The Ethiopians

Jack Sparrow to the Ethiopians

Leonard Dillon, born on 9 December 1942 in Port Antonio, first recorded at Studio One under the name Jack Sparrow. Three of those songs were backed by the Wailers, including "Ice Water", which became a sound system favourite. At the end of the ska period he formed a harmony group with Stephen "Tough Cock" Taylor and Aston "Charlie" Morris. They were deciding between calling themselves the Heartaches or the Ethiopians when Clement "Coxsone" Dodd told them the second name was more distinctive.

Studio One and Train to Skaville

In 1966 the trio cut several singles for Studio One, among them "Free Man", "Live Good" and "Owe Me No Pay Me", which sits between ska and rocksteady. "Train to Skaville" (1967) reached No. 6 in Jamaica and entered the UK Singles Chart on the Rio label, peaking at No. 40 during a six-week run in September and October 1967. The group went on to tour Britain for three months in 1968 and two months in 1969, among the first Jamaican acts to play there widely.

Rocksteady and Sir JJ

Through 1967 they recorded for Sonia Pottinger and worked with Lee "Scratch" Perry, and their first LP, Engine 54, came out in 1968. Late that year they began working with producer Carl "Sir JJ" Johnson, the partnership most associated with the group. "Everything Crash" (1968), a comment on the political climate in Jamaica, was the third best-selling record in Jamaica that year and became their signature song. Their UK releases came out through Doctor Bird and Trojan.

Later years

Stephen Taylor was killed in September 1975 when he was struck by a van. Dillon carried on largely as a solo artist, often billed as the Ethiopian, recording the roots album Slave Call (1977) with Winston "Niney" Holness and later sets including Open the Gate of Zion (1978) and Everything Crash (1980). Dillon died on 28 September 2011, which ended the group.