OLDIES SUNDAY: Lord Composer – Hill And Gully Ride (1954)

It’s another Oldies Sunday, no matter where you are in the world. When you talk about hits, Jamaica has a ton of them spanning decades. This time around, we go back to the 1950’s to check out Lord Composer’s “Hill And Gully Ride/Mandeville Road“.

Released through Motta’s Recording Studio (Fun Fact: This was Jamaica’s 1st privately owned Recording Studio, and was owned by Stanley Motta) in 1954, “Hill And Gully Ride/Mandeville Road” was a medley Mento single recorded by Lord Composer and his Silver Seas Hotel Orchestra. “Hill And Gully Ride” was a dancing tune that had a few instructions while “Mandeville Road” was about people going to Manchester to break stones, a profession that many did in those days before the advancements in Technology. Both songs were done over percussion, strings, and a Fife solo, with Composer being lead Vocalist with backing vocals. “Hill And Gully Ride/Mandeville Road” were Folks Songs, belonging in a department called “Digging Songs“. They were included with another medley single on a Record, and sounded nothing like what was out in those times. The medley was covered by a number of Folk Singers, and two versions of it would later become the theme music for the popular “Hill An’ Gully Ride” TV series in Jamaica. The lyrics and cadence of “Hill And Gully Ride” were sampled by a number of Artists including YellowMan and Busy Signal, while “Mandeville Road” was sampled by Dancehall group T.O.K.

Lord Composer never released many songs when he was active, and only had an LP’s worth of singles since the release of “Hill And Gully Ride/Mandeville Road”. Composer passed away in 1990, and his music is celebrated to this day in parts of the world.