小简介
任何一个生意人都可以告诉你，想要成功就得发现一个有利的基础或者是寻求未开发市场。多数在雷鬼音乐市场上的生意人、音乐家直到今日都还不敢相信MELOCICA音乐竟会发展出一片广阔天地。Augustus Pablo以此趣味般的音乐，发动了一场前所未有的牙买加音乐革命。Augustus Pablo音乐的独创性，横扫整个牙买加而带来音乐新风潮，融入当时整体的一部分。实力派的音乐家Augustus Pablo，本身是个键盘手。他的音乐透过他发行的种种单曲和表演，呈现给无数观众。他也可以说是音乐鉴赏家！除了音乐上的想法，Augustus Pablo的录音技巧和制作功力也是一流。
　　Augustus Pablo本名HORACE SWABY，生于1954年的牙买加ST. ANDREW。曾经就读KINGSTON大学(美国人眼中认为不是大学，是高中)，常常和朋友偷溜进教堂玩里头的风琴。而KINGSTON大学，对于他进入未来的音乐事业有很大的帮助。CLIVE CHIN是PABLO的同学之一，家里开得是KINGSTON区第一家的唱片行，叫做RANDY。CHIN家族成员之一的HERMAN CHIN LOY，和他的表哥，也就是鼎鼎大名的制作人LESLIE KONG一同工作。每个国家里都有不同的种族，而活跃于牙买加的中国人，时常和当地种族通婚，而婚姻通常也结合着生意。因为如此，CHIN LOY在1969年开了自己的唱片行和厂牌，命名为AQUARIUS。从而，1970年当时还是15岁小毛头的SWABY，决定发展自己的音乐事业，而加入AQUARIUS就是他跨出的第一步。也因这个年轻小伙子是CLIVE CHIN的好友，所以他们决定让他试一试。而当时是因为他玩键盘的技巧实在出人意表，决定让他加入AQUARIUS。早期出的单曲像是IGGY IGGY，让大家对Augustus Pablo和CHIN LOY刮目相看。
　　这些年来，PABLO(很快地他使用了这个绰号)帮CHIN LOY录制了许多音乐，包括STILL YET、THE MOOD还有SNOWBALL & PUDDING等单曲。在这些之中，是单曲EAST OF THE RIVER NILE让大家开始注意到他们。EAST OF THE RIVER NILE里头包括有PABLO和GLEN ADAM的迪琴和风琴二重奏，更加入了LEE PERRY火热的节奏。他们的音乐绕梁不绝于脑海，飘渺的东方乐曲更是掀起牙买加一股东方热。渐渐地小调旋律开始流行，而主要在加勒比海地区当地盛行。之后，PABLO加入了MIKEY CHUNG的乐团NOW GENERATION，担任KEYBOARD手。此时，CLIVE CHIN正为了家族事业打拼当制作人。(CLIVE CHIN的压力很大，因为他的哥哥VINCENT早已建立起两个知名艺人团体，分别是ALTON ELLIS和THE SKATALITES)而现在CLIVE有了眉目，PABLO便离开了NOW GENERATION来帮助他的好友。当时的第一首曲子JAVA，CLIVE与他另一个同学DENNIS WRIGHT早已着手。那时已有了歌曲的节奏。只是WRIGHT对于加入怎样的歌声很伤脑筋，就当CHIN也打算放弃时，PABLO刚好在此时加入他们。他建议在歌曲加入一些旋律，说来奇妙，怎么也没想到单曲JAVA竟然成为当时轰动的歌曲之一。而这不可思议的三人组合开始了他们的梦想，PABLO不仅和CHIN做了许多的曲子，也帮助当时许多的制作人录制音乐。他也为了CLIVE的舅舅LEONARD CHIN的厂牌SANTIC 做了一首PABLO IN DUB。当然厂牌SANTIC也协助他发行第一张单曲，就是与PAUL WHITEMAN/BLACKMAN合作的SAY SO。PABLO陆续地和其它制作人合作，像是与LEE PERRY的单曲HOT AND COLD、GUSSIE CLARKE的NO ENTRY和BORN TO DUB YOU、协助KEITH HUDSON录制的FAT BABY和THE KILLER，甚至是BUNNY LEE的THE GREAT PABLO和PABLO’S DESIRE。而PABLO’S DESIRE原曲为JOHN HOLT的MY DESIRE，重新录制后再度造成流行。
　　PABLO跟LEE可以说是天作之合，他帮LEE做了许多B面单曲的INSTRUMENTAL。厂牌RAS合辑PABLO & FRIENDS，即收录了9首都是他们自己录制的音乐，。PABLO和他兄弟们设立厂牌ROCKERS，名字由SIBLINGS SOUND SYSTEM那里获得灵感。像是HOT STUFF、PABLO INTERNATIONAL、ROCKERS INTERNATIONAL和MESSAGE等经典乐团都是从ROCKERS发掘出来的。而PABLO在ROCKERS先行发的几张单曲是STUDIO ONE经典系列的INSTRUMENTAL版本，像是SKANKING EASY、FROZEN DUB、DON DRUMMOND和PABLO’S THEME SONG。无可置疑的，PABLO在录音室也受到其它音乐人影响，结果表现在他的创作上。英国厂牌GREENSLEEVES在1974年发行ORIGINAL ROCKERS合辑，收录许多当时PABLO经典之作。当然也有许多好的作品是PABLO与CLIVE CHIN两人一同创作的。1974年，CHIN与另一个家族成员PAT CHIN一同监制PABLO经典专辑REBEL ROCK REGGAE – THIS IS AUGUSTUS PABLO。从好莱坞音乐舞台剧到牙买加流行之音，这张专辑的气份掌握的恰到好处。而这张收集了许多CHIN家族的作品， PABLO早期帮LEONARD制作的音乐也有收录。来年，PABLO建立与KING TUBBY的合作关系，反倒过来KING TUBBY帮ROCKERS做了一些重要的混音。两人命名团体为ITAL DUB，由TOMMY COWAN和LESLIE KONG前员工WARWICK LYN一同帮忙制作。ITAL DUB的专辑可以说是当时最为创新的音乐之一。15年后，英国厂牌PRESSURE DROP收集ITAL DUB早期作品，发行专辑EL ROCKERS。
