‘Dougie’ Bryan to get Grammy certificates

An unheralded stalwart of The Maytals band and Sly and Robbie’s Taxi Gang, guitarist Radcliffe “Dougie” Bryan will get his due on July 17, when he is presented with seven Grammy certificates acknowledging his work on Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated albums.

The ceremony takes place at Island Space Museum in Plantation, South Florida.

Making the presentation will be Kennedy Mensah, managing director of Back 2 Da Future Music Ltd, a London-based music publishing company which represents Bryan.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Mensah said Bryan will receive certificates from the Recording Academy of America for playing on three Grammy winners — Black Uhuru’s Anthem, Crucial! Roots Classics by Bunny Wailer, and Got To Be Tough by Toots and The Maytals.

He is also cited for contributing to Light Your Light and Ska Father by Toots and The Maytals, Hanging Fire (Jimmy Cliff) and The Messiah (Sizzla).

Anthem won the inaugural Best Reggae Album Grammy (then known as Best Reggae Recording) in 1985, while Crucial! Roots Classics took the 1995 award. Got to be Tough won in 2021, months after Toots’ death.

Bryan started his music career in the late 1960s with The Sensations, a harmony group that had success at the Treasure Isle studio of producer Duke Reid. He joined The Maytals in the early 1970s and, with fellow guitarist Hux Brown, bassist Jackie Jackson, and drummer Paul Douglas, comprised one of reggae’s top bands.

He was also a member of The Revolutionaries, house band at Channel One during the 1970s.

In January, Mensah presented keyboardist Ansel Collins with a Grammy certificate for playing on Jimmy Cliff’s Cliff Hanger, which won the Best Reggae Album in 1986.

“It is something their grandchildren and children can point to and say, ‘My father, my mother, were in the industry. They were highly respected in this industry.’ These musicians should have had these certificates before to substantiate their claims to greatness,” he said.

Mensah, who was born in the United Kingdom to Ghanaian parents, told the Observer that a presentation ceremony is also planned for Kingston in August when several Jamaican musicians will receive their Grammy certificates. He did not disclose most of the names but said saxophonist Dean Fraser tops the list with nine awards.