Cimarons

Cimarons are a British reggae and dub group originally formed by Jamaican musicians who move to Britain in 1967. The group goes by several names, including The Cimarons, Hot Rod All Stars and The Corporation. Their early line-up includes Franklyn Dunn on bass, Carl Levy on keyboards, Locksley Gichie on guitar and Maurice Ellis on drums, with vocalist Winston Reid, also known as Winston Reedy, joining after the move to London. The group is active from 1967 to the present.

Background

Before recording under their own name, Cimarons work mainly as session musicians in Jamaica and back a number of artists, including Jimmy Cliff. Their role as support musicians forms an important part of their early history and establishes them within Jamaican reggae before their relocation to the United Kingdom.

Recordings

Their first album, In Time, appears on Trojan Records in 1974 and includes versions of the O'Jays' “Ship Ahoy”, “Utopian Feeling”, “Over The Rainbow” and “My Blue Heaven”. Two years later Vulcan Records releases On The Rock. The group then moves to Polydor Records, which issues Live At The Roundhouse in 1978 and Maka the same year.

Later albums include Freedom Street, Reggaebility and On The Rock Part 2. After 1983 the group does not appear again until 1995, when Lagoon Records releases the compilations People Say and Reggae Time, both drawn from earlier material. The Best Of The Cimarons follows on Culture Press in 1999.

Later activity

Reedy and Dunn continue to perform as The Cimarons.