The Congos

The Congos came together in 1977 to record Heart of the Congos with Lee “Scratch” Perry. The vocalists on this project included Cedric Myton, Roydel “Ashanti” Johnson and Wadi Burnett. They are known as Cedric, Watty and Shanty. The Congos made their name with this monumental recording, which was released in 1977. Reggae historian Steve Barrow, one of the people behind the exquisite reissue of this long-thought-lost record, considers it as good as seminal reggae recordings such as Bob Marley and the Wailers' Natty Dread, Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey, and the Mighty Diamonds' Right Time. This is not an exaggeration. Myton, Burnett and Johnson, working with Lee Perry at his Black Ark Studios in Kingston created a masterpiece, one of (if not the) finest production job of Perry's long and prolific career.
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The first child of Daisy Watson, and his father Lester Myton, Cedric was born in the Old Harbour bay area St. Catherine, Jamaica, at a time when the island was still under British colonial rule. In St. Catherine Cedric began his singing career as a member of the Tartans in the late '60s. Singing in a tuneful rocksteady style, the Tartans scored hits with songs like "Dancehall Night" and "Far Beyond the Sun". Dancehall Night, in 1965, was Cedric’s first single on the Prince Buster Label. This song remained at #2 on the top ten hit parade for many weeks. Cedric released many singles with such bands as The Bell Star and The Tartans. It was not until 1974 that he released his first album as a member of the Royal Rasses on the Universal Records label. Hits on this album included Humanity and Kingston 11 which are classic reggae hits today.
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Roy Johnson, a native of Hanover, Jamaica, grew up singing spirituals at home and cut his teeth as a member of Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus. More importantly, Johnson attended school with Lee Perry, the start of a relationship that would lead to Perry working with him and Myton years later. A chance meeting led to Myton and Johnson working under the name the Congos and hooking up with such major musical talents as Sly Dunbar, Ernest Ranglin, and "Sticky" Thompson. While the music that backed the Congos was undeniably great, their most distinctive feature was their vocals. Johnson's strong, clear tenor and Myton's breathtaking falsetto, which sounded a bit like that of the great Russell Tompkins of the Stylistics. What Lee Perry brought to this mix was his usual anarchic presence, but also his technique of using primitive (even for its time) four-track recording technology that emphasized a cluttered, dense, but hot live sound. With Perry at the controls, the Congos had a man uniquely qualified to capture the roots vibe they wanted to record, perhaps the only producer in Jamaica capable of doing so. The result of this team brought about the birth of the Congo’s.
Great as it was, Heart of the Congos sold only reasonably well in Jamaica, and became a hotly sought-after collectible in America and Britain by a cult of reggae aficionados. The original release dropped out of sight, and crappy reissues were all that was available until very recently. Not long after the record was released, Myton and Johnson went their separate ways, but continued to use the name the Congos or Congo as a means of identification. Myton continued to record with other singers as the Congos. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Cedric worked hard releasing albums such as Congo Ashanti for Blood and Fire Records U.K., Image of Africa for CBS France, Face The Music for Arista Records, Natty Dread Rise Again for RAS Records, Revival for VP Records and Give Them The Rights for Young Tree Records. In the mean time, Johnson worked as a solo act and as a member of some of Adrian Sherwood's experimental dub/funk aggregations. As solo artists, neither of them re-captured the magic of Heart of the Congos, but the fact they were able to do so once is all that really matters. Heart of the Congos became a classic in Europe with the mega hit anthem- “Row Fisherman Row”. The Heart of the Congos was re-mastered, re-packaged and re- released in the late nineties by Blood & fire records and sold over 300,000 units in Europe.
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Their new CD, “Cock Mouth Kill Cock” releasing worldwide on Explorer Recordings March 2006, brings together the original voices of the Congo’s that blended together to make their masterpiece Heart of the Congos, in 1977. The songs on this new CD use original recording of rhythms of the 60’s and 70’s era, straight from the archives of Hit producer Bunny “striker” Lee. This project features the reunion of all of the original members of The Congos - Cedric, Watty and Shanty. Man proposes and God disposes. In this case, it’s great to see the reunion of an exceptional vocal trio that has made history.