Reggaeology Presents: Millie Small – Jamaica’s first International Popstar
Etched reggae history as Jamaica’s first international teen pop sensation, Millie Smalls groundbreaking cover single in 1964 held open the floodgates for the island’s musical presence in the global arena. And though her rise to stardom is known by many, her bittersweet journey is told by few.
Etched reggae history as Jamaica’s first international teen pop sensation, Millie Smalls groundbreaking cover single in 1964 held open the floodgates for the island’s musical presence in the global arena. And though her rise to stardom is known by many, her bittersweet journey is told by few. Born 1946 as Millicent Dolly May Small in Clarendon Jamaica. She grew up in the quiet community of Milk River, the child of a plantation overseer; she shared a thatched roof home with seven brothers and five sisters. The local radio station ZQI, and the clear channels of WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee, set the musical backdrop in Jamaica during the 50s, and by the time Millie reached her early teens. She was dropping her library prizes of popular R&B tracks for siblings and relatives soon becoming a local talent favorite in our quiet hometown. This encouragement led to her entry in the Vere John’s Opportunity Knocks showcase in 1960. The most popular talent event in Jamaica of the times, and her 10 shillings prize winning performance at the Palladium Theatre in Montego Bay became the launch platform for the aspiring teen.
With the support of her aunt, Millie Small settled in the capital city, allowing her greater access to Beat Street, in Downtown Kingston. The opportunist of the time, Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd wasted no time in snatching the winner, to his then fledgling studio label, citing her similarity to Shirley Goodman of the popular stateside duo Shirley and Lee as good odds for churning out a solid hit, but her vocals lacked the finesse of her comparative, and after a few failed recordings Coxsone turned to Owen Gray to fine tune the artist’s vocal delivery. Owen would even record with his young protégé as the duo, Owen & Millie, delivering to hit singles on Coxsone’s D Darling imprint.
1961’s ‘Sugar Plum’ on the B side of Owen Gray’s, Jezebel, and on 1962’s ‘Sit and Cry’ for Supreme Records, another Coxsone Dodd label.
‘Sit and Cry’ would find its way to the UK via Island Records, becoming a minor hit for the startup label. But, Owen Gray’s own aspirations as a solo act short circuited the duel, and Millie teamed up with Samuel ‘Roy’ Panton in 1962 for her second duel setup dubbed, Roy and Millie backed by Coxsone, the duo would find their debut single, ‘We’ll Meet’ with Roy Robinson’s E & R Records. They will repeat the success in 1963 on Prince Buster’s Voice of the People with the single ‘Over and Over’
The track became a hit in the UK on the Melodisc sub label, Blue Beat, a now iconic imprint started in 1949 by Briton Emil Shalit that went on to become a pivotal catalyst in the growth of Jamaican music in the UK. With Millie now on the radar of one of the UK’s biggest importers of Caribbean music. Coxsone would try to capitalize on her growing fan base in this lucrative market, but on the advice of Roy Panton, who was six years her senior Millie quickly realized that that her previous works with Coxsone had provided no real financial satisfaction. And in turn, opted to work with other producers. Island would step in to re cut the duo’s single ‘This World’, with an equally impressive ‘Never Say Goodbye’ on the B side. However, ‘This World’, had been previously recorded for Studio One, but was never released, and the duo would continue to rework a few unreleased Coxsone cuts a move that left him with a bitter taste for the two.
By the early 60s, Millie was a household name in the British Jamaican diaspora, and the Blue Beat would show its confidence in the young star by releasing the first EP record from a homegrown artist. 1963’s Millie and Blue Beat would serve as a four track compilation of her best duo works, including recordings with Owen Gray delivered on a 12 inch vinyl disc.
Blue Beat’s strategy to release the album as a rhythm & blues record opened Millie’s music to a wider audience in the UK, and soon the Jamaican teen was quickly being hailed as a rising pop sensation, with her fused backdrop of ska instrumentals and R&B style vocals, becoming known as the Blue Beat sound, and soon Millie being dubbed “the Blue Beat girl”. But, quietly in the background. Chris Blackwell was taking notes. Let’s not forget Blackwell’s winning knack in music was spotting a hit record. And this evolved into betting on a star. A skill that would weave Island Records into one of the world’s most respected recording outfits. He would follow this instinct and convince Millie that together, She could maximize on her UK popularity and break the ceiling for local acts in the UK mainstream market. Millie took the plunge and migrated to the UK in the summer of 1963 on Blackwell’s expense, engaging in a series of intense training courses to help improve her diction, vocal stamina and live performance delivery. As the winter of ’63 settled in, Chris began searching his private record collection for a single that could be easily covered by Millie. But as the saying goes, reggae’s history is built on a series of fortunate events, and along with the luck of that rudimentary charm. Chris Blackwell had a plan.
