Q: Right. Did you ever record for Leslie Kong, Beverley's? A: I've never record for Leslie Kong. What happen was, I went to audition with Jackie Opel - you remember Jackie Opel? Q: Deceased singer from Barbados, yes. A: And Jackie Opel say: "Bwoy, this guy can sing, man". But I pass the audition, but through Jackie Opel, beca' him told Leslie Kong about me an' t'ing, but I never showed up there to record. Yeah. Q: It could be a name rip-off too, I seem to remember seeing a Beverley's record with your name on it, but possibly a different artist. Just to make the record sell. A: They actually do that, but not with... Every song that I sing is I sing them, but Bunny Lee did that with me. You remember when Slim Smith - is another history that, and Slim Smith had a big tune that was going, it was me sing it, yunno. But Bunny Lee put it out and put Slim Smith name on it, and I was quarrellin' with Bunny: "Why you put the man name on it?!" And him say is not him make the mistake, is the man who press the label, put the wrong name 'pon it. And I tell him him must take it off, and then him seh: "Mek it gwaan so, it's on the road a'ready" - you understan' me? Q: Yep. Both you and Slim had that similarity in voice and style, owing a lot to Curtis Mayfield. This is how you shaped... A: No, I was singin' before Slim Smith, yunno. Yes, of course, I start sing 1956. Slim Smith used to adore my singin', beca' I used to sing for Coxson and him always want me to carry him to a producer, and I took him to Sir Coxsone. Him used to sound like Jerry Butler, and I told him him must change his style and become natural. And I took him to Sir Coxsone Downbeat, and Downbeat turned him down. But him never name 'Slim' Smith, him name Keith. Q: Keith Smith, right. A: And Sir Coxsone Downbeat say: "But Keith, you no ready yet". And him did feel embarrassed, and him went to Treasure Isle and formed a group named The-... Q: The Techniques. A: The Techniques, with Winston Riley and a bredda named Derani and Daddom, right. That's how him get him break, and then Downbeat draw after him, when him get big. And then me and him meet up in the sixties, seventies for Bunny Lee. We used to sing for Bunny Lee, you understan' me, along with Delroy Wilson and the whole t'ing, John Holt, etcetera. Yeah.

Q: What one can read in certain books or articles is that you somehow got in the shadow of Slim's success, even was the one 'inspired by' Slim, like as if trying to rewrite or turning the history or facts over. I believe it was the opposite. A: No, no, no. I was the one who took him to Downbeat (chuckles). What happen really, you see, a lot of people in those days, them don't really come to the artists and ask the artists for interview, them jus' insinuate and just write. Q: Right. A: Some people think me start sing 1972, some say me start sing 19-... So them don't know when, 'But hear when me start sing...' - you understan' me? Q: Got it. A: But if you look on some of the CD's them, you see different year, yunno. All me years is wrong too, you didn't know that? Q: Um, no. A: Awoah! Yes, some a dem, some CD's you see wrong name... not wrong name, wrong age. Wrong time when me start sing. But if you look on Downbeat, Studio One album, you see my mark on 'Magic Spell', read the back and then you see. You know that album?

Q: Yes, but I haven't heard it yet though. A: Look at it again, then you see it's 1956 that I sing, right. Yeah, that is a true true copyright, is not the one dem whe you see come up after, people just hustle and write lickle t'ings beca' dem don't understan' your background or where you're coming from. Dem just deal with a false t'ing. Q: Don't take time to go to the facts, right. A: No, them don't do that. Q: You were a member of The Uniques too. A: Well, The Uniques was formed by me, Slim Smith, Jimmy Riley and another bredda named Donovan - originally formed, right. But I rehearse with them and I came out of the group, beca' I say so much bull cyaan reign in one man pen. That's how me go form the group named the Eternals. Beca' we had the group named the Sensations, right, and then Jimmy Riley went and team up with Slim Smith.

