Just yesterday I found out that legendary singer Gregory Isaacs passed away due to complications with lung cancer. For longer than I can remember I’ve had a love affair with the music of Jamaica. Beginning with Bob Marley and moving through Roots to Dance Hall to Ska and Rock Steady and all points in between and back again over the years. Of all the artists from JA that I’ve loved, I’m not sure there’s a better singer than Gregory Isaacs. In truth, I’d rank Isaacs up there in a list of great soul singers of any genre and any locale. For me what separated Isaacs from the others was the intense intimacy of his phrasing and his voice. Like other great singers, it didn’t matter how many times you’d heard a song before Isaacs sang it, when he sang the song, it was his. Below are a few of my favorite performances from the legendary Cool Ruler, whose voice will continue to make the lover’s rock…
{honorable mention…or maybe 5 1/2} “Let’s Dance”
For me this is the quintessential “lover’s rock” jam, built for late nights with your one and only. It features some very rare admissions of tenderness from a man as Isaacs sings “As we embrace and your heart gets close to mine, I get so excited I could cry.”
5. “Storm”
One of my favorite King Tubby riddims pared with Mr. Isaacs equals nothing but pure gold to the ears and the call to remember, “whenever there is a storm, I know there’s got to be a calm.”
4. “One More Time”
From what remains my single favorite Reggae album of all time, 1978’s Cool Ruler, is this upbeat roots rocker where Isaacs begs for his woman to “cool down” and give him “one more chance.” How could anyone resist the Cool Ruler?
3. “My Number One”
Certainly one of his greatest sides, as he attempts test his lover and determine her “future plans” to see if her love is truly true.
2. “Native Woman”
Also from 1978’s Cool Ruler, this one might be the best, most honest and deepest expression of love I’ve heard in a reggae track. I love how this “Native Woman” does not seem to be perfect, as Isaac’s says “she brings me joy into the morning, sometimes.” but its this woman who occupies his mind so totally that “her voice awakes [him] sometimes out of [his] sleep.”
1. “Willow Tree”
I don’t think “Willow Tree” is really considered one of his great sides, Isaacs fans would probably be shocked that “Night Nurse” isn’t even on this list, but “Willow Tree” remains my favorite track from Isaacs because of the deep feeling of intimacy he expresses through his phrasing. When he sings to the Willow tree, “cry not for me, my willow tree,” you can almost picture Isaacs caressing the face (if trees had faces) of the Weeping Willow, pleading with it to stop its tears, because Isaacs has found all that he’s ever been looking for in the love of his life, a “love I’ve searched for.” When Isaacs sings those lines he sounds as if he himself is on the verge of tears, which is exactly what I’m almost brought to everytime I hear it because of range of emotion brought out by Mr. Isaacs, a talent that this world is going to miss dearly.
