By NAN ET Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. July 24, 2020: The Caribbean lost one of its legendary singers to COVID-19 this week. Legendary Jamaican born singer and producer, “Dobby” Dobson, died on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at age 78 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from complications of COVID-19. Here are 10 things to know about this iconic singer.
1: Dobson was born Highland Dobson on July 5, 1942 in Kingston, Jamaica. He began singing while a student at Central Branch School in Kingston and at Kingston College, where he sang in the chapel choir, and successfully took part in Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest as a member of The Twilights. While at Kingston College he wrote the doo-wop song “Cry a Little Cry” as a tribute to his biology teacher.
2: Dobson then recruited a group of schoolmates from the Delta stream at the college to back him on a recording of the song, under the name the Dobby Dobson and the Deltas on Lyndon and Sonia Pottinger’s Tip-Top label in 1959.
3: Leaving school in 1959, Dobson went on record with Charles Josephs as part of the duo Chuck and Dobby, before becoming a solo artist in the early 1960s.
4: He later moved on to work with both Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid, recording as a member of both The Virtues and The Sheiks, and recorded “Loving Pauper” with Reid, which became his signature tune.
5: Despite his musical success, Dobson kept his job as a salesman and proof-reader for The Jamaica Gleaner. In 1971, he recorded “That Wonderful Sound” for Rupie Edwards, which sold over 40,000 copies in the Caribbean, and was followed up by the equally successful “Endlessly”, which was also a minor hit on the UK Singles Chart.
6: Disappointing album sales led Dobson to move into production, including The Meditations’ late 1970s albums Message From The Meditations and Wake Up, as well as early work by Barrington Levy.
7: In 1979, Dobson emigrated to New York City, where he worked in real estate, although he would still occasionally visit the recording studio, and performed at both the Reggae Sunsplash and the Reggae Sumfest festivals.
8: He continued to be popular with international fans, doing many live performances and covers. He later became a born-again Christian and recorded several gospel albums.
9: Over the course of his career, he released 27 albums including the last in 2012, titled, “I’m Just No Body” and “Desperation.”
10: A year before, on August 6, 2011, the Governor-General of Jamaica conferred the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer (OD) upon Dobson, for his contribution to reggae music and representation of Jamaican culture. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange on Thursday expressed sadness at the passing of Dobson, stating: “He will be greatly missed by us all and I wish to express condolences to his relatives, friends and associates.”
See Dobson in a live performance here.
