Linval Thompson Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks

Distinctive tenor singer Linval Thompson honed his singing craft in his formative years, growing in the west Kingston ghetto of Three Mile, where he was associated with Dennis Brown, Johnnie Clarke and Al Campbell. A subsequent move to New York brought him into expatriate act Hugh Hendricks and the Buccaneers, with his debut recording, ‘No Other Woman,’ being made circa early 1974 at Patrick Alley’s Art Craft studio. A series of other singles followed from his New York sojourn, but the return to Jamaica in 1974 led to more noteworthy singles for Stamma Hobson, Phil Pratt and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, with ‘Jah Jah Redder Than Red’ and ‘Girl You’ve Got to Run,’ both cut at the Black Ark for Pratt, being the most successful. Yet, it was all but a prelude to the breakthrough success he would finally achieve upon teaming up with Bunny Lee for ‘Don’t Cut Off Your Dreadlocks,’ one of the most popular releases of 1975; a debut album of the same name, issued by Third World in 1976, contained some of his most outstanding material, including the devotional ‘Jah Jah The Conqueror’ and ‘Long Long Dreadlocks,’ the romance thriller ‘Black Princess Lady’ and the anti-rude boy opus, ‘Cool Down Your Temper.’