I've lamented the fact that a number of folks have been left out of the history of Jamaican music when examining the perspective of fans in passing of the reggae genre. But perhaps the most inexplicable personage who's notably absent from any history of JA music is Clancy Eccles. While he may have had a difficult go of making music his life, there are few folks that turned in such a string of striking singles with emotive and romantic qualities.

Being the son of a single father, Eccles had it rough from the beginning - his mother left when he was ten years old. Eccles' father was able to provide for his young son, but this necessitated trips into Kingston to find sporadic work as a tailor.

As early as 1958, Eccles was recording, though. It became clear by the time that the island gained its independence that he was unable to keep his work in the charts, despite penning an early track in support of repatriation. By '62 Eccles had turned to the business portion of the industry, working to organize and promote concerts and package tours. However, just three years later, he quit the music business and became a tailor.

Although, during this time Eccles still worked with singers, creating their costumes and the like, it wasn't until a few years later that he returned to music - this time as a producer even as he occasionally recorded his own work.

As before, for whatever reason, Eccles didn't have the luck to drastically impact the charts. But while he set up a label to release work through, the singer issued a few Reggae Revue albums that sport a great deal of talent - those singers too have since disappeared into the dustbin of reggae unfortunately. On the first volume of these compilations, Eccles issued "Don't Brag, Don't Boast." And even if the song, itself was nothing more than a braggadocios screed on talent, the chorus along with its rock steady tempo is easily one of the highlights from the genre.

The '60s ended without Eccles becoming a star, but predicated upon his earlier politically inspired tracks, soon to be elected politico Michael Manley tapped the singer to organize a stage show to accompany his impending campaign. While getting Bob Marley, amongst others, to play this series of shows easily impacted the outcome of that historic election, it left Eccles with little else to do.

For the duration of his life, the singer come tailor, producer and concert organizer worked when he could in the medium that he loved. And oddly enough, he somehow earned a spot producing a New York City singers disc. Exuma's - a Bahamain - folksy styles found in his early performances gave way to some tropical flair. And even if the few records that Exuma released in tandem with Eccles didn't end up impacting the States' music scene to much, it again is a testament to the talent that this Jamaican singer had. It'd be well worth YOUR time to hunt down anything with Eccles' name attached.