Derrick Morgan

Derrick Morgan is a Jamaican musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and '70s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff in ska, and also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae. He was born on March 27, 1940, in Stewarton, in the parish of Clarendon. In 1957, Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent show held at the Palace Theatre in Kingston. He won with rousing impressions of Little Richard and shortly after that was recruited to perform around the island with the popular Jamaican comedy team, Bim and Bam.

In 1959, Morgan entered the recording studio for the first time. Duke Reid, the acclaimed sound system boss, was looking for talent to record for his Treasure Isle label. Derrick Morgan cut two popular shuffle-boogie sides "Lover Boy," aka "S-Corner Rock," and "Oh My." Soon after, Morgan cut the bolero-tinged boogie, "Fat Man," which also became a hit. He also found time to record for Clement Dodd.

In 1960, Derrick Morgan became the first artist to have spots 1-7 on national pop charts simultaneously, a feat to this day has never been matched. Among those hits were "Don’t Call Me Daddy," "In My Heart," "Be Still" and "Meekly Wait and Murmur Not." But it would be the following year that Morgan would release the biggest hit of his career, the Leslie Kong production of "You Don't Know," later re-titled, "Housewives' Choice" by a local deejay. The song featured a bouncing ska along with a duet sung by Morgan and Millicent "Patsy" Todd. "Housewives' Choice," also began the legendary rivalry between Morgan and Prince Buster, who accused Morgan of stealing his ideas. Buster quickly released, "Blackhead Chiney Man," chiding Morgan with that sarcastic putdown of, "I did not know your parents were from Hong Kong," a clear swipe at Kong. Morgan returned with the classic, "Blazing Fire," in which he warns Buster to "Live and let others live, and your days will be much longer. You said it. Now it’s the Blazing Fire." Buster shot back with, "Watch It Blackhead," which Morgan countered with, "No Raise No Praise," and "Still Insist." Followers of both artists often clashed, and eventually the government had to step with a staged photo-op depicting the rivals as "friends."

In the mid sixties, when ska evolved into the cooler, more soulful rocksteady period, Morgan continued to release top quality material, including the seminal rude boy classic, "Tougher Than Tough," "Do the Beng Beng," "Conquering Ruler," and a cover of Ben E. King's soul hit, "Seven Letters." Often backed by master guitarist, Lynn Taitt, Morgan remained popular in Jamaica and the UK into the early seventies. In 1969, Morgan cut the famous skinhead anthem, "Moon Hop." However, failing eyesight forced him from the stage. Derrick Morgan still performs occasionally at ska revival shows across the world.

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Selected Discography, 1960 to 1969

