John Holt: the Musical Journey of Jamaica’s Vocal Virtuoso

John Holt, one of Jamaica’s superb vocalists and enduring songwriters, was born in the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston in July 1947.

His talent was evident as soon as he was 12 when he won his first singing contest. He won 28 titles over the next four years and then launched his recording career in 1963 with producer Leslie Kong, who recorded Holt’s self-penned debut single, “Forever I’ll Stay/I Cried a Tear”. Next, the young artist began working with producer Clive Chin, recording “Rum Bumper” as a duet with Alton Ellis.

Paragons John Holt — *The Paragons trio*

In 1964, John Holt joined the vocal group the Paragons, where he excelled at being both a composer and arranger. The group, which initially was a quarter and then became a trio, recorded “Good Luck and Goodbye” for Clement Coxsone Dodd at Studio One and then worked with Duke Reid at his Treasure Isle Studio, becoming Jamaica’s premier vocal group and icon of the rocksteady genre that was replacing ska. Among their notable singles were “Ali Baba”, “Tonight”, “I See Your Face”, and the Holt-penned “The Tide Is High”.

John Holt worked on a parallel solo career while part of the Paragons, recording for Bunny Lee and Harry J. The trio returned to Coxsone Dodd in 1968 and continued with their success until 1970 when its members Howard Barrett and Garth “Tyrone” Evans went to the U.S. after being awarded scholarships.

biography of john holt — *A young John Holt (photo from John Holt Foundation Official)*

Holt’s solo career continued undisturbed as he cut songs for producers like Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid and Prince Buster. One of his immediate successes was a cover of “Stick By Me,” intentionally arranged to take advantage of the latest dance craze, the John Crow. The song topped the Jamaican charts for 23 weeks and became the year’s biggest-selling single.

In 1973, the Trojan label in the U.K. released John Holt’s “1000 Volts of Holt”, which gave the reggae treatment to romantic compositions like “Girl from Ipanema”, “Mr. Bojangles”, and “Touch Me in the Morning”. The album launched John Holt at the international level. It was followed by “2000 Volts Of Holt” (1976) and “3000 Volts Of Holt” (1977). The latter was the more root-sounding of the three albums, but it still carried that sweetened string sound that set these recordings together. After working in the U.K. for some time, Holt returned home and continued his success with albums like “Up Park Camp” in 1976.

john holt reggae singer — *John Holt performing (photo from John Holt Foundation Official)*

In the 1980s, Holt shed his family entertainer image and reinvented himself as a cultural hero with tracks such as “Police in Helicopter” and “Fat She Fat“, both recorded with producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes. Lawes’ deep roots rhythms perfectly accompanied Holt’s songs, from the lightest pop to the heaviest hitting roots numbers. “Police in Helicopter” condemned the Jamaican government’s crackdown on marijuana plantations.

Holt’s interest in the D.J. scene dated back to the 1970s, when he had heard U-Roy toasting over his own classic hit “Wear You to the Ball”. Holt immediately introduced the D.J. to Duke Reid, who launched U-Roy to stardom. U-Roy repaid Holt by recording many other versions of the singer’s hits. Other deejays that versioned some of John Holt’s songs were Dennis Alcapone and Yellowman.

In 2004, the Jamaican government awarded John Holt the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) for his contribution to Jamaican music. He continued releasing occasional albums and tracks until 2010 and made numerous acclaimed appearances at Reggae Sunsplash. He died of cancer in October 2014.