Euvin Spencer, better known as Don Carlos, was born in Kingston, Jamaica on June 29, 1952. He is a legendary Reggae artist who grew up in one of the most deprived regions of Western Kingston, Jamaica, in a district notoriously known as Waterhouse. This area is also a musical spawning ground for many of Reggae’s greatest ever talents, such as King Tubby, Black Uhuru, The Jays, Junior Reid, and King Jammy, to name a few.
Don Carlos started his singing career in 1965 in conjunction with other artists and quickly moved on to creating solo singles. In 1972, Don moved into a trio as one of the original contributors of Black Uhuru, alongside other founding members, Garth Dennis who later went on to joining the Wailing Souls, and Derrick Ducky Simpson. Two years after the trio’s groundbreaking debut, the group split in different directions and Don continued to pursue a solo career.
Within three years, developing his song writing and grooming his distinctive vocal style, Suffering was released in May 1981. This strong release took the industry by storm, courtesy of a heavy roots and culture flavored showcase for the Negus Roots label. This album was a massive hit in Africa, selling in unprecedented numbers.
At this time, he worked alongside Gold, his co-writer, and back up vocalist. Together, they brought through such timeless creations as Harvest Time, Day to Day Living, Them Never Know A Natty Dred Have Credentials, between 1980 to 1984.
Don continued on with more releases including Laser Beam, Raving Tonight, Never Run Away, Just a Passing Glance, Ghetto Living, and Deeply Concerned.
During the 1980s, Don was a popular artist in the Dance Hall scene with numerous top ten hits between 1982 – 1985, such as: Late Night Blues, Nice Time Tonight, Dice Cup, Hog & Goat, I’m Not Getting Crazy, Fight Fight Fight, Traveling, Laser Beam, Johnny Big Mouth and Spread Out.
Don continued releasing melodic roots reggae. Other titles in his rich catalogue include Roots and Culture, Pure Gold, Spread Out, Plantation, Slow Down Vol.3, Prophecy, Firehouse Clash, RAS Portraits, Head to Head, Jah Light, Live in San Francisco (2002), and Special Edition to name a few.
A request from Duckie for Don to continue his former role as lead vocalist in a rejuvenated Black Uhuru reunion resulted in another strong Black Uhuru album – Now. The year 1989 marked the reunion of the original vocal trio with Don, Garth and Duckie.
After six years- 1989-1994 – and four albums, singing lead for Black Uhuru in the studio, and on the road, Don again went back to his solo career. His other titles with Black Uhuru include Mystical Truths, Iron Storm and Strong. All of these four albums are classics with Don up front on lead vocals. As well, each of these four titles were nominated for Grammy Awards.
After the Black Uhuru reunion, Don continued to show his inspiration through his albums Ease Up, Seven Days a Week and Groove With Me. During this time Don kept on touring and in the new millennium he joined forces with the California based Reggae Angels for four years with a solid backing band.
He continued to tour the world successfully with his band, Dub Vision.
Discography:
Suffering (Negus Roots, 1981),
Day to Day Living (Greensleeves, 1982),
Harvest Time (Negus Roots, 1982)
Spread Out (Burning Sounds, 1983)
Pass the Lazer Beam (Jackpot, 1983)
Just A Passing Glance (RAS Records, 1984)
Deeply Concerned (RAS Records, 1987)
Time Is The Master (RAS Records, 1992)
7 Days A Week (RAS Records, 1998)
Dub Version (Dressed to Kill, 2000)
Changes (Heartbeat Records, 2010)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
