1951
LATER FOR GATOR * WILLIS JACKSON * APOLLO 806 * USA
Willis Jackson and his Orchestra recorded Later For Gator New York, July 3, 1951, with: John H. Russell, trumpet; Walter "Phatz" Morris, trombone; Willis Jackson, tenor saxophone; Otis Sutton, baritone ssxaphone; Jimmy Evans, piano; Leonard Swain, bass; Emmanuel Simms, drums. Later For Gator was a popular dance tune in Jamaica during the mid 1950s where it was (is) commonly known as 'Coxsone Hop', and, as such, is a record central to the history of Jamaican popular music from the second half of the twentieth century. The record 'Coxsone Hop' has reached mythic proportions in the activities, events and social narratives of Jamaican popular culture; the story has been well told of how Sound System operator Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd was able to keep secret the identity of this popular R&B instrumental with which his Sound System was identified, and how after several years of searching for its true identity his arch rival Duke Reid finally tracked it down and played it unannounced at a Sound System clash with Dodd. And how upon hearing his prized 'exclusive', known only as Coxsone Hop, Dodd was said to have passed out in shock! The above copy, with the obligatory scratched out label, at one time actually belonged to a Sound System known as 'Jim Daddy The Universe Sound System'. As well as the Sound System stamp the words COXIN HOP (sic), COXN (sic), THE HOP, and 'Suckle' can be seen written on the blank space left by the removal of the label. The word 'Suckle' could well indicate, though not necessarily, ownership of this record by Count Suckle, another name in Jamaican musical history. Count Suckle, along with Duke Vin and Count Shelly, were the leading disc Jockey's from the West Indies playing in and around the London club and party scene from the late 1950s.