Bunny Lee : Reggae Icon

Having seen the rise of reggae during the ‘60s and its acceptance in the thriving UK scene, Bunny Lee began to license his production work to Trojan and Pama eventually also working for Dennis Brown’s DEB label and many other homegrown labels. During the mid-‘70s he became renowned for his flying cymbal sound and was instrumental in the creation and development of dub with long time contemporary King Tubby and dub mixers Philip Smart and Prince Jammy. Bunny Lee: “With all the bass and drum ting now, dem ting just start by accident, a man sing off key, an when you a reach a dat you drop out everything an leave the drum, an lick in the bass, an cause a confusion an people like it...” Lee’s mid-‘70s productions of Horace Andy, Cornell Campbell and Johnny Clarke and his later work with the emerging Linval Thompson kept his name alive even though the likes of Channel One and Joe Gibbs were the most successful studios. By the late ‘70s and the rise of the DJ, Lee again became a key figure on the scene as he worked with Dennis Alcapone, U Roy, I-Roy, Prince Jazzbo, Dr Alimantado, Jah Stitch, Trinity, and Tappa Zukie. Hear Bunny Lee’s work on: Horace Andy - In The Light Cornell Campbell - I Shall Not Remove Johnny Clarke - Dreader Dread