Slim Smith

Q: There is a few versions floating around of how he died and how he really was, but I guess you have to take some of this with a nip of salt, some just make up a story or twist and turn it to make it sound more 'sensational' or whatever. I mean, you knew him, were close to him in those days, what was Slim really like back then? A: Yes, I knew him very well. Him was just a person. I know him used to box a guitar and sing and seh to me, seh: "Cornell, you know any producer I could really record for?" And I told him about Sir Coxsone Downbeat and took him there. And him was... him was quiet, right, and him smoke a lot of them marijuana stuff. Q: Would you say he was that sort of introverted, moody type of person in private? A: Well, when you say 'moody' it all depends, because guess what - in those days him was working with Bunny Lee, but him wasn't really getting no money, right, to all of that. So him was kinda, well, moody out of those circumstances. Because I think him had some problem with Bunny Lee, singin' so much songs and wasn't really getting no good income. Q: About Slim's passing, some suggest it was out of desperation for not getting what he was due and this contributed to his neurotic behavior and suddenly this happened, that he broke a window and laid there bleeding without any help coming his way. Others say it was some voodoo business, a curse on him, or that it was because of a love affair. A: It's so much different deal a going there, you understan' me?

Cornell Campbell (Photo: Sis Irie)

Cornell Campbell

Cornell Campbell (Photo: David Corio)

Q: Right. A: But remember, all of us used to sing, yunno, so I know the whole indoor stories. But there is things whe you don't really talk and bring down people, you understan' me? Q: I know what you mean. A: But it not so him die. Him don't just die of a love affair, but is another t'ing that you no really publish out. But he was dying by the... how you say now, is the whole circumstances of him being underpaid, right, wasn't getting no money. Q: Mmm. A: So him took it to heart and after that, one night we went to Dynamic Recording studio where I was doing a record, I sing a tune on the same session named 'My Confession' (sings the chorus) - you know that song, and Slim Smith sing a tune named 'The Time Has Come', and another tune whe Billy Stewart used to sing named 'Reap What You Sow'... no, not 'Reap What You Sow' - 'Sitting In The Park (Waiting For You)'. Him call it 'Wait Any Longer', and him went home and him and his... whe you call now... grandparents was having some dispute, beca' dem was saying like 'a big singer like you', dem old life been a whole a (inaudible) and Slim Smith wasn't really doing any money. And him punched the glass, the window. Q: And subsequently bled to death. A: Yes, him bled to death, beca' they was.... you know? They should have rushed him to the hospital immediately, but they send a man on a bicycle to call Bunny Lee, who was in Greenwich Farm for the night, and by the time Bunny Lee come out there him die. Is such a long... is a whole heap a history, a long story.

Cornell Campbell

Q: So you cut your self-titled debut album for Bunny around '72? A: Yes, yes, yes. Q: How did that happen, you knew Bunny from way back in the sixties? A: No, no, no. I never knew Bunny Lee, Bunny Lee saw me and Robert Shakespeare in my band, was playing at a nightclub and he came there, and him seh him love the band and if I can come there and play for his session, and Robbie too. And then I say I can't do it, beca' I didn't waan to desert my (inaudible) on them, right. But Robert Shakespeare went to him, and then after a while now my band defunct and I went to Bunny Lee for myself, beca' Bunny Lee call me all the time and... y'know? Q: Right. A: So I just went and so... I used to work as a team with Robert Shakespeare and everybody, until Robert Shakespeare break out and become famous. But he was playing in my band before. Q: You did so much music for a lot of different producers in those days and like most of the artists I assume you didn't get the right amount regarding compensation, what you deserved out of all that work. Did you ever try to do your own production, set up a label and so forth? A: Yeah man, I did several recordings, like 'My Country' which I give to a man named Phil something... Q: Phil Mathias from Cactus? A: Yeah, is I give him, is not him produce. I just give him to distribute, you understan' me? Q: Right, that one came out in England. A: And it came out in England, yeah.