Let’s rewind the reggae timeline, to find out where it started. ‘My Boy Lollipop’ was originally written as ‘My Girl Lollipop’ in 1955 by Robert Spencer, an early group member of the Cadillacs. Now, rumors abound about how a recording executive Robert Levy earned the copyrights to the single but in those days, as still a common assault today, the life of an artist came with heavy expenses and willing loan sharks of all shapes and sizes stood in close quarters. The original singer of ‘My Boy Lollipop’ was a 14 year old Brooklyn teen named Barbie Gaye, spotted by a reputed mobster and the convicted trademark offender ‘Corky’ Vastola, while she harmonized with friends on a street corner in Coney Island, New York. Later Corky convinced his associate Robert Levy to loan him the song sheet for the single ‘My Girl Lollipop’ and history’s wheels began to turn. Barbie would switch the title of the song to ‘My Boy Lollipop’, skipping school and taking the subway to a mid Manhattan studio where she collaborated with guitarist Leroy Kirkland, and his session band to produce the ska inspired a rift in the 1956 recording.
Vastola would give Barbie a $200 payment after the session, which would be the only payment she ever collected. The Barbie Gaye original would sell marginally in the tri state area, earning the teen neighborhood popularity. That was quickly short circuited by a cover version from a five foot two inch small island girl. Now let’s fast forward to the winter of 1963 ….. The Millie Small venture had thinned out Chris Blackwell’s resources, having taken the risk on a meager budget to underwrite millions preparation for her future stardom. It had left him with little wriggle room to push Island Records forward in the coming year. His selection, however, of Barbie Gaye’s original recording would prove to be another winning bet. And one of the most faithful moments in Jamaican music history.
Ernie Ranglin would improvise on Leroy Kirkland’s guitar riff. And the infamous harmonica break that has been claimed by many with a few fingers pointed at Rod Stewart was actually cut by American Pete Hogman – a musician – most noted for his work with the 50s studio session band, the Sharpetones. On the back of millions growing UK track record Blackwell would convince Fontana to distribute a few releases, including ‘My Girl Lollipop’, which they did initially in Italy and France. The success of the Millie Small reprise in these markets proved her real mainstream potential, but the quiet success of the ‘My Girl Lollipop’ single sparked a UK release in the Easter of 64, reaching number two on the UK pop charts by the peak of the summer, only held out closely for the top spot by the Beach Boys first number one hit ‘I Get Around’. The hit track – stateside released by Mercury Records label, Smash Records – was just as successful with the imprint utilizing her UK ‘Blue Beat Girl’ star power to push the track to number two in the US market. That single repeated its number two chart presence for several weeks in Canada; before topping the charts in Australia, and by the close of 1964, ‘My Girl Lollipop’ had sold nearly 700,00 45s. Eventually, selling over 5 million copies and in the process, becoming the fastest selling 7 inch single from a Jamaican artist man or woman. A record she held until the release of Lady Patra’s a monster hit ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’ in 1995.
Her transatlantic success would secure her a slot in Jamaica’s historic 1964 World Fair delegation. And on her return to the island that year, Millie served as the feature act across the island with the likes of Otis Redding, and Patti LaBelle serving as openers to her repeat stellar performances. Now let’s stop for a minute. Let’s keep in mind that at this stage of the game, Millie was barely an adult, 17, to be exact, and the petite girl from Milk River, Clarendon unassuming as she was learned quickly, that her gamble in Chris Blackwell was paying off as it had done for him as well. 1964 would prove to be the peak year of her career as well as new international spotlight generated a grueling appearance schedule. Her feature on BBC has already said go TV showcase helped spark her bookings and the ensuing World Tour would call back 10 countries, and 27 cities, and it was not an easy feat for the dainty teen who suffered from bouts of food poisoning and chronic fatigue along the way. She returned to Jamaica for a short break and rest, recording a few singles with Jackie Edwards during her downtime also releasing her cover of Fats Domino’s hits for Fontana that did pretty well in Canada, Norway and New Zealand. But if there was ever a more understated fact in Jamaican music history. It is Millie Small’s track record as a touring pioneer. She was the first Jamaican artist to tour in far flung regions such as Italy, Japan, Singapore, and as far as Australia, just to name a few. All this years before, Desmond Dekker would take the stage as Jamaica’s next international pop sensation.
