John Holt

ON AN ISLAND RENOWNED FOR ITS SUPERB VOCALISTS AND COMPOSERS, JOHN HOLT STILL STANDS HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE REST AS ONE OF JAMAICA’S SWEETEST SINGERS AND ONE OF HER MOST ENDURING SONGWRITERS. HE HAS VOICED AND PENNED SO MANY OF THE COUNTRY’S CLASSICS THAT, IN A WAY, HOLT HAS DEFINED THE ISLAND’S SOUND.
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BORN IN THE GREENWICH FARM AREA OF KINGSTON, JAMAICA ON JULY 11, 1947, THE YOUNG HOLT TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS INTO THE MUSIC BUSINESS VIA THE TALENT SHOW CIRCUIT. TALENT SHOWS HAVE ALWAYS HAD A MASSIVE POPULARITY IN JAMAICA, AND THE TOP ONES WERE INITIALLY BROADCAST LIVE ON RADIO AND LATER ON TELEVISION. MANY OF THE ISLAND’S GREATEST ARTISTS (GREGORY ISAACS AMONGST THEM) MADE THEIR FIRST APPEARANCES IN TALENT SHOWS, AND IT HAS PROVED AN EXCELLENT TRAINING GROUND FOR YOUNG HOPEFULS. IN 1958, THE 12-YEAR OLD HOLT ENTERED HIS FIRST CONTEST, RUN BY PROMOTER JOSEPH VEREJOHN. OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, THE YOUNGSTER BECAME A STAPLE OF THESE SHOWS, NOTCHING UP A RECORD-BREAKING 28 TITLES. HIS DULCET TONES WERE SOON FAMILIAR TO A MUCH LARGER AUDIENCE, AS A NUMBER OF THESE CONTESTS WERE BROADCAST ON RADIO JAMAICA. FOR HIS FINAL VICTORY IN 1962, HOLT PERFORMED SOLOMON BURKE’S 'JUST OUT OF REACH'.
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THE TALENTED TEEN WAS QUICKLY SNAPPED BY PRODUCER LESLIE KONG, WHO RECORDED HOLT’S DEBUT SINGLE 'FOREVER I’LL STAY'/'I CRIED A TEAR'. FROM THERE, THE YOUNGSTER BEGAN WORKING WITH PRODUCER CLIVE CHIN, DEBUTING THE PARTNERSHIP WITH 'RUM BUMPER', A DUET WITH ALTON ELLIS. MORE SINGLES FOLLOWED, BUT NONE REALLY CAPTURED THE ISLAND’S IMAGINATION. THIS ALL BEGAN TO CHANGE IN 1964 WHEN HOLT JOINED THE VOCAL GROUP THE PARAGONS. THE GROUP’S LINEUP WAS COMPLETED BY VETERAN MEMBER BOB ANDY. AS SKA WAS WITHERING UNDER THE HOT JAMAICAN SUN, AND WITH ROCKSTEADY RISING TO TAKE ITS PLACE, THE SLOWER TEMPO WAS PERFECT FOR VOCAL GROUPS. HOLT’S PEN SEEMED ESPECIALLY CUT FOR THE EASY GOING BEAT AND POP FLAVOR THAT THE STYLE EMBRACED. BY 1968 THE PARAGONS WERE JAMAICA’S PREMIER VOCAL GROUP WITH EVERY ONE OF THEIR RELEASES A HIT.