7" SINGLES

Blue Beat BB-7A Fat Man 1960
Blue Beat BB-7B I'm Gonna Leave You 1960
Blue Beat BB-12A Don't Cry (& Ebonies) 1960
Blue Beat BB-12B I Pray For You (& Ebonies) 1960
Blue Beat BB-18A Lover Boy 1960
Blue Beat BB-18B Oh My! 1960
Blue Beat BB-31A Now We Know (& Eric Morris) 1961
Blue Beat BB-31B Nights Are Lonely (& Eric Morris) 1961
Blue Beat BB-35A Leave Earth 1961
Blue Beat BB-35B Wee Wigger Shuffle 1961
Blue Beat BB-57A Feel So Fine (& Patsy Todd) 1961
Blue Beat BB-62A Shake A Leg 1961
Blue Beat BB-62B Wallflower (Golden Rule) 1961
Blue Beat BB-65A Baby Please Don't Leave Me (& Patsy Todd) 1961
Blue Beat BB-65B Let The Good Times Roll (& Patsy Todd) 1961
Blue Beat BB-76A Be Still 1962
Blue Beat BB-76B Sunday Morning 1962
Blue Beat BB-82A Don't You Know Little Girl (& Basil Gabbidon) 1962
Blue Beat BB-85A Come On Over 1962
Blue Beat BB-85B Come Back My Darling 1962
Blue Beat BB-91B Headache 1962
Blue Beat BB-94A Meekly Wait (& Yvonne Harrison) 1962
Blue Beat BB-94B Day In And Day Out (& Yvonne Harrison) 1962
Blue Beat BB-97A Love Not To Brag (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-100A In My Heart 1962
Blue Beat BB-110A Are You Going To Marry Me (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-110B Troubles (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-121A Crying In The Chapel (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-121B Come Back My Love (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-123A Oh My Love (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-123B Let's Go To The Party (& Patsy Todd) 1962
Blue Beat BB-130A Should Be Ashamed 1962
Blue Beat BB-130B Marjorie 1962
Blue Beat BB-141A Joybells 1962
Blue Beat BB-141B Going Down To Canaan (& Denzil Dennis) 1962
Black Swan WI-402A Street Girl 1963
Black Swan WI-402B Edmarine 1963
Blue Beat BB-148A Jezebel 1963
Blue Beat BB-152A Little Brown Jug (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Blue Beat BB-152B Mow Sen Wa (& Lloyd Clarke) 1963
Blue Beat BB-160A Baby Please Don't Leave Me (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Blue Beat BB-160B Hold Me 1963
Blue Beat BB-177A Patricia My Dear 1963
Blue Beat BB-177B The Girl I Left Behind 1963
Blue Beat BB-184A Country Girl (& Eric Morris & Prince Buster) 1963
Blue Beat BB-187A Tears On My Pillow (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Blue Beat BB-187B You Should Have Known 1963
Blue Beat BB-196A Telephone 1963
Blue Beat BB-196B Tough Man Tough 1963
Island WI-004A Travel On 1963
Island WI-004B Teach Me Baby 1963
Island WI-006A The Hop 1963
Island WI-006B Tell It To Me 1963
Island WI-011A Forward March 1963
Island WI-011B Please Don't Talk About Me (& Eric Morris) 1963
Island WI-013A Cherry Home 1963
Island WI-013B See And Blind 1963
Island WI-018A Housewives Choice (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Island WI-018B Gypsy Woman (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Island WI-037A Dorothy 1963
Island WI-037B Leave Her Alone 1963
Island WI-051A Blazing Fire 1963
Island WI-051B I'm In A Jam (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Island WI-053A No Raise No Praise 1963
Island WI-053B Loving Baby 1963
Island WI-055A Look Before You Leap (& Patsy Todd) 1963
Island WI-055B Sea Wave 1963
Island WI-080A Angel With The Blue Eyes 1963
Island WI-080B Corner Stone 1963
Island WI-091B I'm Sending This Message 1963
Rio RIO-1A Blazing Fire 1963
Rio RIO-1B Edmarine 1963
Black Swan WI-425A Cherry Pie 1964
Blue Beat BB-207A Lover Boy (& Patsy Todd) 1964
Blue Beat BB-207B The Moon 1964
Blue Beat BB-224A Steal Away (& Patsy Todd) 1964
Blue Beat BB-224B Money 1964
Blue Beat BB-233A Let Them Talk 1964
Blue Beat BB-233B Sleeping 1964
Blue Beat BB-239A Miss Lulu (& Patsy Todd) 1964
Blue Beat BB-239B She's So Young (& Patsy Todd) 1964
Blue Beat BB-247A Troubles (& Patsy Todd) 1964
Blue Beat BB-247B Baby Face 1964
Blue Beat BB-261A The Soldier Man 1964
Blue Beat BB-268A Katy Katy 1964
Blue Beat BB-268A Call On Me 1964
