Al Campbell
b. 31 August 1954, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Campbell first recorded as one of the Thrillers for Studio One in the late '60s. Though he provided backing vocals on many sessions for Coxsone Dodd, he is not the Al Campbell who sang the near legendary Take A Ride for Coxsone. Throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, Campbell has recorded successfully in just about all of the myriad styles that reggae music has gone through, the excellent ‘roots’ records that he made for Joe Gibbs and Phil Pratt being but one example of his talents. However, his greatest popularity was achieved when he covered lovers rock material for Phil Pratt again—with Gee Baby in particular, which was a huge hit in 1975, both in Jamaica and the UK. From then on he flitted between the two countries and his recording of Late Night Blues, for London based JB Records, formed part of the soundtrack of 1980, and has been in constant demand ever since. He made many more records in a similar vein, several of which are collected on his MR LOVERS ROCK set. He has retained his position as one of the music's foremost vocalists in the '90s, while his most recent recordings have been for King Jammys Kingston II label. He is still out there, despite the fickle nature of the traditional reggae audience, largely due to his smooth, relaxed, accomplished style, coupled with his ability to move with the times and give the public what they want.