This does not mean that 'Born For A Purpose' is a bad or mediocre album by any means but it definitely pales in comparison to its predecessor. Both albums played a key role in the development of Dancehall Reggae and are well worth getting as both are superb examples of what the Reggae genre had to offer during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Alimantado - Born For A Purpose 02 - Dr. Alimantado - Chant To Jah 03 - Dr. Alimantado - Return Of Muhammed Ali 04 - Dr. Alimantado - Sons Of Thunder 05 - Dr. Alimantado - Dreadlocks Dread 06 - Dr. Alimantado - Marriage License 07 - Dr. Alimantado - Call On Jah 08 - Dr. Alimantado - Oil Crisis 09 - Dr. Alimantado - Sitting In The Park. This does not mean that 'Born For A Purpose' is a bad or mediocre album by any means but it definitely pales in comparison to its predecessor. Both albums played a key role in the development of Dancehall Reggae and are well worth getting as both are superb examples of what the Reggae genre had to offer during the late 1970s and early 1980s. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1987 CD release of Born For A Purpose on Discogs. Label: Greensleeves Records - GREL CD 22. Format: CD Album, Reissue. Country: UK. Genre: Reggae. Style: Reggae, Dub. Alimantado: Born For A Purpose.
Doc Alimantado
by Eric Doumerc
(August 2011)
Winston Thompson, aka Doc Alimantado or Winston Prince, is a Jamaican deejay and producer who was quite successful in the mid-1970's in England and in Jamaica.
Born in 1952, Thompson first worked as a deejay with various sound systems like Lord Tippertone and Downbeat, before recording a few sides for Lee Perry in the late 1960's like his versions of Junior Byles' 'Place in Africa' and 'Beat Down Babylon.'
In the 1970's, he recorded a now classic toast to the Lee Perry-produced 'Ketch Vampire' by Devon Irons. His singles were first collected on the LP entitled Best-Dressed Chicken in Town, which was released in 1978 and the title-track was actually a Lee Perry production. This first LP included the popular title-track, 'Poison Flour,' 'Gimmie My Gun' and 'I Killed the Barber.'
In 1977, Alimantado was nearly killed by a bus in downtown Kingston and released a life-affirming single which made him popular in England: 'Born for a Purpose.' Johnny Rotten, the Sex Pistols' lead singer, sang his praises and The Clash referred to him in 'Rudie Can't Fail' (London Calling, 1979). Alimantado's name was becoming a household name in punk circles. The deejay continued to release singles in Jamaica like 'Reggae Music' (with Hugh Blackwood) and 'Rasta Train' (with Raphael) for Lee Perry as well as twelve-inches for the English market like 'Slavery Let I Go' (Virgin, 1978). In 1979, Alimantado released the Kings Bread LP on his own Keyman label. The album contained strong numbers like 'Just Because a Bit of Bread' and dub versions of some of his songs like 'Babylon Let I Go' (the dub cut to 'Slavery Let I Go'). A third LP came out in 1981, entitled Sons of Thunder/Born For a Purpose. This album featured strong material like the hit 'Born for a Purpose,' 'Oil Crisis,' 'Chant to Jah' and 'Dreadlocks Dread.'
Between 1985 and 1990, Dr Alimantado released a series of interesting dub albums (the In the Mix series) and the Wonderful Time LP in 1986. He and even toured England in 1991, a thing he had never done before. Since then, he's kept releasing records on his Keyman label but his career has been more or less dormant. In 2006, he released a compilation of hard-to-find singles entitled House of Singles on his Keyman label. After living in Holland for a while, he is now believed to be based in the Gambia.
Dr Alimantado Born For A Purpose Lyrics
Dr Alimantado's contribution to reggae music is quite unique and lies in his ability to come up with very convincing versions of well-known riddims, his talent for straddling different styles like dread seriousness and humour, and finally his contribution to the genesis of the dancehall style.
As a deejay, Alimantado had a flair for proposing exciting versions of well-known reggae standards. For instance, he recorded (as Winston Prince) a very soulful toast to Junior Byles' atmospheric and Lee Perry-produced track entitled 'Place Called Africa.' Byles' song was a moving and nostalgic tune about Rastafarians' desire to go back to Africa and was hard to surpass in terms of emotional impact, but Thompson did just that by adding a laid-back and eloquent toast to the track. His style is subdued and he does not overdo it. Towards the end of the track, he manages to reproduce the effect of sound reverberation by repeating the words 'ever more, ever more, ever more' as the track fades out.
