Wilfred Gerald Edwards (1938 – 15 August 1992), ^[1] known as Jackie Edwards, was a Jamaican musician, songwriter and record producer, whose career took in ska, R&B, soul, rocksteady, reggae, and ballads. ^[2]

Career

Edwards was born in Jamaica in 1938 where he was raised with fourteen siblings. Strongly influenced by Nat King Cole, he began performing at the age of 14. ^[3] He came to the attention of Chris Blackwell in 1959. Edwards had four number one singles in Jamaica between 1960 and 1961, all self-written ballads with Latin-influenced music. ^[3]

When Blackwell set up Island Records in London in 1962, Edwards travelled with him. ^[1] Edwards worked as a singer and songwriter for Island, recording as a solo artist and also duets with Millie Small, as well as performing duties such as delivering records. ^{[2] [3]} He wrote both " Keep On Running" and " Somebody Help Me", that became number one singles in the United Kingdom for The Spencer Davis Group. ^{[1] [2]} He continued to work as a recording artist himself, with regular album releases through to the mid-1980s. Much of his later work was produced by Bunny Lee. Edwards also worked with The Aggrovators : one of his most renowned songs he produced with that band was the roots sound systems favourite, a recut of Burning Spear's Invasion (Wadada). ^[1] Dionne Bromfield covered his song "Oh Henry" on her album Introducing Dionne Bromfield in 2009.

Edwards worked as a producer, co-producing the 1977 album Move Up Starsky by The Mexicano. ^[4] The majority of Edwards' catalogue is published through Fairwood Music (UK) Ltd.

He died in August 1992 from a heart attack. ^[1]

Discography

Albums

• The Most of Jackie Edwards (1963) – Island
• Stand Up for Jesus (1964) – Island
• Come on Home (1965) – Island
• By Demand (1966) – Island
• Pledging My Love (1966) – Island (with Millie Small)
• Premature Golden Sands (1967) – Island
• Put Your Tears Away (1969) – Island
• I Do Love You (1972) – Trojan
• Do You Believe in Love (1976) – Klik
• African Language (1977) – Harry J Records
• Let It Be Me (1978) – Jamaica Sound (with Hortense Ellis)
• Tell Me Darling (1978) – Imperial
• Sincerely (1978) – Trojan
• Come to Me Softly (1979) – Third World
• Nothing Takes the Place of You (1981) – Starlight
• King of the Ghetto (1982) – Black Music
• Tell It Like It Is (1982) – Starlight
• Love & Affection (1983) – Sky Note (feat. Kate Swadling)
• The Original 'Mr. Cool Ruler' (1983) – Vista Sounds
• The Dynamic Jackie Wilfred Edwards (1984) – Boss
• Musical Treasures Disco Style (198?) – Imperial
• Endless Love (1986) – World Enterprise
• Heart to Heart (1990) – Justice
• Escape (1995) – Peter Pan Industries
• Dearest (1995) – Lagoon
• In Paradise (1995) – Carl's Records

Compilation albums

• The Best of Jackie Edwards (1966) – Island
• The Best of Jackie & Millie (1967) – Trojan (with Millie Small)
• 20 Greatest Hits (1977) – Conflict
• Starlight (1978) – Pye
• 20 Super Hits (19??) – Sonic Sounds
• In Paradise (1994) – Trojan
• Memorial (19??) – Rhino
• Singing Hits from Studio One and More (1995) – Rhino
• Great Soul Hits: Put Your Tears Away (1997) – Marginal
• This Is My Story: A History of Jamaica's Greatest Balladeer (2005) – Trojan
• I Feel So Bad (2006) – Castle
• 50 Greatest Hits (2013) – Alexander Music Group

See also

• List of reggae musicians

References

External links

• Jackie Edwards discography at Discogs
• Fairwood Music (UK) Ltd. Website
• Jackie Edwards at Roots Archives