Sly, one half of the riddim duo Sly and Robbie, denies the tale about the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, demanding subservience at Chris Blackwell’s Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas.
Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, recalled in his memoir “The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond,” how an obsessive Brown wanted the seasoned musicians who were signed to both Island and Virgin Records to follow his instructions.
“I made the mistake of working with one of my heroes,” Blackwell says. “My dream was Sly and Robbie producing James Brown, with Alex as the co-producer and the All Stars as the Band.” The All Stars were an in-house collective assembled by Chris Blackwell in 1980.
The powerhouse band, rooted in Jamaican reggae, featured the renowned Sly and Robbie, with Sly Dunbar on drums, Robbie Shakespeare on bass, Mikey Chung on guitar, Uziah “Sticky” Thompson on percussion, and the skilled British guitarist Barry Reynolds, who had contributed to Marianne Faithfull’s recordings, another Island Records luminary.
Additionally, the band incorporated the dynamic synth-keyboards of French-African musician Wally Badarou, later of Level 42 fame, and later the talents of Tyrone Downie, formerly of The Wailers. Guided by Blackwell’s vision and with the collaborative expertise of co-producer, engineer, and mixer Alex Sadkin, the collective crafted what would become known as the distinctive “Compass Point Sound.”
“James Brown flew down to Nassau and brought his people with him,” including civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who Blackwell said had to get his hair right before entering the studio.
“It was quite a circus, and we all were looking forward to what would happen, but it didn’t go well. Brown immediately started telling Sly and Robbie what to play, which was the sort of stuff he had done 20 years before and not the invigorating Compass Point update I wanted,”Blackwell recalled. Adding that “Robbie was humble at first but then became frustrated at being told what to do.” At this point, he told James Brown to play the bass guitar himself. “He snapped at James Brown, and to the Brown entourage who treated him as a living deity, this was sacrilege,” Blackwell chided.
Speaking with Sly, he denies that there was any square-off between himself, Robbie (who is now deceased), and the “Black and I am Proud” singer. A man of few words, Sly told WMV, working with Brown “was great.”
“James Brown had never encountered musicians like Sly and Robbie before,” Blackwell said and amidst the passing of words, Blackwell noted that Brown “conceded a little.” Which may have been because he thought Sly and Robbie were high.
After a few days passed and the musicians made a few songs, Brown, a serial entrepreneur, wanted all the studio sessions and considered all the work done to be his property. “(He) wanted 100% of the publishing to be his even when the songs were created between Sly and Robbie and Wally.”
The music industry impresario said he expressed concern over this arrangement, and James Brown packed up his crew and flew out of the Bahamas. The dream Blackwell had for Sly and Robbie producing James Brown never materialized, although Brown ended up leaving with all his tapes.
Sly told WMV via text message on Tuesday that James Brown did not want to take all the credit, with no further comment, but in a 2008 Red Bull interview him and Robbie boasted of playing on over 200,000 songs saying, “On the international market, we’ve worked with James Brown, Carly Simon, Nona Hendryx, No Doubt, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Herbie Hancock, Grace Jones, Gwen Guthrie, Ian Dury, Simply Red, Serge Gainsbourg.”
Brown died on December 25, 2006 and after a long legal process with the estate, in 2022 Primary Wave Music a New York private equity company acquired the assets of the Brown estate, including music rights, real estate and the control over Brown’s name and likeness for a reported $90 million.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 21: Island Records Founder Chris Blackwell (C) poses with Primary Wave Executives Adam Lowenberg, Ramon Villa, Justin Shukat and Larry Mestel Primary Wave x Island Records Presented By Mastercard: One Love Hotel – Marley Family Launch Event at 1 Hotel West Hollywood on January 21, 2020 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Island Records)
The same company founded by Larry Mestel, Blackwell’s mentee, also acquired a sizable share of Blackwell’s Blue Mountain Publishing company for $50 million in 2018 whcih includes 25% of Blackwell’s share of Bob Marley’s music,
