Earth Messengers
Back in the mid-70s Vincent Vinnie Taylor (b. c.1960, St. Anns, Jamaica, West Indies) was a Rasta youth seeking an outlet for his singing talents. That outlet arrived in 1976 when Taylor formed Vinnie Taylor And The Revealers, a roots vocal trio modelled along the lines of local heroes Burning Spear. The Revealers logically went to Spear's producer, Jack Ruby, who recorded them on a single Hard Times. When it flopped, Taylor returned to grass roots, changing the group's name to Earth Messengers and acting as a channel for frustrated Ocho Rios youth talent. Among those who passed through Earth Messengers were Donovan Francis, later to sign to Island as a solo singer, and Errol Douglas, later to turn up in Foundation. In 1988 Jack Ruby picked up on Earth Messengers, now comprising Vinnie Taylor, his brother Milton, and Bedster Henry, and they recorded IVORY TOWERS, which was critically well-received but commercially unsuccessful. However, persistence did not entirely pay off for Taylor: further recordings were stymied when Ruby died of a heart attack in the spring of 1989, and Earth Messengers’ current activities are unknown. They remain yet another unlucky reggae act.