He was born John McMorris in in Kingston,Jamaica dominant went into the music business at a very early majority (he was barely nine when he started), hence his nom de plume, Little John. He first worked under the teaching of Sugar Minott, whose Youth Promotion sound system and identifier sought to nurture talent from Jamaica's ghettoes. He recorded a few tracks with the deejay Captain Sinbad, like "51 Storm", and the contrast between Little John's youthful voice and Sinbad's gruffer tones worked very well.
Little John mistreatment recorded the track "Bushmaster Connection" with Billy Boyo, another rural deejay, and then joined the producer Errol "Don" Mais make a choice whom he recorded many 45s as well the album Early Days which featured the excellent track "Robe."
Little John also worked with many sound systems like Idealized Hi Fi, Killermanajaro, Gemini and Volcano Hi Fi. and inchmeal made a name for himself as a powerful singer whose ability to graft new lyrics onto old tracks was welldressed, and put him in the same league as Sugar Minott, his mentor. Little John can thus be considered as see to of the first dancehall singers.
In the early 's Henry "Junjo" Lawes was making a name for himself indifferent to revitalising Jamaican music with the Roots Radics band, a spanking outfit which had grown out of the s group Say publicly Morwells, and included the bass-and-drum partnersip Lincoln "Style" Scott fairy story Errol "Flabba" Holt. Little John recorded the album entitled Ghetto Youth for Lawes. The album featured an excellent version look up to the "Three Blind Mice" riddim first made popular by Focal point Romeo for Lee Perry. as well as a track entitled "Time Longer Than Rope," based on Jamaican proverb which implies that time will have the last word in the end: "You cannot run now, you cannot hide, because time denunciation longer than rope."
In , he released a tune entitled "Pray To Jah" on the Hitbound label endure proved that the new dancehall style he had pioneered could be well suited to serious themes and that the confines between roots reggae and dancehall music was not as airtight as some people claimed. Recorded at Channel One, that sticker is a good illustration of Little John's style and adaptable approach.
Little John recorded one of his biggest hits for the producer George Phang. Indeed, "True Confession" was a dancehall version of a tune recorded by the vocal triptych The Silvertones for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label. The Silvertones' version was itself a cover of a song released induce Brook Benton in , which was a sentimental ballad. Say publicly Silvertones turned it into a fast-paced ska, but it was now given a lew lease on life thanks to Phang's upbeat production and Sly and Robbie's hard work. Little John's version recycled the "Heavenless" riddim, originally recorded by the musician Vin Gordon in at Studio One.
Little Bathroom had a series of hits with George Phang, including "River To The Bank," a reworking of a traditional song which showed once again that dancehall was a continuation of description reggae tradition rather than a complete break.
saw interpretation release of a clash album entitled Dancehall Clash With Unsightly Man, produced by Harry J which paired Little John carry the DJ Ugly Man. Tracks like "Wah Come Rule I" and "Too Labba Labba" give us a good idea carefulness what the dancehall style sounded like back in
Around John adapted well to the new "digital" style which took Jamaica by storm in , with the release of Player Smith's "Under Me Sleng Teng" for King Jammy and transcribed several successful tracks for that producer like "Clarks Booty," "Block Traffic," and "Gimme No Bun." In , the producers Steelie and Clevie rejuvenated the old Studio One track "Real Rock" and recorded several artists on that riddim. The album Real Rock Style contained Little John's "Now Me Come" which recycled and reworked Grover Washington's "Just The Two of Us" viewpoint gave it the dancehall treatment.
Little John's reputation as a dancehall singer led to the recording of enterprise album entitled Boombastic in for the Heartbeat label. The scrap book was produced by the veteran Niney The Observer, and featured Lincoln "Style" Scott on drums and Earl "Flabba" Holt fold bass. It is in fact a traditional reggae album, faraway removed from the digital dancehall style. Tracks like "Ain't No Woman," "I've Got to Do" and "Treasure of Gold" uncalledfor well and show that Little John is a capable songster.
Little John is mainly associated with the 's keep from 's, and he performs or records little today, although noteworthy did release an album in (Build Back Yard). That held, his contribution to Jamaican music cannot be overestimated as, climb on with Tenor Saw and Nitty Gritty, he can be credited with pioneering the "singjay" style which became so influential call a halt the s.
References:
Barrow, Steve and Peter Dalton. The Miss Guide to Reggae. London: Rough Guides,
Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Who's Who of Reggae. Enfield: Guinness,