Bound In Chains: The Very Best Of The Clarendonians

An excellent anthology of one the greatest Ska and Rocksteady era vocal groups, The Clarendonians, rounding up all their classic hits alongside rare and obscure cuts, some never before released on CD.

Fitzroy 'Ernest' Wilson and Peter Austin grew up together in the parish of Clarendon, Jamaica and in their very early teens formed the vocal duo The Clarendonians in 1962.

After entering and winning a number of local talent contests they caught the attention of Studio One producer Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd who took them to the studio and began recording around 1963.

The Clarendonians became an instant success in Jamaica, scoring numurous number one singles including "Rudie Gone A Jail", "Sho Be Do Be", "You Can't Be Happy" and "Rudie Bam Bam".

They were hugely popular throughout the 'rudeboy' ska period and shared studio time with another up and coming young group, The Wailers, who were also recording at Studio One at this time.

By the mid-sixties 'Coxsone' Dodd decided to expand The Clarendonians to a trio and added a very young Freddie McGregor to the line-up. It's said that McGregor was just 7 years old when he began recording with the group and that he would have to stand on a crate in the studio just to reach the microphone!

Little Freddie, as he was known, is often mistaken for a female, as his young, high-pitched harmonies began to appear on Clarendonians singles.

The Clarendonians went on to dominate the charts as Ska slowly faded out and in came the rocksteady era.

Studio One released the album "The Best Of The Clarendonians" in the mid-1960's, it was a very popular album and contained many of the groups biggest hits including "Darling Forever", "Sunshine", "He Who Laughs Last", "Do Good", "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" and "Ten Guitars".

All of these singles were massive selling Rocksteady cuts and The Clarendonians were as popular as ever during this period.

The Clarendonians went on to work with a number of Jamaica's other top producers towards the end of the 1960's including Prince Buster, Phil Pratt, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bunny Lee and "Prince" Tony Robinson.

Rocksteady had been replaced by the new sound of Reggae by now and despite working with the top producers and the group still selling reasonable numbers Ernest Wilson decided to call it a day and embarked on a solo career.

Ernest Wilson enjoyed a successful run as a solo artist, sometimes he is credited as King Shark and he also worked alongside another successful Rocksteady era group, The Techniques, at this time.

Peter Austin also cut some solo material for producer Phil Pratt but it failed to gain popularity and sold only small quantities.

Freddie McGregor became a studio session musician and backing vocalist for other artists for some time as he continued to find his feet in the music industry. He never returned to any future Clarendonians line-up but established himself as a solo artist by the late 1970's and went on to become one of the biggest names in reggae music throughout the 80's, 90's and to the present day.

In the very early 1970's Wilson and Austin reunited to record a number of tracks including an updated version of their earlier hit "He Who Laughs Last" but again they split as Wilson continued with his solo recordings and became a reasonably big name on the island, scoring hit singles throughout the 1970's.

A few roots reggae releases surfaced in the mid to late 1970's credited to The Clarendonians but these could be Ernest Wilson or Peter Austin solo recordings.

It wasn't until 1992 that The Clarendonians finally appeared together once again for the Rocksteady Reunion concert that also featured The Techniques, Delroy Wilson and The Melodians.

The duo of Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin also returned to the studio to record a handful of new songs including "What A Bam Bam" on the popular Bam Bam riddim of the early 1990's.

The next time the duo would record together would be in 2010 for Ernest Wilson's "Timeless Classics" album which features Peter Austin on a couple of tunes.

Peter Austin himself has recently begun recording with a new Clarendonians line-up alongside Dusty and Ann Payne with producer Junior Bailey and has released the new songs "Never Let Me Go" and "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" in 2012 with the promise of an album entitled "Now" on the horizon.

The Clarendonians may never have attained the international success of other Rocksteady era groups, including The Wailers and The Paragons, but their input to the scene and their success in Jamaica makes them one of the all time great vocal groups of Ska and Rocksteady.


Enjoy!  : )

Bound In Chains: The Very Best Of The Clarendonians

Disc One:

1) Be Bop Boy
2) I Will Never Change
3) The Jerk
4) A Day Will Come
5) Mey Bien (My Friend)
6) Sweet Heart Of Beauty
7) Darling Forever
8) You Can't Be Happy
9) Low Down Girl
10) Never Be The Same
11) Ten Guitars
12) Rudie Bam Bam
13) Sunshine
14) He Who Laughs Last
15) Sho Be Do Be
16) Do Good
17) How Long Shall The Wicked Reign
18) Stand By Me
19) Rudie Gone A Jail
20) Do It Right
21) I Can't Go On
22) Early In The Morning

Disc Two:

1) Rules Of Life
2) You Can't Keep A Good Man Down
3) Experience Lover
4) I'll Never Try
5) After He Breaks Your Heart
6) Mary My Love
7) Oh Baby
8) Drink And Gamble
9) You Are The Fool
10) Try Me One More Time
11) Musical Train
12) The Angels
13) Baby Baby
14) The Tables Going To Turn
15) Four In One
16) Your Love
17) Baby Don't You Do It
18) Take It Or Leave It
19) When I Am Gone
20) Come Along
21) Lick It Back
22) Betrayed

Disc Three:

1) Please Please
2) Burning Fire
3) Time Is Getting Harder
4) Seven In One
5) Freedom Train
6) My Elusive Dreams
7) This Is My Story
8) Funny Way Of Laughing
9) Why Did You Do It
10) The Truth
11) Deep Down
12) Angel Listening
13) Good Hearted Woman
14) Bye Bye Bye
15) Round And Round
16) Just Once In My Life
17) Lonely Heartaches
18) You Bring Me Joy
19) Don't Please
20) I'm Yours Forever
21) Negril Rock
22) I Am Sorry

Disc Four:

1) Wonder Why
2) Happy To Say Goodbye
3) You Won't See Me
4) Truth Hurts
5) Soldiers Love The Battle
6) Walking Up A One Way Street
7) Only Time
8) Night Owl
9) High School Dance
10) Father Killan
11) Bound In Chains
12) Out Of Sight
13) Dream Of Me
14) He Who Laughs Last (Re-Cut For Bunny Lee 1971)
15) Lion Head
16) Don't Give Away Your Rights
17) Little Angel
18) When You Are Near
19) The Ghetto
20) What A Bam Bam
21) Everybody Needs Love
22) Little Did You Know
23) Never Let Me Go
24) Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You

Bound In Chains:  

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