One Drop Eighteen
I am a living man who's got a lots of plans, it's true...
No particular theme this week, so I’ve picked one close to my heart; the singular voice and relatively obscure contribution of Junior Byles. We start this posting with a poem from Geoffrey Philip inspired by that feeling of post-herb laziness in the company of the one you love. I cannot tell you how much I admire this poem.
The second part of this posting features a bit of indulgence on my part - a brief appreciation of an undervalued star of reggae. Junior Byles. When Bob Marley’s early association with the great producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry came to an end in the late 1960s, Perry sought a singer with similar presence and charisma to step into Marley’s shoes. It was Kenneth ‘Junior’ Byles who came in, and for a while made records that married conscious Rastafarianism to a spare, sparse reggae sound. My favourite song from that era is Junior’s Curly Locks, which is included below. A strange, sad and sweet song of unrequitable love - a young man chooses his faith over his heart. Exquisite.
Junior Byles died in poverty and poor health in 2025, and we celebrate the brightness of a flame that sputtered and went out too soon. Hear him and weep.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/burning-rolled-cigar-on-metal-ashtray-9821043/
Easy Skanking
for Nadia
all saturday evenings
should be like this, caressing
your thigh while reading neruda
with his odes to matilde’s arms,
breasts, hair—everything about her
that made him
a part of this bountiful earth—
lilies, onions, avocadoes—that fed
his poetry the way
rain washes the dumb cane with desire
or banyans break through asphalt.
this is the nirvana that the buddha
with his bald monks and tiresome sutras
never knew—or else he’d never have left
his palace and longing bride—
the supple feel of your leg in my hands
for which i’d spin the wheel of karma
a thousand lifetimes, more.
Geoffrey Philip
Three stone-cold Junior Byles classics
Curly Locks (a typically strange Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry arrangement and a sweet, restrained vocal)
Beat Down Babylon (plus the flipside - a tweeter-mangling ‘Ital version’ from Lee Perry)
W-E-E-P-I-N-G (and its flip ‘East Africa Herbs Vendor Dub Wise’. Oh boy - those horns!)
An appreciation of Junior Byles courtesy of the Reggae Appreciation Society
Elegy for Junior Byles
Two roads before you, Rasta:
to the left a twilit path, clouded
by dub and collie weed; right,
the road to consciousness, the
sweet harvest of your own voice.
Whichever you choose, both end here.
Andy Jackson