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IN 1968, HOLT SET OFF ON A PARALLEL SOLO CAREER, RECORDING FOR PRODUCERS BUNNY LEE AND HARRY J - HIS WORK WITH COXSONE DODD WAS PARTICULARLY EXEMPLARY AND BOASTS A SLEW OF CLASSICS. AMIDST THE GROWING PILE OF HIT SINGLES WERE ALSO A CLUTCH OF ALBUMS, MANY PICKED UP FOR U.K. RELEASE BY THE TROJAN LABEL. IT WAS OBVIOUS TO TROJAN THAT A CROSSOVER SUCCESS WAS IN THEIR SIGHT. THE LABEL BROUGHT HOLT TO THE U.K. LATER IN 1974, AND SET HIM TO WORK WITH POP PRODUCER TONY ASHFIELD WHO HAD ARRANGED THE STRINGS ON 'TIME IS THE MASTER'. THE END RESULT WAS THE COVERS COLLECTION '1000 VOLTS OF HOLT' WHICH GAVE HOLT HIS FIRST U.K. HIT WITH 'HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT'. INEVITABLY, TWO FOLLOW-UPS WERE RECORDED – '2000 VOLTS' AND '3000 VOLTS' – WITH BOTH THESE ALBUMS LATER COMBINED ONTO A SINGLE DISC.
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IN A RATHER BELATED CONVERSION, HOLT ADMITTED TO HIS RASTAFARIAN BELIEFS IN 1983 AND BEGAN GROWING DREADLOCKS BUT NONE OF THIS REALLY PREPARED AUDIENCES FOR THE 'POLICE IN HELICOPTER' ALBUM. LAWES’ DEEP ROOTS RHYTHMS TURNED OUT TO BE THE PERFECT ACCOMPANIMENT FOR HOLT'S SONGS, FROM THE LIGHTEST POP TO THE HEAVIEST HITTING ROOTS NUMBERS. IN ONE FELL SWOOP, HOLT HAD SHED HIS FAMILY ENTERTAINER IMAGE AND REINVENTED HIMSELF AS A CULTURAL HERO. THE NEXT YEAR, THE SINGER JOINED FORCES WITH SINGER/PRODUCER DENNIS BROWN FOR THE 'WILD FIRE' ALBUM. IT WAS DURING THIS PERIOD THAT BOTH HOLT AND BROWN BECAME INVOLVED IN THE PLOT BY VETERAN SINGERS TO FIGHT THE DJ PHENOMENON BY SATURATING THE MARKET WITH VOCAL MATERIAL. GREGORY ISAACS, THE MOST PROLIFIC OF THE CONSPIRATORS, DENNIS BROWN, KEN BOOTHE, DELROY WILSON, AND MANY OTHERS WERE INVOLVED AND BEGAN RELEASING A DELUGE OF MATERIAL. IT CERTAINLY WASN’T PERSONAL, AND IN FACT, VIRTUALLY ALL THE SINGERS INVOLVED HAD HAPPILY COLLABORATED WITH DJ’S OVER THE YEARS AND CONTINUED TO DO SO. HOLT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH U-ROY WASN’T UNIQUE. ISAACS FOR EXAMPLE, HAD A STREAM OF HITS WITH TRINITY, A DJ WHO BROWN HAD ALSO CUT A SINGLE WITH. THE CONSPIRATORS LOGIC WAS THAT THE DJ’S REIGNED SUPREME ONLY BECAUSE THERE WASN’T ENOUGH VOCAL PRODUCT ON THE MARKET. THEY INTENDED ON CHANGING THAT. THE DOWN SIDE WAS OF COURSE THAT OVER TIME, EVERY ONE OF THOSE INVOLVED WOULD SULLY THEIR OWN REPUTATIONS BY RELEASING TOO MUCH INFERIOR PRODUCT. ALTHOUGH EACH OF THESE ARTISTS WOULD OCCASIONALLY RECORD AN ALBUM WORTHY OF THEIR OWN LEGENDARY STATUS, TOO MANY OF THEIR RELEASES WERE MEDIOCRE AT BEST. ACROSS THE DECADE, HOLT MADE NUMEROUS ACCLAIMED APPEARANCES AT REGGAE SUNSPLASH, AND THE SINGER CONTINUES TO COMPOSE, RECORD AND PERFORM – THIS INCLUDES A RECENT COLLABORATION AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL IN LONDON WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA.