2 The Remixes) Quango

1999
* 08 April 1999: Whole World Is Africa (2xCD - Liberation The Island Records Anthology) Island

2000
* 06 April 2000: Shine Eye Gal (2xCD - Liberation: Island Anthology) Island

2003
* 23 May 2003: The Whole World Is Africa (2xCD - Liberation: The Island Anthology) Mango

2007
* 12 March 2007: World Is Africa (album - Sinsemilla) Island

2021
* Andy Kershaw Podcast Episode 3: World Is Africa (CD - Sinsemilla) Mango
* Andy Kershaw Podcast Episode 10: Sponji Reggae (12") Island

## External Links

* Wikipedia
* Discogs