Junior Murvin

Best known for his all-time classic "Police and Thieves," Junior Murvin was gifted with a unique, feather-light falsetto that inspired some of Lee "scratch" Perry's most unearthly productions. Murvin wasn't exactly the most prolific reggae star of the late '70s, yet such is the stature of "Police and Thieves" and its accompanying album of the same name that Murvin would still be a legend even if he'd never recorded another note. And, indeed, comparatively few listeners heard much of his sporadic subsequent work.

Junior Murvin was born Murvin Junior Smith, likely in 1949 in Port Antonio, Jamaica. As a child, he sang along with records by Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine, and (later on) soul singers like Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, and especially Curtis Mayfield, after whom his own falsetto was modeled. He began performing publicly as a youth after his family moved to Montego Bay. With some experience under his belt, he went to live with his aunt in the Kingston ghetto of Trenchtown, where he quickly made connections on the thriving reggae scene and worked on his singing technique. He landed a chance to audition for Lee "scratch" Perry and Clement "coxsone" Dodd at the latter's Studio One, but when Dodd told him to write another verse for the song he'd performed, Murvin simply moved on.

Read More