Winston Riley (1946 – 2012)
Winston Riley died in a Kingston hospital last week after spending the past few months in a coma after suffering gun-shot wounds.
Riley was towering figure in reggae and his career began as part of the male harmony group The Techniques in the 1960s before he moved to production and formed his own label, Techniques Recordings.
Riley produced tracks like The Shade’s 1969 single Who You Gonna Run To and his influence continued through to the dancehall era when his bass-heavy Stalag Riddim was used by deejays Sister Nancy and Tenor Saw amongst others. Riley was also involved in a project to renovate his studio space in Kingston into a museum in his final years. Winston Riley was 65 years old and the Jamaican police force are yet to publish their findings on his shooting.
You can listen to the Riley produced, 1971 UK number one Double Barrell by Dave and Ansel Collins and see a video of Nicodemus and Supercat toasting over a version of the Stalag riddim below:
