Soul Syndicate

Soul Syndicate, originally called the Rhythm Raiders, were one of the top reggae session bands in Jamaica from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.

History[edit]

In the first half of the 1970s the band from the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston recorded for producers such as Keith Hudson, Winston Holness (under the pseudonym The Observers),^[1] Duke Reid and others on some of the most popular and influential recordings of the era. Core members of the band were guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith, drummerCarlton "Santa" Davis, bassist and founder of Soul Syndicate George "Fully" Fullwood, rhythm guitarist Tony Chin and keyboard player Bernard "Touter" Harvey, later with Keith Sterling on keyboards.^[2][3] Other members at various times included drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, guitarist Cleon Douglas, and keyboard players Earl Lindo and Tyrone Downie.^[3] Freddie McGregor was at one time the band's featured vocalist.^[2] The nucleus of the band also recorded under the name The Aggrovators for Bunny Lee. As well as playing on countless releases backing some of Jamaica's top vocalists, including Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs, they also released several albums credited to the band. Harvey later became a member of The Wailers Band.^[2]

The Soul Syndicate's "Stalag 17" and "Taxi" bass lines, was among many bass lines created by George "Fully" Fullwood, an instrumental, featuring Ansell Collins on organ who was a resident studio musician for soul syndicate in the 1970s, was much-versioned, providing the basis for hits over the two decades that followed for Youth, Horace Andy, Augustus Pablo, Frankie Paul, General Echo, Tenor Saw and others.^[4]

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

• Harvest Uptown, Famine Downtown (1977) London/Soul Syndicate
• Moodie In Dub Vol 1 (1978) Moodie Music (Black Slate & The Soul Syndicate)
• Was, Is, & Always (1980) High Times/Epiphany
• Roots Radics Meet Soul Syndicate In Dub (198?) Razor Sounds (with Roots Radics)
• Friends and Family (1996) Epiphany