Augustus Pablo
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St. Andrew, Jamaica (June 21, 1954 – May 18, 1999)
Horace Swaby (June 21, 1954 – May 18, 1999), better known as Augustus Pablo, the melodica king, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer and keyboardist, active from the 1970s onwards. He was perhaps the first person to use the melodica as a viable musical instrument.
He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica and learned to play the organ in Kingston College School. It was at that point an unnamed girl lent him the melodica. Fascinated by the instrument, Pablo rarely put it down. He also met Herman Chin Loy; the Chin family owned an influential record store in Kingston. Swaby recorded “Iggy Iggy” in Clive’s father’s studio, Aquarius Records. He took the name Augustus Pablo for this recording.
After releasing a few more singles, Pablo came out with “East of the River Nile”, a unique blend of East Asian and Jamaican sounds, and the song became a moderate hit. Augustus Pablo popularized the use of the melodica (an instrument used primarily to teach children music in the Jamaican public schools) in reggae music. He soon joined Now Generation (Mikey Chung’s band) and played the keyboard with them while his friend, Clive, began his own career as a record producer. Pablo and Chin recorded “Java” (1972) together, as soon as Pablo quit Now Generation and Clive was able to get the studio time, the instrumental was a massive hit, and launched Pablo’s solo career. He recorded with Chin and various others, including Leonard Chin, his uncle, and Lee Perry. He scored another smash hit with “My Desire” (John Holt).
He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica and learned to play the organ in Kingston College School. It was at that point an unnamed girl lent him the melodica. Fascinated by the instrument, Pablo rarely put it down. He also met Herman Chin Loy; the Chin family owned an influential record store in Kingston. Swaby recorded “Iggy Iggy” in Clive’s father’s studio, Aquarius Records. He took the name Augustus Pablo for this recording.
After releasing a few more singles, Pablo came out with “East of the River Nile”, a unique blend of East Asian and Jamaican sounds, and the song became a moderate hit. Augustus Pablo popularized the use of the melodica (an instrument used primarily to teach children music in the Jamaican public schools) in reggae music. He soon joined Now Generation (Mikey Chung’s band) and played the keyboard with them while his friend, Clive, began his own career as a record producer. Pablo and Chin recorded “Java” (1972) together, as soon as Pablo quit Now Generation and Clive was able to get the studio time, the instrumental was a massive hit, and launched Pablo’s solo career. He recorded with Chin and various others, including Leonard Chin, his uncle, and Lee Perry. He scored another smash hit with “My Desire” (John Holt).
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Top Albums
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King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
Augustus Pablo
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East of the River Nile
Augustus Pablo Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $8.99
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $14.99
- eBay Search
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King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
Augustus Pablo Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $11.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $7.99
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Shoutbox
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spokesmann wrote:
East of the River Nile and King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown are absolutely brilliant. [2]
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sensiy wrote:
bless
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ElLocoNieto wrote:
Δ!! BIG UP!
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an-african wrote:
Some Of The Best Music EVER. [4]
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Psychorelayer wrote:
для раскура хорошо
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ferminchoar wrote:
chilling times...
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Gusikk wrote:
Some of the best music ever. [3]
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jakobdorof wrote:
Some of the best music ever. [2]
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pipeboing wrote:
rei da escaleta
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Pepy_98 wrote:
dub...slomila mu se srednja grana..
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Lobotomy77 wrote:
East of the River Nile and King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown are absolutely brilliant. Some of the best music ever.
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ubermenschean wrote:
Good stuff.
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blueyz wrote:
Our Melodica playing mans birthday this day, heres my attempt to make it somewhat special, not so much heard tracks of his http://youtu.be/1ldsh0Z5wME and http://youtu.be/CYtmZfW9ckI and http://youtu.be/Ke61rH2D598 and http://youtu.be/Vv8ZHoG7Qeg and http://www.we7.com/song/Augustus-Pablo-And-The-Simplicity-People/Stardum?m=0
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OneDayAsRobot wrote:
♥
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Huntushe wrote:
Δ9
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jakobdorof wrote:
the Rising Sun album: finally, mid-80s dub that doesn't suck.
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squezey wrote:
Hey guys sorry if this is a little off topic here but today I got a record by Augustus Pablo in called This is... and the vinyl is colored. I never heard of any colored vinyls by him ever released. It was distributed by Above Rock Records in year 1997. So do I have some super rare collectors item or is this just normal? It obviously isn't a unofficial release either. V To you fabrikant3 look through file sharing networks through certain search engines. You can find almost anything you want that way.
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fabrikant3 wrote:
I´m new on this, but somenone knows where I can download his albums?
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Gusikk wrote:
♥♥♥
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Marcissaad wrote:
!!!
Videos
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King Tubby Special Mix .…
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K.G.s Half Way Tree - Augustus…
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JAVA LIVE 1986
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I Kong - The Way It Is /…
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Recent Activity
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hells4heroes and Fdjungle added Augustus Pablo to their libraries. yesterday morning
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dybajah tagged Augustus Pablo with reggae and dub. Friday afternoon
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AmyPhetamine tagged Augustus Pablo with mellow and reggae. last month
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nooneastern tagged Augustus Pablo with ‘solo’. last month
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