Winston Grennan

Winston Grennan

Photo: Courtesy of Winston Grennan

Winston Grennan

Winston Grennan, grew up around musicians his uncles, the Scott family

including the well known sax player Ossie Scott kept him interested in

making music despite discouragement from his mother.

He came into reggae music in the early sixties. Eventually he started

to play drums, and was hired by the bandleader Trenton Spence. At the

time he was renting his drum kit, not being happy with this situation

Winston took up boxing! After 32 fights undefeated he decided it was

time to go back into music.

Bim and Bam the highly popular comedy duo needed a drummer, and so

Winston resumed his drumming career. Not long after he ran in Bobby

Aitken leader of the Carribeats Band. They began to back up Bim And

Bam. Initially Winston played Keyboards in the band. Yet it didn't

take Winston long to convince Bobby of his talent behind the drums.

His first recording session as a drummer took place at this time with

the Carribeats at Federal studio. Not long he started singing as

Winston Richards recording around 15-20 tunes for producers like Mr

Pottinger,Duke Reid and Coxsone Dodd.

When Bobby Aitken decided to become more involved with the church,

Winston hooked up with All Stars Band. Hux Brown, Jackie Jackson,

Gladstone Anderson, Winston Wright, Ronnie Bopp, and Denzil Laing.

It was around 1966/67, and the All Star band quickly became the

leading session band in Jamaica working with leading producers of the

time like Leslie Kong, Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, Derrick Harriott, Prince

Buster, and of course the studio owners like Coxsone,Duke Reid and

Randy's.

Winston can be heard playing on all the big hits of the time, from the

likes of The Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker. By the early

seventies his fame was such that when artists like Paul Simon and

Roberta Flack came to Jamaica to work, Winston was their chosen

drummer.

Feeling that he achieve everything he could in Jamaica, he left for

America in 1973. It didn't take him long to find session work, but his

most successful work at this time was done with Kid Creole and the

Coconuts with whom he toured most of the world.

When reggae started to break internationally he was looking forward to

being part of that success, for various reasons that never happened.

Yet Winston's contribution to reggae music was immense. Although the

mid seventies success of Bob Marley and co is seen as the major

breakthrough, the real breakthrough had come five to six year earlier

with hits from Desmond

Dekker and Jimmy Cliff. His drumming on the hits of these artists

reshaped the sound of reggae at that point. Which other drummers like

Sly Dunbar and Santa have added to but have not radically changed.

Winston was the true foundation drummer.

Winston Grennan passed away at his home in Nantucket, Massachusetts,

from cancer related complications on Oct, 27, 2000. He was 56. The

medical fund that was established has become The Winston Grennan

Memorial Fund and will be used for arrangements, for continuing to

expose his vast musical endeavours, and to assist his wife and his

children with their music. Donations can be sent to:

The Winston Grennan Memorial Fund, PO Box 3094, Nantucket, MA 02584,

USA.

Small Axe sends its sincere condolences to the friends and family of

Winston.