Contents - Beth Lesser

next day. So, I wrote the song.”
By 1984, the albums were coming out fast and furious. Bye My Lady, for
Joe Gibbs, Strictly Reggae Music, for E.J. Robinson, and two ‘clash ‘ albums, a
Channel One clash with Little John, featuring the forceful cut, ‘Slave Driver’,
and a clash LP with Barrington Levy for Junjo, which featured ‘Pass The
Kushunpeng’ and ‘Them a Talk ‘Bout’. In 1985, Frankie also came out with
the album Over the Wall, on Blue Mountain Music, which featured ‘Inferiority
Complex’ * . He followed that with yet another clash LP, this time against
Michael Palmer, for King Jammy.
Frankie’s career was set and he continued to rack up chart toppers. But
apart from his chart success, Frankie recorded several underrated gems along
the way, like the two High Times releases ‘Old Nigger’, produced by King
Culture and ‘I Need Your Lovin’ which appeared on the Aligator LP High
Times All Star Explosion (1985), Top Rank’s ‘Pass Me the Scale’, and the cheerful,
uplifting, ‘Zion Train’ which he did for Clive Anderson’s Leo Productions.
Frankie wrote most of his own material. Even as a youth in school, he
had always written songs, poems, stories. Frankie Paul was a multi-talented
man. He played several instruments and actually began his musical career as a
drummer. As a result of the popularity of his recordings, Frankie began touring
all over the world. From the beginning, Frankie Paul was a professional.
Even in his first stage shows abroad, Frankie commanded the band like a drill
sergeant, instructing the drummer which drum to hit and when. He was in
full control and knew precisely what he wanted.
Yet, for all his musical sophistication, off stage Frankie could act like the
child he still really was, always joking around, playing tricks. Although his
contract for performing abroad often contained a clause that as a legally blind
person he had to be accompanied at all times, Frankie liked to try to escape
from his ‘baby sitters’. The promoters, in order to get clearance from immigration,
had to sign special papers promising to be responsible for him and to
keep his passport secure. Being tied to the promoters seemed to rankle, and
it aggravated Frankie’s naturally rebellious nature. So, he would hatch plots
with local accomplices to get away. Once out with friends, he might start a
conversation with a gold fish, or walk up to a manikin in store, shaking her
hand and declaring in a low, formal tone, “Hello, I’m James Bond 007.”
All day long he would sing. He would sing songs, snippets of commercials -
he said he especially loved the American Airlines song. He respected all forms
of music, ads as much as operas. Let loose abroad, he could spend all his time
buried in record stores, searching for any soul releases he might not have in
his collection.
Speaking in a mid range, sing-song voice while at ease, he was careful to
alter his vocal patterns according to the situation. When being interviewed
* written by percussionist Sky Juice
164 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall