B-side "I Met a Man" Format 7 inch single Label Buster Wild Bells | Released 1960 Genre Ska | |
Recorded 1960, RJR Studios, Kingston | ||
"Oh Carolina" is a 1958 song by John Folkes recorded by the Folkes Brothers in 1960 and by Shaggy in 1993.
Contents
Folkes Brothers version
The original version of the song was recorded by Jamaican vocal trio the Folkes Brothers (John, Mico, and Junior Folkes), and was produced by Prince Buster at RJR studios in Kingston. The song was written by John Folkes in 1958 about his girlfriend (who was actually named Noelena). The group had met Buster while auditioning at Duke Reid's liquor store and Buster decided that he wanted to record the song. According to the brothers, Buster paid them £60 for the recording (Buster claims £100).
Buster travelled to the Wareika Hills to find a Niyabinghi group to play on a recording session, and brought Count Ossie and his group of drummers (Count Ossie's Afro-Combo) back to the studio, where they played on "Oh Carolina". "Oh Carolina" was a landmark single in the development of Jamaican modern music (ska, rocksteady and reggae) specially for the incorporation of African-influenced Niyabinghi-style drumming and chanting, and for the exposure it gave to the Rastas, who at the time were marginalized in Jamaican society. The track's piano riff was performed by Owen Gray. The single was licensed to Blue Beat Records for release in the UK in 1961.
The two tracks on the single (The B-side was "I Met a Man") were the only songs recorded by The Folkes Brothers as a trio. Mico and Junior Folkes re-recorded the song without John for the 2011 album Don't Leave Me Darling, the first release credited to the Folkes Brothers since the early 1960s. "Oh Carolina" was later reissued on the Prince Buster label. The song was also recorded in 1973 by Count Ossie, on his album Grounation.
Track listing
A: "Oh Carolina"
B: "I Met a Man"
A: "Oh Carolina"
B: "Chubby" - Prince Buster and the All Stars
"Oh Carolina" was also issued as the B-side to Prince Buster's "Madness" on a 1961 single on the Fab label, and was included on a 1978 12-inch single of "Big Five".
Shaggy version
"Oh Carolina" was recorded by Jamaican musician Shaggy, and released as the lead single from his 1993 debut album Pure Pleasure. Produced by Sting International, it became an international hit. In the United Kingdom, it became the first of Shaggy's four chart-topping singles, spending two weeks at the summit of the UK Singles Chart in March 1993. The song fared less well in the United States, peaking at number fifty nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song received major crossover airplay on American alternative rock radio, and as a result the song peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Shaggy's version also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1993 film Sliver.
Dispute over authorship
Following the success of Shaggy's version, John Folkes was involved in a legal dispute with Prince Buster over the authorship. As was common with Jamaican releases of the era, the song was credited on the label to the producer, in this case "C. Campbell" aka Prince Buster, and Buster claimed that he had written the song about a former girlfriend. Folkes' claim was upheld in the UK high court in 1994.
Other cover versions
In February 1995, South Korean pop-group Roo'ra released a Korean version, with the title "날개 잃은 천사" ("Nalgae irun chunsa"; "Angels that lost their wings").