Day 288 of 365 Day Jamaican Music Challenge - Jah Lloyd - African Drums

Patrick Lloyd Francis, later known as Jah Lloyd or Jah Lion and a couple other lesser known stage names as well, got started in the mid 60s as a member of the group The Mediators alongside Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson and recorded a few tunes for producer Rupie Edwards.  In the '70s Jah Lloyd turned his attention to producing and recorded the first sessions of Simpson's new group The Diamonds who would later be renamed The Mighty Diamonds.  Soon after, Jah Lloyd picked up the mic as a deejay and had a couple hits in Jamaica with "Black Snowfall," "Worldclass," and "Beware Of The Flour."  Now here's where the name changes come into play; when he went to cut some tracks for Lee Perry, Perry insisted that he change his name to Jah Lion which he did for his 1976 solo album Colombia Colly originally released on Upsetter and Island Records.  The tune that was included on that album "Soldier And Police War" on the "Police And Thieves" riddim is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite reggae tracks ever recorded but I digress... Jah Lion reverted back to Jah Lloyd when he signed a two album deal with Virgin Records and it was around that same time he decided to concentrate his efforts more on production and established his own Teem label with his younger brother Vincent.  Today's track "African Drums," originally recorded circa 1974 and featuring the drumming of the great Bongo Herman, was released on the CD Final Judgement in 1998 on the aforementioned Teem label, a year before Jah Lloyd's passing. With some Mighty Diamonds vocals dropped into the mix and Herman's badass drumming, "African Drums" is one helluva tuff tune - dig it!