Small Axe Bookzine 16 – Bob Andy

Small Axe/Ray Hurford

From the late 1970s to this day, Ray Hurford — initiator of all “Small Axe” activities — has been responsible for some great contributions to the writings about reggae music. He published 27 issues of the Small Axe reggae fanzine, covering big names like Augustus Pablo and Gregory Isaacs. Besides the Small Axe reggae fanzine Ray Hurford was also the man behind 20 issues of the Small Axe Files (1991-1992), which focused on one artist or aspect of reggae in every issue, and such acclaimed books like “More Axe”, “More Axe 7”, “More Axe 8”, “Rhythm Wise”, and “The Small Axe Reggae Album Guides”.

Small Axe Bookzine 16 – Bob Andy

Bob Andy ((born Keith Anderson) is one of reggae’s greatest talents, whose career covers every era of Jamaican music – from Jamaican rhythm & blues to the new roots style of the present day. This volume in the favorable priced Small Axe Bookzine series features an in-depth interview with the reggae icon Bob Andy, who tells about his time at Studio One with Coxsone Dodd, as member of The Paragons, duets with Marcia Griffiths and his solo work. Added is a selective discography of his albums and 7″ singles.

Excerpt

“And I was listening to King Stitt who was then DJ for Coxsone Sound at the time, number one set, cause these guys had one, two, three, four sets. So I was sitting smoking a spliff. Suddenly I was hearing myself as a solo artist on a big box. And it sound good, and I said that’s “I’ve Got To Go back Home”. It was like… it wasn’t the herb even though I just started smoking herb, I wasn’t charged out of my mind… The guy played the tune seventeen times! And people are hands on shoulders marching like trains! I’ve never seen it done to any other record and I’m trying to find someone I know to say do you see what I see. It was never released as a single either!”