Q: What else did you produce apart from that song? A: Yeah, song I wouldn't remember now. If not so I remember them I have them on my computer, but (chuckles)... you haffe jus' remember the right year so, yeah. Q: But did you gather enough material for an album on your own from those days, music that could be put out now? A: What I do, I work with the musicians dem and I have album that I could put out, but I never really put out an album for myself, you understan' me, I just put out a few singles or so. Q: Apart from your singing, did you play guitar on sessions for others? I know you did some guitar work on several recordings in any case. A: Of course - for Bunny Lee, mostly. I played on a lot of sessions, back up all Derrick Morgan, Johnny Clarke, all those guys. Yeah man. And play for myself, I play bass guitar. Like sometime when the musician dem don't come up, don't come at the studio, and I see what's going on, I just fill in. Like Bunny Lee might say: "Cornell can play the piano, yunno", so I just play the piano. And some days I play bass, if the bassman don't come, if Robbie dem don't come. But what they do in those days now, you're not going to see my name on none of those songs dem that I play. Q: No credit whatsoever. A: Beca' dem give it to the other musician dem. Beca' I did albums that I play and I see Robert Shakespeare name on them, you understan' me? So a so it go, it was just a mix-up thing in Jamaica. You play a t'ing and you look an' see 'Earl Chinna', and you see those men name on your t'ing dem, yunno? They don't really give no credit. Beca' the reason I think dem don't give me no credit, beca' I wasn't really... dem focused on me more as a singer, 'cause I came with another hit record so. But I just fill in and drop in and play bass, dem don't really bill me as, y'know, a great musician, like. Q: Were you able to tour anything back in the seventies for all those hit records, or you were more or less stuck in Jamaica? A: Yes. Yeah man, I've been to a lot of places, England, America, y'know, Japan and such and such. Q: But back then? A: No, not in those days, not really in those days. It came after, after. Yeah, but not in those days.

Cornell Campbell @ Reggae Geel 2006 (Photo: Teacher)

If he was able to tour in those times, who knows where his position would've been by now. A few shows in the UK in the seventies certainly wasn't enough. Cornell Campbell was and is an astonishing, remarkable talent who never got the true recognition he deserves. Just one listen to that sweet voice and you're hooked. But he is getting back there in his rightful position, finally, largely thanks to excellent compilations such as Westside's 'The Minstrel', issued '00 and mainly based on his self-titled debut LP from 1973, and Blood & Fire's 'I Shall Not Remove', perhaps the best one to start with regarding collections of Cornell's vast output for producer Bunny Lee. His effortless tenor glides easily over tracks like the hard roots of 'Two Face Rasta' on the latter CD and the jazzy 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' on the former, irresistable both of them. If only Mr Lee could repress Cornell's 'Stalowatt' and 'Turn Back The Hands Of Time' LP's as well as the debut album in its original form, then we have a treasure of vintage material on the market few can compete with. Cornell and Bunny churned out some of the best recordings of that era, and the proof is to be found on these (nowadays) hard-to-come-by records.

If only Cornell himself could collect some of the best of the enormous output he's had over the years on the 7"-inch format and get a slice of the cake he, probably, never got at the time, then we'd have a feast of some of the greatest reggae music ever made, and available (finally) on CD. Take the brilliant 'My Country' or his Wackies killer 'A Yuh' to name just two, they simply must come out again. How about it, Mr Campbell? Please make an effort to collect this timeless music. I should not end this article without mentioning the brilliant but perhaps a bit unexpected Rhythm & Sound-collaboration which appeared on 10" a few years ago, 'King In My Empire' showed that he can just as easily adjust to a stripped down modern beat as he could from all previous eras in Jamaican music. Call him what you will, soulful, elegant, expressive, powerful, or call him simply the great 'Gorgon' if you want, but he's truly a musical chameleon. A vocalist of the highest calibre, that might sound like a cliché if anything, but in the case of Cornell Campbell it's absolutely true. His recorded output speaks for itself. 7" single information courtesy Roots Knotty Roots.

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Article: Peter I (Please do not reproduce without permission)