Delroy Wilson – File The 1972 gospel-based recording I’ll Take You There by The Staple Singers soared to the top of the American Billboard charts that year. It triggered a protest by Jamaican record producer Harry Johnson, now deceased, who claimed the song’s introduction was lifted from his instrumental The Liquidator. It was an unusual break in the accustomed pattern of Jamaicans covering foreign recordings. While there is no denying that the large majority of early Jamaican recordings were original compositions, a significant portion were either copied directly or modified from other songs. In 1964, trombonist extraordinaire Don Drummond modified Johnny Cash’s country and western hit Ring of Fire to create the lasting ska instrumental Occupation. The Mexican horns that infiltrated Ring of Fire (something previously unheard of in country and western music) must have inspired Drummond. Clement ‘Sir Coxson’ Dodd, owner of … Read entire article »