In The Light/In The Light Dub 

Horace Andy, affectionately known as Sleepy, was born Horace Hinds on 19th February 1951 in Kingston, Jamaica. Blessed with a great voice, he came on the scene after such notable stylists as Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Pat Kelly, the late Slim Smith and the late Delroy Wilson had made their mark. Horace's utterly unique high tenor, capable of a sultry croon or a stentorian wail, allied to a distinctive songwriting skill, soon ensured him a place in that select pantheon. 
Horace's musical career began in the late sixties, when he recorded for George 'Phil' Pratt. Soon after he found himself at Studio One on Brentford Road, downtown Kingston. There he joined some of the most creative people in Kingston's musical community, men like the engineer Sylvan Morris, the singer/songwriter/assistant engineer Fitzroy 'Larry' Marshall, the bassist and Heptone Leroy Sibbles, the guitarist/singer Carlton Manning, and top vocalists like Alton Ellis, the young Dennis Brown and the late Freddie McKay. 
His first release, Got To Be Sure, was followed by a dozen or so tunes which have become recognised as real classics over the intervening years. Included in this category are such as Skylarking, Something On My Mind, The Love Of A Woman, Just Say Who, Fever, I Found Someone and See A Man's Face. Many are collected on two essential Studio One albums. 
By 1972 Horace's talents were in demand with many of the leading producers. He recorded extensively for hitmaker Bunny Lee, who released an album featuring the scorching You Are My Angel in 1973. Horace cut some of his best mid-seventies sides with Lee, including Bless You, Money Money, Pure Ranking, Serious Thing and the Tappa Zukie-penned Better Collie. 
Horace, a studio regular during '72-'76, worked for all the leading producers; his output during this period carries the authority of an artist at the height of his power. Many tunes were only available on Jamaican 45s which disappeared after the first pressing had sold out. 
In 1977 Horace linked up with Everton DaSilva, a producer based in Queens, New York. The partnership gave Horace the chance to craft his own album, using all he had learned in countless sessions for other producers. Recorded mostly in Kingston by Sylvan Morris, utilising top sessioneers like Augustus Pablo, Leroy Sibbles and Horsemouth Wallace, In The Light stands as Horace's defining vocal statement with new songs like the title track, and new versions of the earlier hits Fever and Problems. The latter rides a recut Mr Bassie rhythm originally done at Studio One in the early seventies. Pablo recorded his own melodica version using the same recut for a single called Pablo Meets Mr. Bassie. 
Horace enjoyed a fruitful association with DaSilva - in addition to In The Light and its companion dub set, there were fine singles like Youths Of Today and Don't Let Problems Get You Down, a brace of 12" including New Broom and a couple of tracks on a showcase album for the label. 
Their creative partnership was brutally ended when the producer was shot dead in New York in 1979. 
Horace remained a firm favourite with the loyal reggae audience, continuing to make records in Jamaica. Worth mentioning are sides like Ragga Muffet and the huge hit Natty Dread A Weh She Want with dj/producer Tappa Zukie. By the end of the decade Horace had moved to Hartford, Connecticut. He carried on touring and recording through the next ten years, cutting two albums for New York-based producer Lloyd 'Bullwackie' Barnes, and further releases on Delroy Wright's Live & Learn label, Brixton's own Sir Coxsone Outernational, Music Hawk, and indie-pop label Rough Trade. He maintained his profile in Jamaica via releases for Sly & Robbie, Jammy's, Bobby Digital, Prince Jazzbo, Blacka Morwell and others. 
In 1990 Horace gained a new audience through his participation with Massive Attack on their album Blue Lines, a relationship which continues to the present day, and which was consolidated by appearances on the Bristol-based collective's second album Protection in 1994. Horace still found time to make albums for UK producers Jah Shaka and Neil 'Mad Professor' Fraser; he also recorded the critically-acclaimed Horace Andy Sings Bob Marley collection which Bullwackie produced for the Japanese Tachyon label. 
Over the years Horace has inspired a fair number of imitators, the best of whom remains his longtime friend Wayne Jarrett (who contributes supportive harmonies to In The Light). Other singers, including Patrick Andy, David Andy, Icho Candy, Maddoo, Badoo and Horace Ferguson have had varying degrees of success when copying Sleepy's sound, but there is only one Horace Andy. Here he is, in the light, and shining brighter than ever. 
Prince Jammy was on the verge of forming his own label when he remixed Horace Andy's vocal album into hard-edged dub at the studio of dub genius King Tubby in 1977. Jammy's mix reveals an alternative reading of the album, explosive and full of dread resonance, achieved via the use of dub techniques he pioneered alongside King Tubby during the latter half of the seventies. The album can be enjoyed as a companion to Horace's vocal set, yet still constitutes a satisfying musical experience on its own dubbed-up terms. 
Shortly after he mixed In The Light Dub, Jammy started his own label in Jamaica with a storming cut of the old ska standard Chang Kai Shek which he called Zambia. 
The rhythm had been given to Jammy by the producer Yabby U. Jammy went on to become the leading producer in Jamaica throughout most of the ensuing decade; by the mid-eighties he was no longer the Prince but had become the King. He had discovered the Black Uhuru trio in the late seventies, who went on to great international success on Island Records. In 1985 King Jammy's ushered in the digital age in Jamaican studios via the massive Sleng Teng hit by Wayne Smith, and the countless versions that record inspired. Today his Waterhouse studio is still amongst the leaders in Jamaican music. 
Steve Barrow / March 1995