Alimantado continued to work with Lee Perry, cutting impressive singles like 'Ketch Vampire' with Devon Irons, 'Rasta Train' with Raphael and 'Reggae Music' with Hugo Blackwood. On all these recordings, Alimantado's enthusiam comes through, and he really instills some energy into the original songs.
He also released a number of self-productions, recording at various studios like Channel One, and which were later gathered on the two albums Best-Dressed Chicken in Town and Sons of Thunder, which came out in England on the Greensleeves label. The tracks gathered on these albums are reworkings or new versions of well-known reggae tunes and, in true deejay fashion, Alimantado instills new life into these songs and transforms them completely. For instance, 'Poison Flour' reworks the song 'Man Next Door' ‘(about a noisy neighbour) and uses it as a vehicle for a social commentary tune about a consignment of flour which had arrived in Kingston in 1975 or 1976 and had resulted in the deaths of several people. 'I Killed the Barber' is a humorous and wry new version of the old John Holt tune 'Ali Baba' (originally recorded for Duke Reid) and which had given rise to a memorable 'dread' version by David Jahson ('Natty Chase the Barber,' 1975, produced by Tommy Cowan). David Jahson's version was a playful deconstruction of the original John Holt tune which was about Ali Baba of course. In Jahson's version, Ali Baba became the 'barber' (Ali Barber), that is every Rastafarian's worst enemy. Hence the need to chase him away. Dr Alimantado did his own version of the tune and claimed that 'Tom' had 'shot' the barber who had cut off so many dreadlocks ('he pulled a 38 from his waist last night').
But Alimantado's popularity was also due to his ability to perform in a variety of styles. On certain recordings, Alimantado performed in the then-fashionable apocalpyptic style and sounds like a biblical prophet thundering against evil forces. This approach characterises his version of Devon Irons' 'Ketch Vampire,' a song about hypocrites and false Rastas. Alimantado's delivery and chanting style are perfectly suited to the dark and brooding atmosphere created by Lee Perry's mix. His 'Oil Crisis' reworks Horace Andy's ' Ain't No Sunshine' and the deejay's plea to Jah again fits the sombre rhythm and mournful track. On 'How Long' (to be found on the Wonderful Time LP) Alimantado delivers a very sombre toast in the style of the gruff-voiced deejay Prince Far I and this recording features one of the 'dreadest' and darkest basslines to have graced a reggae record. These recordings contrast sharply with tunes like 'I Killed the Barber' and 'Chant to Jah' which are characterised by a more upbeat mood and a more ebullient approach. His chanting on 'I Killed the Barber' ('Gone, gone, the barber's gone!') is brimming with enthusiasm.
Alimantado's versatility also extended to singing or rather to singjaying. The LP entitled Sons of Thunder contains his best-known recording, 'Born for a Purpose,' originally released in 1977 after the deejay nearly died in a traffic accident. The life-affirming tune became a hit in England with its echo-laden and sax-led hook: 'If you feel that you have no reason for living, don't determine my life.' But the novelty was that Alimantado sang on this tune, and sang beautifully. Dr Alimantado was to develop a style which would be half-way through deejaying and singing, and the tune entitled 'Slavery Let I Go' released in 1978 is a good example of that approach:
The youth will work for his bread,This recording is highly melodious and rhythmic at the same time and as with 'Born for a Purpose,' a sax line drives the recording. This concern for melody and hooks was at the time unsual for deejays and made Alimantado's recordings quite unique. The lines quoted above are delivered in a style which is quite distinct from that of the other 1970's deejays and which can be best described as 'singjaying.' It is often said that Sugar Minott, Eek-A-Mouse and Tenor Saw all contributed to the genesis of the 'singjay' style, but Doc Alimantado was probably one of the earliest Jamaican artists to develop that approach and thus can be credited with paving the way for the modern dancehall style. The songs entitled 'Just Because of a Bit of Bread' and 'Zion Steppers,' both on the
So do not fight against the youthman, dread.
Leave the youth, may he survive
And keep God's words, God's words alive.
God called up on the youth ‘cause he know
The youth is strong, yeah.
You can't terrorise youth long, long, longer,
Youthman get wise and strong.
My mother told me there was a weeping,
There was a wailing, there was a moaning.
Help help, help I !
Freedom rocking in a freedom land,
Free dem man with Jah Jah plan.