　　1975年，PABLO以制作人身份大放异彩，与FRED LOCKS合作所写的BLACK STAR LINER在整个牙买加造成流行，甚至打入英国乐坛。慢慢地越来越多人要求PABLO创作，更多的人都想和他合作，像是HORACE ANDY、FREDDIE MCKAY、JACOB MILLER和I-ROY。1976年早期DUB传奇专辑之一KING TUBBY MEETS ROCKERS UPTOWN发行。ROCKERS发行过的音乐有：AFRICA MUST BE FREE BY 1983(HUGH MANDEL)、ONE STEP DUB (JUNIOR DELGADO)和EASTMAN DUB(与TETRACK的LET’S GET STARTED是一同发行的)。在KING TUBBY的帮忙下，PABLO发行了不少音乐。所以PABLO决定帮忙KING TUBBY的厂牌创作。在这些年来除了ROCKERS的本身都东西，其它厂牌也收录了很多ROCKERS的音乐。不论是英国厂牌GREENSEELVE的CLASSIC ROCKERS系列，还是ROCKERS自己出的GOLDEN MEMORIES。除了创作音乐外，PABLO也受邀到各地去表演KEYBOARD或者是他的专长笛琴。就音乐上来说，他是一股无法挡的力量。
　　1978年PABLO在LEE PERRY的BLACK ARK录音室，录制的专辑EAST OF THE RIVER NILE，是历年最棒的专辑之一。另外，他和年轻歌手HUGH MANDELL(JAH LEVI)合作，发行连续三张单曲，往后的两张专辑AFRICA MUST BE FREE BY 1983和TIME AND PLACE都是两人呕心沥血之作。1982年EARTH’S RIGHTFUL RULER专辑在美国发行，紧接下来的是TUBBY、PRINCE JAMMY和PABLO三人大作ROCKERS MEETS KING TUBBY IN A FIRE HOUSE。到了1986年，PABLO发行两张专辑，一张是个人的RISING SUN，另一张是他帮JUNIOR DELGADO所作RAGGAMUFFIN YEAR。四年后，两人合作的专辑也将会出现。而因为ROCKERS发行无数流行的歌曲，厂牌ISLAND也决定签下数张ROCKERS的12吋单曲。虽然合作关系不久，但当时已经可以看到ROCKERS的几位艺人走上国际，像是JUNIOR DELGADO、DELROY WILSON、CARLTON HONES等，当然还有PABLO与他的歌曲EASTERN PROMISE和SUKIYAKI。无可避免的，这些音乐的推行也得以让他在日本巡回，并且录制专辑LIVE IN TOKYO。回到牙买加，1987年，发行专辑ROCKERS COMES EAST，在这张里他将音乐推向电子数字化。
　　1990年专辑BLOWING WITH WITH WIND结合了NYAHBINGI的鼓声和JOHNNY MOORE的小喇叭。PABLO替人制作的音乐也持续地流行着，像DAWN PENN的NIGHT AND DAY和YAMI BOLO的JAH MADE THEM ALL。他自己也不断地创作，只是很可惜地因为一直都有神经失调毛病的他，在1999年5月18号过世，享年40岁。虽然他已经不再人世，不过他的故事会继续流传下去。在他往生后的一年，许多的歌手、艺人、DJ和音乐家举办了一场演唱会来纪念这个对于雷鬼音乐贡献良多的制作家——Augustus Pablo。
As any business person will tell you, the way to success is through the discovery of a niche or a previously unexploited market. Still, few business people, and even fewer musicians, would have believed that there was a market for the sound of the melodica. What next, they would have sniggered, a kazoo? Yet Augustus Pablo would take this childs toy and launch a revolution in Jamaican music. Not only was Pablos melodica unique, it would sweep the entire islands scene and become an integral part of the music of the era. But Pablo was no one-trick pony, he was also a virtuoso keyboardist and his playing permeated the island across myriad of his own releases and as a session man for others. He was equally talented on the other side of the recording desk and his production work was as inspired as his playing.