In the years that followed, she would continue to tour throughout Europe, Africa and eastern Asia floated by re-issues and previously unreleased recordings, which helped feed her fans in the transatlantic 1968, however, would prove to be a game changing air between the start of the Vietnam War, the rise of the black civil rights movement and British MP Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. Jamaican music itself was undergoing a rapid evolution, reflecting the signs of the times, and Millie Small’s journey was no exception. That year her contract with Island Records had expired, and although she had captured new fans in far flung regions during her years of touring. Millie had lost ground with her core fanbase, the black British community, who like herself was all grown up now and facing real issues. She would sign a deal with Decca Records and meet songwriter Eddie Wolfram who convinced Millie to take the opportunity to shake her lollipop image. It was a good idea, considering that the new reggae soundscape was gaining traction in the diaspora markets. Millie experimented and found a solid hit with 1969 cover of Jackie Edwards original, ‘My Love and I’ with Millie’s ‘Tell Me about Yourself’ on the B-side for Pyramid Records.
The new sound connected with her transatlantic fans, and she replied with two additional reggae inspired hits that year. The conscious driven President Records release, ‘We Are All in a Zoo’, and the Jimmy Cliff produced ballad ‘Honey Hush’ for Trojan Records, which ironically would be the last hit of her career.
You see things had started to get a bit muddled for Millie. The soundscape was once again changing, reggae had found its roots and the roots had found rockers and Millie’s efforts to channel a mature image was overshadowed by the lionization of Jamaica’s music at the dawn of the 70s. However, the cleverly crafted single enough power by her no manager, Eddie Wolfram was a defiant tongue in cheek to Enoch Powell’s absurd in 1968 speech on immigration.
Almost banned on UK airwaves. The single went over well with the British black community, but the effort was short lived. Mille and her new partner, Eddie Wolfram would attempt to capitalize on this resurgence and make a last ditch effort to shake off her childish demeanor, with a 1970 album release ‘Time Will Tell’. To say the least, it was a jolt for fans and might I add a slight miscalculation on Eddie Wolfram’s part with Millie seemingly a willing accessory. The album cover did succeed to break the mold of her virgin innocence and along with it the stereotypical expectations of a Jamaican female artist in the 1970s. The iconic cover with Millie provocatively straddling a larger than life overripe banana topless only in silk panties with a girthy red boat oar in hand. It was like the 70s version of Milly Cyrus naked on a wrecking ball.
Besides from the taboo cover UK fans also frowned at the album’s unfamiliar soundscape which found favor with audiences in Nigeria, Italy, and Singapore, that however, was not a consolation for Trojan Records, as it had not connected in the label’s main markets, and by 1970, she had been shelved by the label. Millie would leave the UK and live on and off in Singapore until around in 1975. When Millie Small simply disappeared from the musical radar, besides our platonic fling with Peter Asher sometime in the late 60s, and a few news bullets of small shows in New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore and Italy, nothing else was heard from the superstar, and her presence faded. But why? It would seem Millie’s business relationship with her then songwriter and later manager Eddie Wolfram had soured after the release of the ‘Time Will Tell’ album, and with Wolfram fronting most of her business arrangements, including royalty collection. It was unsurprising that Millie got served that the short end of the stick. Millie would try to stick it out on her own, but the effort brought a little reward. And her presence faded across the transatlantic, and by 1978, she had slipped into obscurity; near penniless on her return to the UK in 1984. The single mother would give birth to her daughter Jaelee, and attempts at music would be sidelined as life became a struggle for the first time in a long while.
Sometime in 1987, rumors started circulating that Milly Small was spotted living in a youth hostel with her young child. After a news report on TV in the UK, shed light on the issue, Chris Blackwell wasted no time in buying merely a fully furnished home and ensuring guaranteed comfortable royalty payments for perpetuity. In the years that followed. She rarely gave interviews, never returned to the stage. And though she hinted now and again at new music. She never did.
But for all the bittersweet moments and beyond the few tracks that we might know it is her unwitting path as a musical pioneer that truly cements her place in reggae history, Millie Small validated Jamaica’s music on an international platform. An event which opened the floodgates for an entire generation of homegrown artists; her sojourn as a live touring act introduced the sounds of Jamaica to new markets around the world, setting the stage for what was to come. Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley and the Wailers and the other legends of the time that walked through the gates of opportunity, opened by Millie Small.
She will transition in 2020 from a stroke at her home in London, leaving her musical legacy to her only child, Jaelee, and closing, another unforgettable chapter in Jamaican music history that has since stamped her name in the annals of time as a legend in Reggae.
Don Drummond – The Mad Genuis – Reggaeology – The Reggae History Experience
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