Joe Isaacs

Joe Isaacs

Clinton Donaldson Isaacs, better known as Joe Isaacs, is a Jamaican drummer, songwriter and record producer and was an original session drummer at the renowned Studio One record label and recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica. As part of the house band, Sound Dimension, Joe Isaacs played reggae and ska and was an architect of the rocksteady beat, which was slower than ska. He performed with a number of famous musicians, singers, songwriters and producers and from there, forged himself a lengthy and notable career in the music industry.

Early life

Joe was born in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, Jamaica on June 6th, 1949. His father, Asha Isaacs, was Jamaican and his mother, Lelia Lewis, was a Mayan Indian originally from Belize. She came to Jamaica while pregnant and Asha stayed behind in Belize. Lelia eventually needed to return to Belize and so Joe was taken in and raised by his father's brother, Clinton Isaacs, becoming the person he would eventually call "Dad." He grew up with two cousins (often referred to as "brothers") George and Tony.

When Joe was 10 years old, his dad (Clinton), who worked for the United Fruit Company, got transferred to the Head Office in Kingston, and the family relocated there. Later, Joe's biological father (Asha) returned to Jamaica and asked to take him back to Belize, however, Joe was now a teenager and well ensconced with his adoptive family, settings and school (St. Jago Cathedral Prep School), so he declined.

It was Joe's cousin that gave him his first pair of drum sticks, and he seemed naturally inclined toward percussion. Joe would bang on pots and pans because his parents couldn't afford a drum set. But eventually, his dad did get him a conga, so he began playing the congas in the neighborhood band, The Rebels.

While setting up his congas to play in the square one day, a man organizing the show asked Joe if the congas were his instrument, and Joe said he could also play the drums, but had never been given the chance. So, after the first band played, the man told the drummer to get up and gave Joe a chance to play the drums. It was the first time Joe had ever actually played the drums, in the square in front of a big crowd, and everything clicked. Joe felt from that moment forward that his gift came from "The Almighty" (see Personal Life for religious beliefs.)

At age 15, Joe got into a confrontation with a teacher about having fallen asleep in Latin Class, and because of that confrontation, he made the decision to leave school permanently. He continued to play the drums around town and worked in a store as a wrapper.

Joe had long been an admirer of Lloyd Knibb and considered Lloyd a mentor, even without having worked directly with him. Lloyd was a drummer in The Skatalites and was well known both there and as the original house band at Studio One. Joe used to watch Lloyd play and take notes about how he played certain things, when he played a specific drum, when he opened his eyes, and all his skillful nuances, etc.

Musical Career

Joe knew Brian Atkinson, who was the original Studio One house band bassist. One day, Brian approached Joe at the store where he worked and said that Coxsone (Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd was the founder of Studio One) needed a drummer because Lloyd Knibb had left to go work on a ship.

Joe went to Studio One with Brian, but when he got there, he didn't know who Coxsone was and jokingly said he'd heard Coxsone was a thief. Brian wouldn't answer, and Joe (not knowing Coxsone was standing behind him) asked Brian if Coxsone would rip him off...Coxsone put his hand on Joe's shoulder and told him it would be alright. Regardless of the awkward first meeting, Joe felt that Coxsone saw something in him and liked him personally. Coxsone asked Joe to join the house band and without any formal audition, he started playing drums at Studio One the very next day. Joe was 15 years old.

In 1967, the studio musicians at that time were: Brian Atkinson - Bass; Clement "Coxsone" Dodd - Guitar; Jackie Mittoo - Keyboard; Denzil Laing - Percussionist; and Dennis "Ska" Campbell - Saxophone. They were known as Sound Dimension (a.k.a the Soul Vendors, a.k.a the Soul Brothers

The band had to do 12 rhythms a day and worked from 9am - 5pm, Monday thru Friday. Then at night, various singers would come through the studio to record the lyrics to the band's original tracks. For Joe, this doesn't seem like work at all. He says it was challenging, but was a lot of fun, too.

Despite Joe's success as a drummer at Studio One and having played on countless tracks, he rarely, if ever, sees any royalties from his contributions, as much of the material was mishandled by other members of the band and management, and not credited properly to Joe Isaacs. Other musicians from Studio One have experienced this same issue, as much of what was recorded back then was claimed by other artists or collaborators.