Blue Beat BB-276A Weep No More 1965
Blue Beat BB-276B I Want A Girl 1965
Blue Beat BB-280A Stir The Pot (& Eric Morris) 1965
Blue Beat BB-280B Mercy (& Eric Morris & Patsy Todd) 1965
Blue Beat BB-283A Johnny Grave 1965
Blue Beat BB-291A You I Love (& Patsy Todd) 1965
Blue Beat BB-291B Steal Away (& Patsy Todd) 1965
Blue Beat BB-311A Throw Them Away 1965
Blue Beat BB-311B Baby Face 1965
Blue Beat BB-329A Sweeter Than Honey (Around The Corner) 1965
Blue Beat BB-329B You Never Know (& Prince Buster) 1965
Island WI-193A Two Of A Kind (& Naomi) 1965
Island WI-193B I Want A Lover (& Naomi) 1965
Island WI-224A The National Dance (& Patsy Todd) 1965
Island WI-225A Starvation (& Patsy Todd) 1965
Island WI-225B I Am A Blackhead Again 1965
Island WI-242B Pain In My Heart (& Naomi) 1965
Ska Beat JB-188A I Wish I Were An Apple (& Naomi) 1965
Ska Beat JB-188B Around The Corner (aka Sweeter Than Honey) 1965
Ska Beat JB-218A Don't Call Me Daddy 1965
Island WI-277A It's Alright (& Blues Blenders) 1966
Island WI-277B I Need Someone (& Blues Blenders) 1966
Island WI-288A I Found A Queen 1966
Island WI-288B It's True My Darling (& Patsy Todd) 1966
Island WI-289A Don't You Worry (& Patsy Todd) 1966
Island WI-3010A Gather Together (& Blues Blenders) 1966
Island WI-3010B So Hard (& Blues Blenders) 1966
Island WI-3079A Someone (& Pauline Morgan) 1967
Island WI-3079B Do You Love Me (& Pauline Morgan) 1967
Pyramid PYR-6010A Tougher Than Tough 1967
Pyramid PYR-6013A Greedy Gal 1967
Pyramid PYR-6014A Court Dismiss 1967
Pyramid PYR-6019A Judge Dread In Court 1967
Pyramid PYR-6019B Last Chance 1967
Pyramid PYR-6021A Kill Me Dead 1967
Pyramid PYR-6021B Don't Be A Fool 1967
Pyramid PYR-6024A No Dice 1967
Pyramid PYR-6024B I Mean It 1967
Pyramid PYR-6025A Do The Beng Beng 1967
Pyramid PYR-6025B Revenge 1967
Pyramid PYR-6027A You Never Miss Your Water (& Pauline Morgan) 1967
Pyramid PYR-6027B Got You On My Mind (& Pauline Morgan) 1967
Pyramid PYR-6029A I Am The Ruler 1967
Pyramid PYR-6029B I Mean It 1967
Rio RIO-122A Cool Off Rudies 1967
Rio RIO-122B Take It Easy 1967
Amalgamated AMG-824B I Want To Go Home 1968
Big Shot BI-504B The Clamp Is On 1968
Crab CRAB-3A River To The Bank 1968
Island WI-3094A Conquering Ruler 1968
Island WI-3101A Gimme Back (1st version) 1968
Island WI-3159A Hold You Jack 1968
Island WI-3159B One Morning In May 1968
Nu Beat NB-008A Hey Boy, Hey Girl (& George Dekker) 1968
Nu Beat NB-016A I Love You 1968
Pyramid PYR-6039 A Woman A Grumble 1968
Pyramid PYR-6039B Don't Be A Fool 1968
Pyramid PYR-6040A Want More 1968
Pyramid PYR-6045A Try Me 1968
Pyramid PYR-6045B I'm Leaving (& Pauline Morgan) 1968
Pyramid PYR-6046A King For Tonight (& Pauline Morgan) 1968
Pyramid PYR-6053A Me Naw Give Up 1968
Pyramid PYR-6056A Ben Johnson Day 1968
Pyramid PYR-6061A What's Your Grouse 1968
Pyramid PYR-6063A Johnny Pram Pram 1968
Pyramid PYR-6063B Don't Say (& Pauline Morgan) 1968
Trojan TR-625A Fat Man (2nd version) 1968
Big Shot BI-506B Shower Of Rain 1969
Crab CRAB-8A Seven Letters 1969
Crab CRAB-11A My First Taste Of Love 1969
Crab CRAB-18A Don't Play That Song 1969
Crab CRAB-18B How Can I Forget You 1969
Crab CRAB-22B Gimme Back (2nd version) 1969
Crab CRAB-23A Send Me Some Loving 1969
Crab CRAB-23B Come What May 1969
Crab CRAB-28A Time Hard 1969
Crab CRAB-30A Man Pon Spot 1969
Crab CRAB-30B What A Thing 1969
Crab CRAB-32A Moon Hop 1969
Jackpot JP-700A Seven Letters 1969
Jackpot JP-700B Too Bad 1969
Nu Beat NB-027A I'll Do It (& Pauline Morgan) 1969
Nu Beat NB-027B Give You My Love (& Hortense Ellis) 1969
Trojan TR-699B Copy Cat 1969
Unity UN-507A Belly Woman 1969
Unity UN-546A Return Of Jack Slade 1969
Unity UN-546B Fat Man (re-mix) 1969
Unity UN-569A The Conquering Ruler 1969
Unity UN-569B Bedweight (Rec.68) 1969

ALBUMS:

Island ILP-903 Forward March 1963
Island ILP-990 Derrick Morgan & Friends 1968
Doctor Bird DLMB-5014 The Best Of Derrick Morgan 1969
Pama ECO-10 Derrick Morgan In London 1969
Trojan TTL-5 Seven Letters 1969

Compiled by Laurence Cane-Honeysett.