Dr Alimantado Born For A Purpose Book
Kings Bread LP, are good examples of the singjay style, with a melodic yet rhythmic delivery, a strong 'steppers' riddim (which was fashionable back then) and a heavy mix. In 'Just Because of A Bit of Bread,' just like on 'Slavery Let I Go,' towards the end of the song, Alimantado goes into a semi-improvised or scat-like mode which is reminiscent of the jazz tradition while being firmly rooted in Jamaican deejaying, but he still maintains a very melodic approach.Thus Dr Alimantado can be credited with having contributed to the modernisation and evolution of reggae music and with blurring the distinction between singing and deejaying, which eventually led to the birth of the 'dancehall style' in the 1980's. He is, in other words, a true original.
| Birth name | Winston Thompson |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Ital Surgeon |
| Born | 1952 (age 67–68) Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae |
| Instruments | Vocalist and Producer |
Dr Alimantado (born Winston James Thompson; 1952 in Kingston), also known as The Ital Surgeon, is a Jamaicanreggae singer, DJ, and producer.[1]
Life and career[edit]
Thompson adopted the Rastafarian faith at an early age.[1] He honed his talents on local sound systems such as Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat and Lord Tippertone, and started to record very young under various names (Winston Price, Winston Cool, Ital Winston, or Youth Winston).[1] His first recordings were for Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Bunny Lee - 'Place Called Africa Version 3' and 'Maccabee Version'. He returned to Lee 'Scratch' Perry in 1976, recording the DJ portion of Devon Irons' 12' 'Ketch Vampire'. Between 1971 and 1977 his singles were unreleased outside Jamaica, only being available in the UK on import. He built his reputation with tunes such as 'Oil Crisis' (versioning Horace Andy's 'Ain't No Sunshine'), 'Sons of Thunder', (toasting over Jackie Brown's 'Wiser Dread'), 'Gimme Mi Gun' on Gregory Isaacs' 'Thief a Man' and 'Poison Flour', on a recut of The Paragons 'Man Next Door' rhythm. He mainly met success in the mid to late 1970s, with his best-known album being Best Dressed Chicken in Town (1978), a Greensleeves Records collection of tracks recorded in the mid-70s, featuring Alimantado toasting over singers such as John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, Jackie Edwards and Horace Andy. His tunes mixed his Rastafari movement beliefs with commentary on events then going on in his community; 'Poison Flour' referenced a January 1976 incident when 79 persons in Jamaica were acutely poisoned by consuming flour contaminated by leakage of the insecticide parathion in a ship's hold. Seventeen died.
Alimantado became popular with punk rockers in the 1970s following Johnny Rotten praising him in an interview.[2] He was mentioned in the 1979 song 'Rudie Can't Fail' by The Clash in the line 'Like the doctor who was born for a purpose'.[1]The artist recorded 'Born for a Purpose' in 1977 at Channel One, one of Alimantado's biggest hits (along with 'A Place Called Africa'). 'Born for a Purpose' was originally released on his Vital Food label, and told of his Rastafarian faith supporting him after bus driver had driven into him in Kingston on 26 December 1976, causing serious injuries.[1] The musicians who played on the record did so without payment. The single, and its accompanying version 'Still Alive' were released in the UK firstly as two 7' 45s, then as a 12', featuring the full extended mixes. By 1977 he had largely abandoned his toasting style, apart from occasional records such as 'Go Deh Natty Go Deh' on a heavily dubbed mix of Delroy Wilson's 'Trying to Conquer Me', preferring to release singing tunes, including 'Mama (I Thank You)', 'Jah Love Forever', and a cover of Billy Stewart's 'Sitting in the Park'.
Following the success of Best Dressed Chicken and its follow-up compilation Sons of Thunder he signed to Virgin Records as a singer. While not without vocal talent, his singing records never captured the public imagination to the extent that his 'toasting' records did.
His last recording appears to be 'Stop Your Fighting' for the Mad Professor's Ariwa label, on a Channel One Studios remake of Horace Andy's 'Fever' rhythm. He is a member of the Rastafari movement.
The film Hancock featured the song 'Best Dressed Chicken in Town'.
2009 marked the 30th anniversary of his album Best Dressed Chicken in Town. To mark the occasion Alimantado re-released the album in its original sleeves with a bonus DVD on his own Keyman Records label.
References[edit]
Dr Alimantado Born For A Purpose
- ^ abcdeMoskowitz, David V. (2006) Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN0-313-33158-8, p. 295-6
- ^Cook, Stephen 'Best Dressed Chicken in Town Review', Allmusic, retrieved 2010-01-23
Dr Alimantado Born For A Purpose Plan