[Duffcott]

R.I.P - ROY SIRLEY 1944 - 2008
Roy Shirley Passes Away
Roy Shirley, the ‘High Priest Of Reggae’ has passed away.

Born Ainsworth Roy Rushton Shirley in 1944, he made his recording debut in the mid-sixties, cutting ‘Shirley’ for Leslie Kong, before teaming up first with Errol Dunkley and later, Ken Boothe, the latter also joining him in the Leaders, a vocal quartet that also featured Joe White and Chuck Josephs. Early the following year, Shirley founded the Uniques along with Slim Smith and Franklyn White, but the trio proved short-lived and after recording material with Prince Buster and Karl ‘J.J.’ Johnson, the group disbanded.

Following the break up of the Uniques, Shirley attended one-off sessions for Blondel Calnek and WIRL Records before cutting what was to be his first major hit, ‘Hold Them’ (aka ‘Feel Good’) for Joe Gibbs. Over the next five years, he recorded for an array of producers as well as founding his own Public Records imprint and was rarely out of the Jamaican charts, his spectacular run of hits only brought to an end by his relocation to Britain around 1973. During this period he had also established a reputation as a stage performer without equal in Jamaica, his live shows becoming celebrated events on the island. Soon after his move to London, Roy opened a record shop in Dalston and over the years that followed remained active musically, recording new material and founding the British Universal Talent Development Association to help develop new young talent worldwide.

Truly unique, Roy was not only one of one of the true greats of Jamaican music’s first golden age, but also a gentleman in every sense of the word and he will be sadly missed by all those who knew him, either personally or through his music.

I was lucky to see him last month at the sierra nevada world music festival here is a link to his last performance someone posted Roy Shirleys Last Performance SNWMF 08 - Putfile.com

and also a link to a you tube video
YouTube - Roy Shirley

Thank you so much,Firewoman. Did you see this one?
YouTube - Roy Shirley with Rico and Band - Rock Steady
Roy Shirley was the FIRST man who bring me and Soul Syndicate into the recording studio in '69, a song called "Flying Reggae"

I repost it here
http://reggaedubwise.com/ranking.php?mode=video&size=0&order=3&pagebreak=1& replace[]=Newest+Videos&replace[]=&replace[]=new&header_template=video_channel_header.tpl&row_ template=video_channel_row.tpl&footer_template=vid eo_channel_footer.tpl
That's his record shop ,in London,at the start of the video.I had the chance to talk with him at SNWMF,but,we were performing same time on a different stage so I didn't catch his show.....

thanks tony for the links. It was unfortunate that they had the shows on at the same time. I watched your set then ran to the small stage to see who was on and got lucky enough to see the end of pat kelly. then stranger cole and roy shirley i had to miss the english beat though to see them. every year you have to miss someone i hope they schedule a lil better in the future maybe have the world music play on one stage so you dont miss the roots reggae. Sierra Nevada always has something special in thier artist lineups ,its a must every year for me.

[Spliffington]

Nice history Tony! Roy was one of the greats, an originator and consummate entertainer. He'll be missed by nuff of us. Heartical condolences to his loved ones.

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival Created a Tribute Page for Mr Shirley that includes audio from his SNWMF 2008 performance as well as his interview at KZYX. The page also includes photos of him at SNWMF along with a video of his performance of "Thank You".
SNWMF 2008 - Tribute to Roy Shirley

[ali]

Thats a great clip of Roy, Tony. Thanks for posting.
ali

[ali]

Found this on the Trojan Records site this morning..............


"Following on from the sad news of Roy Shirley's passing, his widow and daughter have made an appeal for any donations to help pay for his burial.

If enough money can be raised, Roy’s body can be returned to Jamaica, where the Jamaican Association of Veteran Artists (JAVA) will arrange his burial, but if an insufficient amount is collected, any donations made will contribute to the cost of burying him in the UK.

All donations, regardless of the amount, are welcome and can be paid directly into the following Halifax (a division of the Bank of Scotland) account:

Account name: Queen Irie Rushton (Roy‘s daughter)
Bank sort code: 11-17-04
Account number 00023457

One of the true innovators of Jamaican music, Roy Shirley was also a true gentleman in every sense of the word, always ready to put the interests of others before his own. With the your help, he can be put to rest with the dignity and respect that is befitting a man of such immense talent and character."