Joe left Studio One in 1968 after realizing he could get paid more working for other studios and musicians. He and Brian Atkinson left at the same time, opting to work locally and broaden their horizons. At the time, Coxsone had offered them both a trip to London, England to take the music of Studio One overseas, but they both declined and other musicians were sent in their place. Other studios Joe worked at include Treasure Isle (owned by Duke Reid); Federal Studios; West Indies Studio; and Beverley's.

Joe Isaacs has worked with such greats as Delroy Wilson, Slim Smith, The Melodians, Gaylads, Ken Boothe, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Derrick Harriott, Derrick Morgan, Burning Spear, The Techniques, The Paragons, John Holt, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Hortense Ellis, Alton Ellis, Jack Radics, Otis Gayle, Hopeton Lewis, Johnny Nash, The Termites (Lloyd Parks was the lead singer then and has since become a famous bass player), Desmond Dekker, The Ethiopians, Stranger Cole, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Toots and the Maytals, Roy Shirley, Pablove Black, Leslie Kong, Soulettes, The Heptones, Lynn Taitt, Tobi Lark, Merlyn Brooks and countless others.

In 1979, Joe Isaacs developed a genre of music called "Risco" that combined the best of disco with the quintessential sounds and downbeats of Reggae. Joe produced and released five Risco albums from 1979 - 1980. They were remixes of current disco hits and although the concept was well ahead of its time, the singles never became commercial hits. However, they have been lauded as underground specialties and still receive airplay on various outlets like the BBC, independent specialty shows and streaming outlets.

Recently, Joe's friend and publicist from Toronto, Uri, found a double album called "Risco Connection" being sold online and purchased it for roughly $300. When Uri told Joe about his find, it didn't take long for the two of them to figure out that this album compilation was a counterfeit created illegally by some entity without Joe's permission.

The double album is a bootlegged compilation marketed as a "rare album treasure." The record label is listed as Musica Paradiso, however no such label exists. The address for Musica Paradiso reads as "77 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston, Jamaica" which is currently a Wyndham Hotel property, and as evident in a 2010 Kingston Gleaner newspaper ad, was much the same in 2010, which was the year this record was released. The counterfeiters went to great lengths to manufacture not only the album, but also the album sleeve and jacket, and even went so far as to include a quote from Joe Isaacs himself, along with his signature.

Joe left Jamaica and headed to Canada, where he played Caribana (music festival) and his music segued from reggae into R&B, funk and calypso. He toured all over Canada and eventually became a Canadian citizen.

Joe Isaacs was childhood friends with two brothers, Otis and Bunny Gayle. Bunny owned a bar/restaurant on Seven Mile Beach in Negril that was doing live music and Otis was singing there. In 1991, Otis needed a drummer and recruited Joe Isaacs to come play. You can still find Joe and Otis at The Boat Bar every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2PM-6PM during the tourist season.

Joe and the other original living members of the Studio One house band are featured in a documentary titled "Studio Drummie One and The History of Rock Steady Music." The film was produced by Guy A. Ragosta and is currently being shown at various international film festivals.

Personal life

Joe has been married twice (1968 and 1975) and has five children. Joe has lived in various cities across Jamaica; Belize; Toronto, Canada; Miami, Florida; New York City, New York; and London, UK.

Joe Isaacs was raised Catholic, but as he grew older, he questioned the religion and the "whiteness" of it confused him. As a young adult, he would find himself making poor choices in various aspects of his life and decided he didn't want to be the kind of person he was becoming. At age 25, Joe became Rastafarian.

References

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/-Drummie--Isaacs-marches-to-own-beat_11094263
https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n2419/101218/interview-joe-isaacs-in-kingston-part-1
https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n2422/102418/interview-joe-isaacs-in-kingston-part-2
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/sjr/product/risco-connection-risco-connection
https://www.discogs.com/Risco-Connection-Risco-Connection/release/2263638
https://newspaperarchive.com/kingston-gleaner-aug-04-2010-p-21/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/a51538e9-0285-4a6a-abea-4a15badba5dc
https://jameshamiltonsdiscopage.com/1979/12/15/december-15-1979-prince-chic-risco-connection-joe-isaacs-diana-ross-dandy-livingstone/
http://surfingmedicine.org/2016/05/20/studio-drummie-one-and-the-history-of-rock-steady-music-film/
https://vimeo.com/274259401
https://ttfilmfestival.com/film/studio-one-drummie-and-the-history-of-rock-steady-music
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20180708/music-diaries-musicians-behind-hits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gQh_9QcjO4

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