Appropriately, "Patricia" is the track for today. Ike Bennett and the Crystalites from 1968 doing a rocksteady interpretation of Perez "The King of the Mambo" Prado's hit he recorded ten years earlier in 1958.
When Patti and I first got together six years ago this track became her signature ring-tone on my cell phone and to this day it remains as such. And every Jamaican Independence Day, when our suburban backyard becomes an island oasis complete with jerk chicken, rice and peas, rum punch, scores of rambunctious children and lots of highly amplified Jamaican music, I always play "Patricia" so that regardless of where she is around the yard or in the house and whether she's minding the food, keeping the kids from drinking all the Ting in the cooler or engaging the guests, I love and appreciate her. It's my simple way of paying my respect to the woman who has made my life so fulfilling and happy. I plan to do so for a long time to come.
