Burning: Winston Rodney

Born in 1948, Winston Rodney hailed from the same area of Jamaica as Bob Marley as well as Marcus Garvey. And while his career would eventually encompass aspects of both men’s lives, Rodney had a few albums to get through before being hailed as a cultural revolutionary.

Being introduced to Coxsone Dodd via Bob Marley was really the initial important moment in Rodney’s career. When this alliance was stuck, it was unlikely that anyone involved would figure that Burning Spear would eventually win a few Grammy’s, but that’s in fact how the music industry works.

Rodney, though, hasn’t always been known as Burning Spear. Initially, that moniker was bestowed on the vocal trio (which also included Rupert Willington as well as Delroy Hinds) that he worked with over his first two albums. The 1973 disc simply entitled Studio One Presents Burning Spear dons a cover of Rodney’s face drawn in stark black ink. That album, while made up of a variety of early singles, including the group’s first in the guise of “Door Peep Shall Not Enter” and some work to pad out the format wasn’t the high water mark of his career, but could easily be counted as an important entry into the roots canon. Much in the same way the Abyssinians openly discussed their religious ideals and political beliefs, Burning Spear did so in equally eloquent fashion.

Musically, this first album was a few steps away from the sparse affair that following efforts would purport, but in this series of political and social commentary, the basis for the entirety of the Burning Spear catalog is represented. Messages of freedom and readiness for the impending improvement of life weren’t radically different than many songs in the States from the same period. And it’s perhaps due to this similarity that Burning Spear’s stock was to rise so drastically in the coming years.

Even without these political commonalities, the vocal melodies summoned by the trio – exemplified on “Fire Down Below” - coated the revolutionary messages in an easily consumable candy shell. It was not vacuous pop and even if the production was not necessarily of the highest Studio One quality, it was more than passable.

Following this initial release was another disc – Rockin’ Time­ – before Burning Spear was to unleash its fully realized political and musical statement. Again, having come from the same area as Marcus Garvey had an enormous impact on the singer. With Garvey’s calls for black separatism and return to Africa, his ideas instantly made him a sort of cultural outlaw in the west. There had not ever been such a vocal and assured voice prompting people of African heritage to change the way in which they lived and were treated. The uniforms might have been a bit much, but that can be forgiven.

Armed with these dramatic ideas, Burning Spear sought to expound this message, not necessarily in direct response to oppression, but as a comment upon the innate power and dignity in every human being regardless of race or creed.