Winston Grennan

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Winston Grennan (September 16, 1944 - October 27, 2000).

b. Winston Richards 16th September 1944, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Richards is renowned for his drumming skills in session work from 1963 through to 1973. He is best remembered for his work at Studio One although he also recorded with Sonia Pottinger, Clive Chin, Byron Lee and Duke Reid. His c.v. reads like a who’s who of reggae. Early album releases rarely attributed the players of instruments and much of Richard's' work was unaccredited. He played on sessions for numerous performers notably Toots And The Maytals, Bob Marley, the Wailers and Jimmy Cliff. In 1973 Richards relocated to America where he embarked on sessions with the jazz saxophonist, Robin Kenyatta. His work with Kenyatta led to him being enrolled by a number of notable R&B performers including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Herbie Mann. Inspired by his work on the R&B circuit further requests resulted in him playing on Paul Simon’s, `Mother And Child Reunion’ and the Rolling Stones, Goats Head Soup. While provoking interest from a diversity of musicians he also appeared in the cult movie The Harder They Come that led to a Hollywood appearance in the steamy Nine And A Half Weeks, albeit as a drummer in a band. By 1980 he was enrolled by August Darnell to perform as part of Kid Creole And The Coconuts. The group recorded a series of hits in the 80s and Richards can be seen performing on the 1982 release Live In Concert At The Ritz New York. By the early 90s the group had virtually dissolved although Darnell occasionally performed with freelance musicians. In 1996 Richards was at a concert in his adopted home town of Baltimore, which featured Darnell performing as Kid Creole. The singer spotted Richards and invited him to join the band on stage. Following the drummer’s earlier departure from the group he had formed his own Ska Rocks Band and the Swegway record label. In addition to supporting visiting Jamaican acts including Pat Kelly and the Clarendonians the group released their debut, Wash Over Gold. The compilation additionally demonstrated the artist’s vocal and trombone talents with guest musicians including Lynn Taitt, Andy Bassford and Tony Culture. Notable tracks include a tribute to Don Drummond, `Colourful Faces’ and the monitory `Domestic Violence’. The performer assigned a portion of the proceeds from the album to help finance the work of the US based Family Violence Prevention Fund. Richards has been labelled The Master Drummer Of Jamaica by Tommy Cowan and The Unknown Legend by William Stewart of the Third World Band. His notoriety in the reggae industry resulted in numerous remonstrations to a journalist in 1999 who unjustly attributed Richards with, `an ego the size of the Western Hemisphere'.

Winston Grennan
Background information
Birth name	Winston Richards
Born	September, 1944
Origin	Duckenfield, Jamaica.
Genre(s)	Reggae Swegway Ska Rock
Occupation(s)	Drummer Singer Songwriter Pianist
Instrument(s)	Drums Vocals Piano
Years active	1962 - 2000
Label(s)	Island Records Trojan Records Decca Records Swegway Records
Associated acts	Bob Marley and the Wailers Jimmy Cliff Kid Creole and the Coconuts Lee Perry Paul Simon The Rolling Stones The Skatalites Ska Rocks Band Toots and The Maytals
Website	Official Website