desmond has a barrow in the marketplace

Today Pitchfork tells me that Desmond Dekker died of a heart attack yesterday. There is a special place in my heart for Desmond and the other pioneers of Jamaican music. Read the article about Desmond and his influence here.

mp3: Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Israelites
mp3: Desmond Dekker - 007 (Shanty Town)

I got "Israelites" on a compilation a friend gave me back in the day which also had this fun version of "The Tide Is High" on it. I believe this was recorded in 1967 with John Holt who wrote the song.

mp3: Paragons - The Tide Is High