Biography

As a youth Errol Thompson (b. December 29, 1948) used to spend a lot of his time at a relative, in Harbour View on the outskirts of Kingston, who was an electronics engineer and amplifier builder. The head of the household ran the El Don Sound System and this gave Thompson - who was still at school - insight to the importance of electronics in the recorded music.

In '68 he served a bried apprenticeship at Studio One - at the time Jamaica's most important recording facility. One of Thompsons first sessions was with Max Romeo when he recorded the risqué song »Wet Dream«. The following year ('69) he became chief engineer at Randy's at 17 North Parade. The studio had a small four-track facility opened by the Chin family over their shop in downtown Kingston.

While at Randy's he did notable work for producer Lee Perry with the recordings of Bob Marley and The Wailers. This adding to his good reputation as an engineer.

In '72 Errol engineered Augustus Pablo's legendary and pioneering hit Java. Together with his friend and former schoolmate, producer Clive Chin, Thompson presided over Pablo's stunning debut LP, as well as Java Java Java Java, one of the first fully-fledged dub albums.

In '73 he would also mix the deejay Big Youth's debut album Screaming Target. In '75 he engineered Burning Spears classic album Marcus Garvey. It was also with the help of Errol that Lee Perry set up his legendary Black Ark studio.

In '76 he left Randy's to work at the new 16-track facility established by producer Joe Gibbs. Gibbs however had been working with Thompson when using the Randy's studio since '72. The two of them would be known as the Mighty Two - dubbed so due to them constantly creating hits. Their success landed them a deal with Warner Brothers in '77 and albums such as Prince Far I's Under Heavy Manners, Culture's Two Sevens Clash and Althea and Donna's Uptown Top Ranking followed. Also notable where the dub series released by the duo during the late 70's and early 80's as was their work with Dennis Brown which would lead to the singer signing a contract with the American major A&M.

In the early 1980s, Thompson flirted with Jamaicanised versions of rap and hip-hop recordings, notably with deejay Trinity; he also engineered some of the earliest hits by Yellowman, then Jamaica's number one deejay and Frankie Paul, an early star of the evolving Dancehall style.

In the early 80's Gibbs and Errol had a major international hit with JC Lodge's »Someone Loves You Honey«. Gibbs however didn't pay any royalties to the song's writer, Charley Pride, who sued and won the case. Gibbs, who was unable to pay the settlement ordered by the court, went out of business and the studio was closed. Thus, for the better part of a decade, Thompson was chiefly employed at Gibbs' large grocery store.

In '93 they teamed up again when Gibbs reopened the facility at Retirement Crescent. Thompson would thereafter divide his time between managing the supermarket and engineering recordings at the studio.

The 13th November, 2004 Errol passed away after suffering a series of strokes.