Garnett Silk
| Garnett Silk | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Garnet Damion Smith |
| Born | 2 April 1966 |
| Origin | Manchester, Jamaica |
| Died | 9 December 1994 (aged 28) Mandeville, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae, dancehall |
| Years active | late 1970s–1994 |
| Labels | VP, Greensleeves, Heartbeat, Atlantic |
| Associated acts | Jahpostles |
Garnett Silk (born Garnet Damion Smith; 2 April 1966 – 9 December 1994), was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, however his career was ended by his early death in 1994, while attempting to save his mother from her burning house.
Smith was born in Manchester, Jamaica. His musical career began at the age of twelve, when he performed under the name Little Bimbo. During the 1980s he worked as a deejay on sound systems such as Conquering Lion, Soul Remembrance, Pepper's Disco, Stereophonic, and Destiny Outernational (where he first met Tony Rebel). He recorded his first track in 1985, but it would be two years later before his first single, "Problem Everywhere" was released. An album of material from this period (Journey) was later released. In 1988, he joined Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion label, releasing "No Disrespect", and working regularly with Tony Rebel, Smith now being billed simply as 'Bimbo'. The pair began performing as a duo around the sound systems to much acclaim. The Garnett Silk Meets the Conquering Lion: A Dub Plate Selection album dates from about this time and features a clutch of exclusive recordings the DJ cut for the sound system from the mid-1980s through the end of the decade. Rebel, a Rastarfari, eventually converted Smith to his religion with the help of dub poet Yasus Afari, a close friend of both the DJs.
In 1989, at the suggestion of veteran singer Derrick Morgan, Smith turned from deejaying to singing, with a recording session at Bunny Lee's studio with Rebel, including tracks recorded separately, as a duo, and with Anthony Selassie, and he began working under his real name. The Heartbeat label's Tony Rebel Meets Garnett Silk in a Dancehall Conference compiles these early Morgan-overseen recordings. The success of this session led him to continue as a singer, going on to work with producers King Tubby, Prince Jammy, and Donovan Germain, before signing a two-year contract with Steely & Clevie in 1990, recording an album's worth of songs for them. It was the production duo who decided to change his name to Garnet Silk, in reference to his smooth voice. Only one of the tracks recorded during this period, "We Can Be Together," a duet with Chevelle Franklin, was actually released at the time, and discouraged by this, he returned to Manchester and threw himself into songwriting, often in partnership with an old friend, Anthony "Fire" Rochester.
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