Help identify a musician
September 7, 2010 5:44 AM Subscribe
Can you help me identify a ska/reggae singer?
I was in a bar and heard some ska music that I liked a lot. I asked the barman what it was called and he said that it was a singer called 'Jim Marpell' (this is my guessing of the spelling). Googling around for this name + ska/reggae gave me a person called 'Ray Martell', which is old ska but it sounds slightly different.
The distinguishing aspects of it were that it was a woman singing, and it sounded like very old ska (my friend said that it was 'first wave ska', but I am not enough of an expert to know if that was the case). However, the sound quality was extremely high, so I thought it might have been made recently.
(I was a bit suprised when he gave me the name Jim Marpell as it was clearly a woman singer, but I thought perhaps it was a group name).
Thanks, hive-mind!
I was in a bar and heard some ska music that I liked a lot. I asked the barman what it was called and he said that it was a singer called 'Jim Marpell' (this is my guessing of the spelling). Googling around for this name + ska/reggae gave me a person called 'Ray Martell', which is old ska but it sounds slightly different.
The distinguishing aspects of it were that it was a woman singing, and it sounded like very old ska (my friend said that it was 'first wave ska', but I am not enough of an expert to know if that was the case). However, the sound quality was extremely high, so I thought it might have been made recently.
(I was a bit suprised when he gave me the name Jim Marpell as it was clearly a woman singer, but I thought perhaps it was a group name).
Thanks, hive-mind!
Response by poster: Sadly I can't remember any of the lyrics.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 6:33 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 6:33 AM on September 7, 2010
I know this isn't terribly similar, but let's assume the bartender was drunk or didn't know what he was saying... Toots and the Maytals?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:37 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:37 AM on September 7, 2010
Response by poster: I'm fairly certain it wasn't the Toots and the Maytals as I know their music quite well. It was slightly mellower than the Maytals and the woman's voice reminded me of a jazz singer.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 6:41 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 6:41 AM on September 7, 2010
What bar was it at?
Do they have an online calendar you could look at?
posted by KogeLiz at 6:58 AM on September 7, 2010
Do they have an online calendar you could look at?
posted by KogeLiz at 6:58 AM on September 7, 2010
For some reason this reminds me of Jimmy Cliff, whose songs on the The Harder The Come soundtrack are credited to him but features a female singer.
posted by cog_nate at 7:07 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by cog_nate at 7:07 AM on September 7, 2010
Martha Veléz? She was well recorded, by Bob Marley, in 1976. More roots reggae sounding than old ska.
posted by bendybendy at 7:12 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by bendybendy at 7:12 AM on September 7, 2010
I'm stretching on the name here, but could it have been Jackie Opel? A guy, but with a high voice that could be mistaken for female...
Example.
posted by Decani at 7:19 AM on September 7, 2010
Example.
posted by Decani at 7:19 AM on September 7, 2010
Response by poster: I've continued rooting around online and did find this singer who sounds satisfactorily close: Phyllis Dillon.
Thanks everyone!
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 7:41 AM on September 7, 2010
Thanks everyone!
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 7:41 AM on September 7, 2010
The first time I heard Junior Murvin, I thought it was a woman singing...
posted by gyusan at 11:21 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by gyusan at 11:21 AM on September 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mediareport at 6:11 AM on September 7, 2010