Devon Irons - A Different Song [1980] (With Lyrics)

Подробнее о видео

The name Devon Irons is familiar to all serious fans of roots reggae as the name adorning two of the most seminal singles to have been produced at the Black Ark during one of Lee Scratch Perry’s most fruitful and creative periods. 'Ketch Vampire' and 'When Jah Come' are two of the most iconic songs of the roots era and in the case of the former, one of the most expensive and sought after singles on the reggae collectors market, where the twelve inch version can fetch astronomical figures when it appears. Despite the stature and international popularity of these songs the artist himself has received neither financial nor personal reward for his work. To say there is little known about Devon Irons would be an understatement, in fact it has been speculated that he either passed away long ago or remarkably that he never existed in the first place, with some suggesting his name was just an alias for either Devon Russell or original Viceroys lead-singer, Bonny Gayle.

It was with great excitement and intrigue when earlier this year (2020) I finally made contact with Devon who, for the past twenty years has been living an agrarian and anonymous life in the rural parish of St. Mary in the north east of Jamaica.
I have conducted multiple interviews with Devon who has shared in great detail most of his life story. The sheer length and extent of our conversations is too long and all-encompassing for this article, so I have edited it down to focus on the details of his recording career. However, for the sake of context what follows is my attempt to briefly give some background on Devon’s life up to the point at which he made his first recording.

A Different Song was recorded in 1980 and to date is the last recording Devon has made. Aside from a brief stint in a short-lived group called Steady who made no recordings but performed at a couple of community stage shows in the mid 1980’s, Devon has had no involvement with the music industry since. Instead he has put all his focus on earning a living from his painting trade which he plied until the turn of the millennium when he relocated to a rural district in St. Mary where he now works as a farmer, growing an impressive variety of fruit and vegetables which he sells to local higglers and market sellers.

Born Christopher Irons on the 16th of Jan 1952, he spent the first eighteen years of his life living in Morant Bay in St. Thomas. For reasons that remain a little unclear, his primary school teacher Mother P started to call him Devon and that’s the name he has continued to go by for the rest of his life. Devon described his childhood in Morant Bay as a carefree and idyllic one until his life was turned upside down and his innocence was shattered when his father was killed in a road accident just outside the family home as Devon and his brothers were playing in the yard. Without his father around the family struggled financially, so at the age of twelve Devon left school and began working to provide an extra income for his mother. Initially Devon found work as a gardener and house hand for a wealthier family in the area, he worked briefly with the local fishermen and had a brief stint as a labourer on a construction site before finally becoming a painter and decorator, a trade which would sustain him for the majority of his life.

At the age of eighteen Devon and his family relocated to Santa Cruz in the parish of Saint Elizabeth and it was during this time that Devon first began to explore his musical talents. Having sold his bicycle to buy a guitar from an elderly neighbour, Devon began writing songs as soon as he had mastered the rudiments of the instrument. It wasn’t long before he formed a musical duo called The Now Now Healers with a friend he had made in the area named Errol Berwise.
They would perform at schools and at local competitions and on three consecutive years they entered the parish finals for the Jamaican festival song competition. With backing from Zap Pow they were finally crowned the winners for the parish of Saint Elizabeth on their third year entering. Devon had a further boost of confidence when a song he wrote promoting the importance of literacy in the country was performed by a class of students on the national TV station JBC. It was shortly after this that Devon relocated to Kingston where he had been offered a job as a painter on a building site. He spent the first two weeks living on site, sleeping on top of an empty closet before ultimately making contact with an aunt living in Greenwich Farm in western Kingston who provided a room for Devon to share with his cousin. It’s at this point where Devon made friends with Earl Zero and his recording career commenced. It’s also at this point where the following excerpt from my interviews with Devon commences. - Carl Finlay (ReggaeVille.com)

Note: All the videos posted on my channel are demonetized.

#reggae #consciousreggae #rootsreggae