Alvin Ranglin
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Alvin 'GG' Ranglin (born in 1942, Eden, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.
Ranglin started to sing in public in his teens with an Adventist Church background. As a radio and television technician involved in the jukebox industry, he soon acquired his own sound system he named "GG". By the mid 60s, he has opened his own TV repair shop in May Pen and started to produce records with artists like Trevor Brown and as a singer with Emmanuel Folwers under the name of "Flowers & Alvin". He soon developed his business by buying jukeboxes and opening his first record shop. His first major productions was with The Maytones in 1968. He worked with the vocal duo 'til they split in 1980 and enjoyed different hits mainly with love songs in the early 70s.
His first international success was "Man from Carolina" by his studio band named GG Allstars. Among all the artists he worked with are Eric Donaldson in 1970 ("Lonely Night"...), Max Romeo, Billy Dyce, The Ethiopians in 1972, U Roy in 1973, Prince Mohammed with the hit "Hallelujah I Love Her So", Cynthia Richards, Gregory Isaacs from 1974 to 1977, The Starlites featuring Stanley Beckford ("Soldering" in 1975), Jah Thomas in the mid 70s ("Midnight Rock"), Dennis Brown in 1975, I-Roy in 1977, Dennis Alcapone, Mike Brooks in 1977 ("Guiding Star" launched his career), between 1977 and 1978 Jah Stone & Freddie McKay ("The Right Time"), in 1979 Lone Ranger ("Barnabas Collins" became a #1 in the UK reggae chart in 1980), Barrington Levy in 1983...
During his long career, Ranglin set up different labels (GG's, Hit, Typhoon...) and record stores (in Kingston, Half Way Tree, Old Harbour, Brooklyn and London)...
He currently lives in Kingston and own GG Records, a recording studio & a pressing plant.
[edit] Partial discography
The GG All Stars
- GG All Stars - Man From Carolina - 1970 - Trojan
- GG All Stars - The Three Dreads From Zion - 1978 - GG's
Compilations
- Various Artists - Reggae Flight 404 - 1970 - Trojan
- Various Artists - Atlantic 1 - 1975 - Horse/Trojan Records
- Various Artists - Street Corner Ital Food - 1979 - GG's
- Various Artists - From Chapter To Version - 1970-1974 - Jamaican Gold (1998)
- Various Artists - From GG's Reggae Hit Stable Vol 01 - 1968-1973 - Jamaican Gold (1998)
- Various Artists - From GG's Reggae Hit Stable Vol 02 - 1969-1973 - Jamaican Gold (1998)
- Various Artists - Holy Ground - Heartbeat Records (1990)
