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“As far as the plane can go, Reggae music will look down 'pon the iron bird. And as far away as the satellite go...Reggae music higher than that right now. If you take it higher, it's gonna disappear. A lost, it will [be] lost. Then you a go call obeah fi go catch it.” --Winston “Niney” Holness, Interview with Daddy Lion Chandell (November 10, 2008)

Whether you listen to one of his many productions, look at his face on an album cover, or meet him up-close and in person, Niney The Observer, who indeed has lived up to his moniker in more ways than one, remains one of the most mysterious personalities in Jamaican music history, as well as one of the most influential. Retrospectively speaking, some may get the impression that Niney's greatest accomplishment was that he was one of the pioneering producers of Reggae music. Some might think it was simply his unusually orchestrated signature tune "Blood And Fire", and some will say it was his big hits with Dennis Brown. They would all be wrong.

Those accomplishments, though significantly great (or greatly significant), were just his big claims to fame. Not to discredit the aforementioned in any way, it is also important to note that Niney was also a major seed in the birth of Dub, as well as one of the founding fathers of Roots Reggae. Moreover, he and the artists who worked with him practically spearheaded the moral consciousness of Reggae, most specifically in the emphasis of taking the spiritual self-responsibility of knowing oneself and Rastafari seriously, and not taking said subject matter in vain because it sounded good for the genre. The message was so clear and so prevalent throughout the first half of the 1970s indeed, so much so that some would probably have considered Niney somewhat of a wise man. Cool, calm, and collective as he appears as he commands his surroundings with the "all-seeing eye" that adorns his neck to this day, he may not stake claim to being a wise man, but he makes it perfectly clear, with or without saying a word, that he is indeed The Observer.

George Boswell, who began life in 1951 straight out of Montego Bay, began his musical career at the age of 14 as an engineer for KG Records, which was more so a well-known distributor than a label. Nevertheless, he began to produce music at KG and the first fruit of his hard work was his own song entitled "Come On Baby". Not too far after this time, Boswell connected with Coxsone Dodd, who saw within him a sharp shrewd business-type man who could work the business end and the music end at the same time. In a rare set of events, Coxsone set him up with his own office and facilities on Orange Street where he would eventually launch his own label, Destroyer.

By this time, he had now taken on the name Winston Holness -- a name that he would carry throughout the rest of his life until "George Boswell" was practically nowhere in either his nor our vocabulary -- and from this new label venture was a 50/50 partnership of sorts between he and Coxsone. In time, the songs Winston had provided Coxsone for release on Destroyer soon turned into songs released strictly on the Studio One labels, and he would soon leave that situation alone, moving on to work with Bunny Lee in 1967, where he got in so good that -- just like Coxsone -- Lee was able to trust him to run the studio, giving him a major head start at some actual music production, which indeed he took advantage of. Above all else, a Slim Smith hit song resulted from this period.

Then, just like a certain future JA musical icon named Errol Thompson (and before him, just as well), Winston earned a reputation as the hottest engineer in town. After a major dispute between he and Bunny Lee, the knowledge of his reputation and the offers from other record label owners made it easy for him to decide to work with Joe Gibbs at Amalgamated Records in 1968, just after his friend Lee "Scratch" Perry departed from Gibbs' employ to go independent after producing--AND MAKING HITS-- for Amalgamated for two years.

Winston, who earned the nickname "Niney" from the result of getting his thumb sliced off in a workshop accident, not only began his part in producing music for Joe Gibbs, but he also brought his label Destroyer to him for distribution. Just as well, Niney would work with Gibbs from 1968 to 1975 all together, but not without remaining in control (if at least, somewhat) of his faculties. For the most part, Niney's main early work under Joe Gibbs and his labels (most specifically Pressure Beat) included music from Delroy Wilson, The Heptones, Dennis Brown, Nicky Thomas, and deejays Lizzy and Johnny Lover. Niney's biggest hits at Joe Gibbs, now no longer under the Amalgamated name, include Nicky Thomas's rendition of "Love Of The Common People", Peter Tosh's "Maga Dog" and "Them A Fi Get A Beaten", and Dennis Brown's first version of "Money In My Pocket", among many others. But like Scratch, he would never receive direct credit as producer, as was the nature of the business to always identify a Jamaican record label with its proprietor.

All things considered with the fallout between Joe Gibbs and Lee Perry, Gibbs would become somewhat of a better businessman around Niney, because for probably one of the only times in Jamaican music history, the label head (Gibbs) named his studio band after the sub-label's name for the sake of Niney's productions. Most of Niney's instrumental recordings with Joe Gibbs are credited as "The Destroyers" or “Joe Gibbs & The Destroyers”. Of course, it helped that Niney made far more vocal recordings than Scratch did, which all changed when he left to form Upsetter and break further out of his vocal shell.

Niney was indeed in command of his faculties, and it was evident when he took the Destroyer label completely independent in 1970 and -- with a healthy sponsorship from veteran producer Clancy Eccles of Clandisc Records -- released a mere 200 copies "Blood And Fire" in the later part of the year. Ironically enough, “Blood And Fire did ensue for a bit (with slight emphasis on "Blood") around the release of said track, most specifically when organist and Upsetters member Glen Adams confronted Niney for interpolating the "let it burn, let it burn / let it burn, burn, burn..." coda into "Blood & Fire". This now famous coda was originally part of the song "Keep Your Love Light Burning" by Bob Marley & The Wailers, released just a few months prior. Whether it was found that it was a matter of coincidence on Niney's part is currently unknown. However, what can be said is that the dispute turned into a major brouhaha in which Niney ended up getting slashed on one of his shoulders. Nevertheless, even after having suffered two severe bruises already before the age of 21, Niney persevered and "Blood And Fire" -- just as sure as the original 200 Destroyer copies went out like a hurricane -- went on to become Jamaican Record Of The Year as well as becoming one of the top-grossing singles in Jamaica and England. By this time, Destroyer had now been renamed (and otherwise folded into an active subsidiary of) Observer, and it has never "LOOKED" back since.

Throughout the following years at Observer, Niney would continue to make noise in the Reggae world, as he continued to keep tight-knit relationships with everyone and every label he worked with, both back-a-yard and abroad. But Observer's greatest spot of glory began in 1975, a very heavy year for Reggae. The Wailers (now without two of its original founding members), were pushing on with their new sound, Jacob Miller was finally beginning to flourish as both a solo artist and with Inner Circle, and Niney had just recently sealed a partnership deal with record label designer/printer and future Joe Frasier Records founder Lloyd “Spiderman” Campbell to run one of his labels called The Thing.

What's more, Dennis Brown had embarked upon newfound fame and notoriety, mostly with Niney The Observer. So serious and so close was the musical relationship between the two that it practically defined Reggae's movement into prosperity. Even after a major falling out with Trojan Records, at this time under the control of Saga Music (a Classical music outfit by origin), for giving Niney and Dennis bounced checks for 3 recently released album projects, the two remained dedicated to the music and soldiered on to make more hits including “Cassandra” and “Westbound Train” -- two songs which implement elements of two respective Al Green tunes.

While Niney himself established steady UK distributorships with outlets like Larry Lawrence's Ethnic Fight, Niney and Dennis (who was then becoming more of a producer himself) would establish a rather prolific relationship with Castro Brown (unrelated to Dennis, although you could never tell from looking at both of them). Brown had formed the DEB Music label and both he and Niney had arranged to have his label distributed first and foremost under Castro's label/distribution outlet Morpheus. Aside from being the primary driving force behind the late Junior Delgado's career, DEB Music's most popular release under Morpheus was “Wolf & Leopards”, an uncanny collaboration between Dennis, Castro, Niney, and Ossie Hibbert that has remained a staple in Reggae history.

Even long after the original heyday of Observer's hitmaking era, the label still remains well and alive. Niney is best known for his classic Roots, is appreciated for his early Dancehall tunes with people like Don Carlos and (of all people) Third World, and has introduced the world to King Tubby (his engineer from the beginning of Observer) and the Dub movement. During the course of the 1990s and 2000s, Observer, even long after Tubby's death, has focused a lot more on their dub efforts, enjoyed by selectors and sound systems around the world. In early November 2008, Niney completed work on a brand-new studio facility in Jamaica, where he will continue his legacy on a more steady course, ready to produce new music with the current and next generation of artists, a passion he has had for a long time while making a second home in New York.

When asked about his views of the current state of Reggae music today and where he would like to take it, Niney replies with a major enthusiastic energy: “Reggae music can't go no higher, you know. You can't take it further higher from where it go, because Reggae music is like what [Barack] Obama do right now -- It's the highest of the highest, you know what I mean? Bob Marley and everybody take it to the prime of all music. It's only the youth them now have fi go come and just carry on the works.”

Truer words could have never been said. And if history proves to repeat itself, maybe you'll come across someone to watch and observe with you, with his or her own brand of “Blood And Fire”!

DADDY LION CHANDELL
Roots Dynamic Sound System / Black Moses Sound System

Special thanks from Daddy Lion Chandell to the following people:

-- Niney The Observer for coming through at just the right time on this very important collection and, of course, for giving us a treasure trove of music for all generations to enjoy

-- My Brother Fidel Luna for his patience and too much else to mention

-- Supercinq, for the sweet designs as well as your patience