Lord Composer relatives seek answers as Hill and Gully Ride fuels dancehall debate

More than seven decades after Hill and Gully Ride was recorded, the mento standard is again commanding attention across Jamaica’s music scene. The renewed interest comes 72 years after Omri Mundle, better known as Lord Composer, made the 1954 recording with the Silver Seas Hotel Orchestra at Stanley Motta’s studio at 93 Hanover Street in Kingston.

This time, the song’s return has brought more than nostalgia. Producer Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor has carried the old Jamaican mento melody into contemporary dancehall, creating one of the most talked-about riddims in the industry and drawing praise for the musical idea behind it.

The songs voiced on the riddim, however, have divided listeners. Some dancehall supporters have embraced the recordings and defended the language, while critics have objected to the sexual content used by some artistes.

Veteran broadcaster Fae Ellington and radio disc jockey Ron Muschett are among those who have publicly taken issue with the lyrics. Both have still acknowledged McGregor’s skill in reshaping the track.

Ellington praised the producer for placing the folk classic back inside modern popular culture. But she also rebuked the performers whose explicit lyrics were added to the production. “But yuh gone pon it with yuh nastiness; dunce yuh dunce!” Ellington said in a post directed at the vocalists. Muschett, speaking on his radio programme, also criticised what he called the “dirty mouth DJs”.

Lord Composer was from Clarendon before moving to Ocho Rios, St Ann. He worked for several years at the Silver Seas Hotel, where he performed with the Silver Seas Hotel Orchestra, before recording Hill and Gully Ride with the band.

When Mundle died in 1990, much of his contribution had not received the public recognition his family believes it deserved. As ska, rock steady, reggae and later dancehall came to dominate Jamaican music, mento was pushed into a smaller cultural space, often heard mainly at annual festival events.

His family includes daughter Valerie Mundle, who lives in Ocho Rios, and her son Raheem Betty. Betty has also gone into music, following the path opened by his grandfather.

Betty performs as Raybetz. He twice competed in Digicel Rising Stars some years ago and later won the JCDC Jamaica Gospel Star competition last year with his performance of I Must Tell Jesus.

The Sunday Gleaner met Valerie Mundle and Betty recently in Ocho Rios, where both live, and they spoke about the current attention around Hill and Gully Ride.

“I’m with Fae on this one,” Betty said. “While the initial thought was for it to be a good thing where we want to say, ‘alright, we’re going to use wi culture and so on’, the outcome of it is not what we would want. My grandfather would probably not approve. He’s probably rolling in his grave right now,” he added with a laugh.

Valerie Mundle said her own reaction was similar after hearing the new use of the song. “I heard the song, and I was like, ‘How him do dat deh song outta order suh?’ Then I hear Fae Ellington come out and was talking about it and I do agree with her. But the young people them probably like the new version.”

Betty said he understands that there is an audience for the kinds of songs being recorded, but he does not think Hill and Gully Ride should have been used for that purpose.

Asked whether he would consider recording inspirational or gospel material on the riddim, Betty said he would be open to a positive approach. “Yes I would be willing to do something positive on it, but it’s just that sometimes you just leave certain things alone. But, really and truly, we, as the family of the mastermind behind the music, we are not benefitting at all, no royalties, no nothing.”

He said his grandfather’s life and work were far larger than many people now realise. “We’re talking about a man who performed at the White House for John F. Kennedy, it made the newspaper; we’re talking about a man who travelled the world and sang calypso and folk music. That’s why he was Lord Composer; he would write a song on the spot and sing it. His music is all over the world, selling, and there’s no legacy, there’s nothing.”

Any royalty payments due to the family would not fall on McGregor, but on those who have controlled Lord Composer’s catalogue through the years and on the relevant collection societies. Lord Composer’s recordings are still being sold.

Valerie Mundle recalled discovering one of her father’s compact discs years ago while she was working at a hotel. “I was packing out some CDs and, when I looked, I saw one of his CDs, and me create excitement inna di place, mi seh ‘This is my father!’” she said. “An’ one of the lady even seh to me seh, ‘Guh weh, a rich father yuh a look?’ An’ mi seh ‘no, that’s my father fi true’.”

She said she bought the CD for the Jamaican equivalent of US$10. The back of the disc, she said, showed that it had been produced in New York. She kept it for some time, but it later disappeared from her home.

Asked what outcome she would now want, Valerie Mundle said she is uncertain where to begin. “I don’t know. We don’t know anything about royalties or who controls his music. We’re not even getting any benefits and his music is playing and now Hill and Gully Ride gets so popular. I personally don’t know where to even start.”

Royalty recovery has long been difficult for many Jamaican performers and creators. In July 2004, British journalist Orantes Moore wrote a series of exclusive special reports in the now-closed New Nation newspaper that examined unpaid earnings in reggae.

One of Moore’s articles, titled The Great Reggae Robbery? – Big Stars ‘Are Still Waiting To Be Paid’, reported that French attorney Andre Bertrand was leading an effort for reggae artistes to recover as much as £100 million in unpaid royalties going back about 30 years.

Bertrand’s clients over the years have included Max Romeo, Marcia Griffiths, Bunny Wailer, Buju Banton, and Sly and Robbie. The report said that reggae albums had sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide over the previous 40 years, counting from 1964 at the time, but that only a small number of artistes had made substantial money. Jimmy Cliff and Max Romeo were identified as two of the artistes who lost out heavily. Both have since died.

Despite the scale of the challenge, Jamaican entertainment attorney and creative industries consultant Lloyd Stanbury said Lord Composer’s relatives should pursue royalties.

Stanbury said Jamaican copyright law gives protection for musical works for 95 years after the author’s death. Since Mundle died in 1990, Stanbury said the copyright remains in force.

“So, it is still alive basically. He, and therefore his estate, are entitled to be compensated,” Stanbury said. “If there’s a will, there’s one way you proceed; if there’s no will there’s another way to proceed; but the estate has to be administered, and someone has to have a document coming out of the administration that says they’re authorised to go ahead and do whatever is necessary on behalf of the estate.”

Stanbury said the family would also need legal help after the estate is administered. “Then, after the administration, there will be need for an attorney.”

He cautioned that the matter would require extensive work and would likely need a meaningful retainer before an attorney could take it on. “It (Hill and Gully) has been copied and adapted and re-recorded many times over the years; it’s a huge case,” he said.

Stanbury recommended that the family reach out to collection societies, a step he said can be taken without first hiring a lawyer. He said the United Kingdom-based Performing Right Society was active in Jamaica during the period when Lord Composer was working, and he also advised the relatives to speak with the local collection body, the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers.