Biography
Born Winston Spark (other say Winston Cooper) in Kingston, Jamaica in 1940. Due to facial disfiguration from birth King Stitt was often to be called the Ugly One. He started his musical career in 1957 when he came to the attention of Coxsone Dodd and his Downbeat Sound. He started on a Friday evening at a barbecue lawn on Fleet Street. The deejay Count Machuki who also was selecting for the sound took a liking to Stitt who he thought would dance nice to his selection. Since he could dance so well to it he would also be a good deejay he told Stitt. Stitt was then the second (or third) deejay on the Sound System for about three months - with Machuki and Red Hopeton being in front. When Machuki retired Stitt had become so popular that he ended up running the Number One set of Coxsone while U Roy was behind Number Two.
In late 1969 and the early 70's King Stitt recorded extensively for Clancy Eccles over riddims delivered by The Dynamites. These were released on Clancy Eccle's Clandisc and New Beat labels in Jamaica and in the main on the Trojan Clandisc subsidiary in the UK. Following his success with Clancy Eccles Coxsone started recording him too.
Discography
7" Singles
| Side 1 | Side 2 | label | Year | matrix/Cat No | Country of issue | Comment |
| Fire Corner | Rahtid (by The Dynamites) | Clancy's Blank/New Beat | | DYNA CE 152-1/EC 7662 | Jamaica | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| Fire Corner | John Public (by The Dynamites) | Duke | 1969 | DU 30 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| Herbman | Don't Mind Me (by Higgs And Wilson) | Clandisc | ... | ... | Jamaica | also credits Andy Capp. Clancy Eccles prod. Beardman Ska rhythm |
| Herbsman | Don't Mind Me (by Higgs And Wilson) | Clandisc | 1970 | CLA 207 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| John Crow Skank (plus unknown female DJ) | Merry Rhythm AKA Christmas Tree | Clancy's Blank | 1970 | DYNA CE 1014/CE 1015 | Jamaica | Clancy Eccles prod. A side Holly Holly rhythm |
| John Crow Skank (plus unknown female DJ) | Merry Rhythm AKA Christmas Tree | Clandisc | 1970 | CLA 235 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. A side Holly Holly rhythm |
| King Of Kings | Reggaedelic (by The Dynamites) | Clandisc | 1970 | CLA 223 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| On The Street | Dollar Train (by Clancy Eccles) | Clancys Blank | 1969 | DYNA CE 269-1/DYNA CE 244 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. On the Dollar Train rhythm |
| On The Street | Foolish Fool (by Cynthia Richards) | Clandisc | 1969 | CLA 203 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. On the Dollar Train rhythm |
| Sound Of The 70's | Hi De Ho (by The Fabulous Flames) | Clancy's Blank | | TMX 592/DYNA C ECCLES 3858-1 | Jamaica | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| Sound Of The 70's | See Me (by Larry Lawrence) | Clandisc | 1970 | CLA 215 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| The Ugly One | Dance Beat | Clancy's Blank | 1969 | DYNA CE 775-1/DYNA CE 734-1 | Jamaica | common on coloured vinyl. Clancy Eccles prod. |
| The Ugly One | Dance Beat | Clandisc | 1969 | CLA 206 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| The Ugly One | Baby I Will Always Love You (by Clancy Eccles) | Clancy's Blank | 1969 | DYNA CE 775-1/DYNA CE 776-1 | Jamaica | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| Vigartron 2 | Mount Zion (by The Dynamites) | Clandisc | 1969 | CLA 202 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| Vigartron 2 | Silbert Dragon (by The Dynamites) | Clancy's Blank | 1969 | DYNA CE 356-1/DYNA CE 358-1 | Jamaica | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| Who Yea | Skokiaan (The Dynamites) | Clandisc | 1969 | CLA 200 | UK | Clancy Eccles prod. |
| You Were Meant For Me* | Stampeed (by The Kuraas) | Escort | 1970 | ES 825 | UK | *Credited to Stitt but this is actually Lee Perry |
12" Singles
| Side 1 | Side 2 | Label | Matrix/Cat No | Producer | Year | Country of issue | Comment |
| Live Jah Up | Give Me Jah Jah (by Sugar Minott) | Studio One | | Studio One | | Jamaica | King Stitt song is the AA side. |
| Live Jah Jah | Give Me Jah Jah (by Sugar Minott & Jackie Mittoo | Studio One/Soul Jazz | SJR 104-12 | Coxsone | 2005 | UK | 2005 reissue of the above. King Stitt song is the AA side. |
Albums
| Title | label | Year | matrix/Cat No | Country of issue | Comment |
| Reggae Fire Beat | Jamaican Gold | 1996 | JMC 200.226 | Netherlands | A compilation of King Stitt's sides for Clancy Eccles. |
Compilations featuring the artist
| LP Title | Song(s) featured | label | Year | Matrix/Cat No | Country of issue | Comment |
| Studio One DJ's Volume 2 | No Man Version | Soul Jazz | ... | ... | UK | CD/LP |
| Champion DJ's From Studio One | Be A Man | Studio One | 1996 | SOLP 50151 | USA? | ... |
| Battle Of The DJ's | Play It Cool | Coxsone | ... | ... | Jamaica | ... |
| Mojo Rock Steady | Rockers Corner | Heartbeat | ... | CDHBEA134 | USA | CD. Rockers Corner was not included on the original issue of the LP on Coxone Jr. |
| Dance Hall '63 Featuring King Stitt | * | Studio One | ... | | | LP/CD. *King Stitt chats between the tunes in originasl style - this LP was recorded and released in the 90's |
Sources
Interview with King Stitt: http://www.bluejuice.org.au/subpage5.html
Rough Guide to Reggae 3rd edition
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