REMEMBERING: Peter McIntosh/Peter Tosh – Murdered Sept. 11, 1987, at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. AND Free I (Jeff Dixon) got shot on Sept 11, 1987, at Peter Tosh’s home in Kingston, Jamaica.
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh (18 October 1944 – 11 September 1987) was a reggae musician who was a member of The Wailers. Peter then went on to have a successful solo career and was a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement.
Peter grew up in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica. He stood out because of his height at 6 feet, 3 inches. He was known for his temper and sarcasm which always kept him in trouble. His sharp tongue and no holdback attitude earned him the nickname Steppin’ Razor a song written by his mentor, Joe Higgs. Tosh began to sing and learn guitar at a very young age, and was inspired by the American radio stations that he listened to on his radio.
REMEMBERING: JEFF DIXON a/k/a FREE I:
Jeff Dixon, a disk jockey for the state-run Jamaica Broadcasting Corp. Passed on 9/11/87 (he along with Peter Tosh)
REMEMBERING: Early B (Earlando Neil) – The Doctor, shot accidentally at the Windsor Cricket Club, Dorchester, Massachusetts, Sept 11, 1994.
Earlando Arrington Neil, better known by his stage name Early B, was an early dancehall and reggae deejay whose lyrics had a cultural bent, noted mainly in his hits Visit of King Selassie, History of Jamaica, and Wheely Wheely, the latter an ode to bicycle-riding in Jamaica.
Earlando was born into a poor family and left a promising school career at age seventeen to support his mother and two brothers. He first worked as a machine clerk but within a year was elevated to an acting supervisor position.
Neil began performing live on Soul Imperial Hi-Fi alongside his young apprentice, Wild Apache (aka Super Cat). He earned his stage name as a result of his reputation for arriving at shows early, thus gaining the name Early Bird, then finally Early B. Early B played on King Majesty Set. This sound played all over the parish of St. Thomas. In the evenings he dragged the young Supercat out of his yard in Kingston to the countryside where they performed on King Majesty for almost a year. The owner of King Majesty was a manager in the sugar cane industry and unfortunately was unable to run the sound system during harvest time. Frustration boiled over for “Cat” and Early B who both had ambitions to make it big in the business. Their first chance for this came with Killamanjaro.
After Killamanjaro made a name for themselves Early B acquired a new nickname – The Doctor. He had endless queues of patients as “Jaro” came of age and established itself as one of the top sets, ranking amongst the legends of the sound world such as Gemini, Black Scorpio, Lee’s Unlimited, Volcano, and the mighty King Sturgav.
Early B was in constant demand as a recording artist scoring hits such as Gaterman Get Fraid, Wheel Wheely (also called One Wheely Wheely), Sunday Dish, and Learn Fe Drive. His next step towards the top was a move to the United States where he continued to be a dancehall favorite. Early B’s deejay career brought him to other sound systems as well, including the African Star sound system in Toronto, Canada, and Crystal Blue Flames Sound in New York City.