Junior Byles

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Keith Byles (known as "Junior Byles" or "Chubby" ) is a reggae singer born 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Originally working as a firefighter, Junior formed the vocal trio The Versatiles in 1967. Generally considered Junior's best recordings is his work as a solo artist with Lee Perry and for the JA Man label in the early and mid 1970s.

Byles's songs epitomised the "sufferers" style of lyric and delivery - the outsider struggling to maintain his Rastafarian and African integrity within "Babylon"; exemplified in titles such as the "Long Way" for Lee Perry and the classic "Fade Away" (featured on the soundtrack for the film 'Rockers') for the Hookim brothers at Channel One. For the wider listening public, the songs can invoke a spiritual bulwark against life's adversities.

His other notable songs include 'A Place Called Africa', 'Beat Down Babylon' and 'Curly Locks', some of the finest of 1970s roots reggae.

Junior's recording output diminished in the 1980s and 1990s as he battled with severe mental health problems. A well-reviewed return to a 2004 live performance in Jamaica led to an ill-advised short tour of England, where his distress was all apparent on stage.


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