Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964)
is a
Jamaican reggae and
dancehall artist. Levy was born in
Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a
band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released “My Black Girl” in 1977.
Levy established his
solo career the next year with “A Long Time Since We Don’t Have No Love”;
though the
single was a failure, the fourteen-year-old was a popular performer at Jamaican dancehalls.
In an August 2014 interview with
Midnight Raver, record producer Delroy Wright revealed that it was his brother
Hyman Wright who first met Barrington Levy in the mid-1970s through Wade “Trinity” Brammer. According to Delroy Wright, Hyman Wright recorded a host of tracks with Barrington Levy prior to introducing him to
Henry “Junjo” Lawes. These tracks would eventually appear on the album
Bounty Hunter, which was released on the Jah Life record label.
Both
record producers recorded several singles with the
Roots Radics, including “Al Yah We Deh”, “Looking My Love”, “Englishman”, “Skylarking”, “Wedding Ring Aside” and “Collie Weed”, all of which became
hits and established Levy’s career. Levy’s next few singles were similarly successful, including “Shine Eye Girl”, “Wicked Intention”, “Jumpy Girl”, “Disco Music”, “Reggae Music”, “Never Tear My Love Apart”, “Jah”, “You Made Me So Happy” and “When You’re Young and in Love”. Levy then recorded several duets with
Toyan,
Jah Thomas and
Trinity, and appeared at
Reggae Sunsplash in 1980 and 1981.
Although
albumswere not terribly important in Jamaica at the time, Levy released four
albums before 1980:
Shaolin Temple,
Bounty Hunter,
Shine Eye Gal (
United Kingdom) and
Englishman, a
critically acclaimed
record. His success led to many earlier studio and sound system performances being reissued without his consent, releases he described as “joke business”.