Augustus Pablo was born Horace Swaby on June 21, 1954, in St. Andrew, Jamaica. He attended Kingston College (not a college in the American sense, but a high school), sneaking into the schools chapel with other musically inclined friends to practice on the organ. It was here at Kingston College where Swaby also made the connections that would help launch him into the music industry. Amongst his classmates was Clive Chin, whose family ran Randys, Kingstons premier record store. The Chin clan included Herman Chin Loy, a cousin of Leslie Kong, and who started his own career in the music industry by working for his famous cousin. Like many small ethnic enclaves around the world, Jamaicas vibrant Chinese community often intermarried and thus businesses and families often intertwined. Chin Loy had struck out on his own in 1969, setting up his own record store and label, both called Aquarius. Thus in 1970, when the 15- year-old Swaby decided the time was ripe to begin his own musical career, Aquarius was his first stop. The fact that the teen was a friend of Clive Chin insured that he was given an audition, but it was his keyboard work that convinced Chin Loy to take him into the studio. The upbeat Iggy Iggy was the result of their first session and was credited to Augustus Pablo, a moniker Chin Loy frequently employed on his studios instrumentals.
Over the next year, Pablo (the teen soon took the name as his own), cut several more singles for Chin Loy, Still Yet, The Mood, and Snowball & Pudding, amongst them. But it was East of the River Nile that had the most startling impact. The instrumental featured a duet between Pablos melodica and Glen Adams organ, set to a seething rhythm the producer had bought from Lee Perry. Its haunting Oriental-esque melody ignited a fire on the island and launched the Far Eastern style. Minor key melodies surged from the grooves and the exotic now found a home in the Caribbean. Pablo briefly joined Mikey Chungs band, Now Generation, as keyboardist. Meanwhile, his old schoolmate Clive Chin was now working for the family business as a producer. (He had big shoes to fill, his older brother Vincent had made his mark producing such superstars as Alton Ellis and the Skatalites). Now that Clive was set up, Pablo left Now Generation and joined his friend in the studio. Their first fruits, in a round about way, was the seminal Java. Chin was already at work with another one of their schoolfriends Dennis Wright, the songs rhythm tracks were done but Wright was having trouble with the vocals and Chin decided to leave if for the day. Then Pablo entered the studio. While waiting in the hall, hed come up with a melody line and suggested trying it out. Chin turned the tape recorder back on, Pablo picked up his melodica, and the rest is history. Java was a smash and the rhythm was one of the most influential of the day, versioned almost into oblivion. It was the beginning of an incredibly successful partnership, as Chin and Pablo recorded a stream of hits. It was a busy time as aside from recording with Chin, Pablo was also cutting singles for a number of other producers. He helped another member of the Chin clan, Clives uncle, Leonard Chin, launch his Santic label with Pablo in Dub. Santic provided Pablo with his first opportunity to have a go at production, and he debuted with Paul Whiteman/Blackmans single Say So. Pablo continued recording for other producers, joining Lee Perry for Hot and Cold, linking with Gussie Clarke for No Entry and Born to Dub You, cuttinh Fat Baby and the Killer for Keith Hudson, and hooking up with Bunny Lee for The Great Pablo and Pablos Desire. The latter track, a version of John Holts My Desire, was another smash hit.
Pablos partnership with Lee was particularly fruitful and he cut numerous instrumental B-side version for the producer, nine of which are featured alongside their vocal or DJ A-sides, on the Ras compilation Pablo & Friends. Pablo had already come to the conclusion that no matter how big the hit nor how many sessions he played on, he would see little of the actual returns. Thus, he and his brother set up their own label, Rockers. The name was taken from the siblings sound system, which was already up and running. Over time, other imprints followed, Hot Stuff, Pablo International, Rockers International, and Message. Initially, Pablos singles for his own label were instrumental versions of Studio One classics. Skanking Easy, Frozen Dub, Don Drummond, Pablos Theme Song, and many more followed in re-creating songs of yore. And theres no doubt about the influence the studios superb musicians had had on the young Swaby. Many of these song were less versions than tributes to these talented men. The U.K. label Greensleeves would bundle up many of the best self-productions from these early days for the Original Rockers compilation. Yet some of Pablos best work was still being done with Clive Chin. In 1974, Chin and another family member, Pat Chin, oversaw Pablos classic album Rebel Rock Reggae — This Is Augustus Pablo. A masterpiece of mood and atmosphere, the instrumentals swing across the musical spectrum from Hollywood musicals to classic Jamaican hits. The album is actually a compilation and rounded up much of the artists recent work for the Chin family, including his two earlier singles for Leonard. The following year, Pablo began collaborating with King Tubby, who had begun supplying Rockers with some of the labels most sublime mixes. The pair christened their partnership with Ital Dub, which was produced by Tommy Cowan and Warwick Lyn (another former employee of Leslie Kong). This album remains one of the most innovative of the decade. Fifteen years later, the U.K. label Pressure Drop gathered up alternative versions and outtakes from the Ital sessions for El Rockers, an album that sounds nearly as formidable as Ital Dub itself.
1975 also saw Pablo make an equally big splash as a producer, when Fred Locks Black Star Liner became an instant hit in Jamaica and also made significant inroads in the U.K. With the singles success, Pablo now became a much sought-after producer, and worked with many of the islands greatest names. He sat behind the desk on sessions with Horace Andy, Freddie McKay, Jacob Miller, and I-Roy, amongst many others. An albums worth of his productions were showcased on 1976s King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown album, one of the eras most legendary dub albums. Many of Rockers releases featured phenomenal dub companions, including Africa Must Be Free by 1983 (Hugh Mandel), One Step Dub (Junior Delgado), and Eastman Dub (the companion to Tetracks Lets Get Started). Pablo returned the favor by recording exclusive cuts for King Tubbys sound system. Over the years, both Rockers itself, as well as other labels, have released excellent compilations of the labels greatest moments. The U.K. label Greensleeves Classic Rockers is of particular note. For rarities, check out Golden Memories, released by Rockers. Of course, Pablo was equally in demand as a session player and he appears on scores of albums from this period, playing keyboard, melodica, or both. As a musical force, he was unstoppable.
1978 brought the fabulous East of the River Nile album, which was recorded at Lee Perrys Black Ark studio. Meanwhile, Pablo took his place on the other side of the board for a trio of singles with the young singer Hugh Mandell (aka Jah Levi). This partnership then expanded and Pablo joined his young protégé on record for both the Africa Must Be Free by 1983 and Time and Place albums. However, the shift in musical tastes in the early 80s saw Pablos flame begin to flicker. He continued recording prodigiously both behind and in front of the recording deck and released numerous singles and a number of albums. 1982 saw the appearance of Earths Rightful Ruler; in the States, Shanachie released Rockers Meets King Tubby in a Fire House, a fine album which paired Pablo, Tubby, and Prince Jammy for a wild ride through classic rocker and cultural offerings. By 1986, the artists star was in the ascendant again, helped by the release of his own Rising Sun album, and his production of Junior Delgados Raggamuffin Year album and its attendant smash-hit title-track single. A phenomenal dub album of the set appeared four years later. These successes prompted Island Records to strike a deal with Rockers to distribute a number of the labels 12 singles. Although the arrangement didnt last long, it did see an international release for singles from Junior Delgado, Delroy Wilson, Carlton Hones, and a pair of Pablos own — Eastern Promise and Sukiyaki. This inevitably led to an international tour the next year for his debut appearances outside the island, which was captured for posterity on the Live in Tokyo album. Back in Jamaica, 1987 had also seen the release of Rockers Comes East, a stunning set that created quite a stir at the time as Pablo took his own sound squarely into the digital age.
1990 brought Blowing With the Wind, which found the artist shifting direction yet again with the addition of nyahbingi drum beats and Johnny Moores trumpet. As the decade deepened, Pablo remained a stalwart of the scene by producing a number of hit records, including such classics as Dawn Penns Night and Day and Yami Bolos sublime Jah Made Them All album. He also continued to release his own music, guest star on others records, and oversee his back catalog, which remained in demand. Whats truly miraculous was that Pablo managed to keep up this pace for so long. His health had always been very delicate due to a nerve disorder he suffered for much of his life. On May 18, 1999, his body finally gave out; he was only 40. However, although the artist may be gone, his legacy is in no danger of fading away. Compilations of both his own work and his productions appear with astonishing regularity, and its difficult to find an album from the late 70s that he did not guest star on. His importance to Jamaicas music scene can be seen by the numerous stars who appeared at a tribute concert held a year after his death that included some of the islands greatest DJs, singers, and musicians.