Leslie Kong

By the early sixties, the Jamaican recording industry was dominated by a number of major sound system operators, whose initial dabblings at producing had been through the need to create specially created ‘exclusive’ dub-plates for their sound. But unlike such giants as Coxson Dodd, Duke Reid, Prince Buster and King Edwards who had trodden this path to success, Leslie Kong had come was via a much less likely route.

Educated at St. George’s College, Kingston, Leslie had enjoyed a relatively comfortable upbringing and by the early sixties was helping run the family-owned Beverley Ice Cream Parlour at 135a Orange Street, Kingston. As a side-line the shop had also started selling records, with the popularity of locally-produced discs of particular interest to the aspiring young entrepreneur.

His eventual move into music production came after a visit from a precociously talented youth calling himself Jimmy Cliff, who had taken it upon himself to compose a song dedicated to the Kong business: ‘Dearest Beverley’.

After performing the number to the Kong brothers, Leslie directed the youngster to Derrick Morgan, one of the island’s leading acts,  who by this time had a series of local hits to his name. Impressed by what he saw and heard, he returned with Jimmy to the Beverley’s ice cream parlour where he advised that the track and its writer both had potential.

Leslie subsequently financed a recording session at Federal Records, with the recordings cut that day launching Leslie‘s newly founded Beverley’s Records into the big-time almost overnight Soon after their release, both Derrick‘s ‘Be Still’ c/w ‘Sunday Monday’ and Jimmy’s ‘Hurricane Hattie’ c/w ‘Dearest Beverley’ were riding high on the national listings.

Their popularity encouraged the novice producer to expand the new business and soon after, the Beverley’s Records’ roster included another two local young talents, Desmond Dacres (aka Dekker) and Bob Marley, who, like their young label-mate would go on to achieve global stardom.

Around this time, Leslie also joined his friends, Graeme Goodall and Chris Blackwell in financing the relocation of the latter’s Island Records from Jamaica to the London and was soon providing many of the recordings that help establish the enterprise in the UK. 

Over the ensuing years, Beverley‘s released an array of ska classics and in 1967, Leslie became one of the first Jamaican producers to see one of his recordings break internationally when ‘007’ by Desmond Dekker & the Aces entered the UK pop charts, where it eventually peaked at number 12.

By this time, Leslie‘s music was seeing release in Britain on the Pyramid label, a subsidiary of Doctor Bird Records, managed by his former business partner, Graeme Goodall, with the relationship proving particularly successful throughout the rock steady era of the late sixties.

Around the close of ’67, Leslie‘s reputation as one of Jamaica’s most successful (and best paying) producers was evidenced by the acquisition of one of the island’s hottest musical properties: the Maytals. Their enlistment ensured Beverley‘s continued to be a dominant force on the local music scene for the next year or so, by in the spring of 1969, its success to date was eclipsed as Desmond Dekker & the Aces’ ‘(Poor Mi) Israelites’ claimed the UK number one spot. The single subsequently repeated the feat in Canada, West Germany, Sweden, Holland and South Africa and even succeeded in breaking into the US top ten, eventually peaking at number nine.

Its success propelled the emerging sound of reggae into the international spotlight and in Britain, the buying power of young white music fans combined with that of the country’s growing West Indian community ensured it stayed there for the next couple of years. During this time, Leslie achieved further global success on scale previously thought impossible, with his productions breaking into the British pop listings on no less than 9 occasions between 1969 and 1970.

Desmond Dekker continued his run of hits with ‘It Mek’, ‘Pickney Gal’ and ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’,Jimmy Cliff achieved major successes with ‘Wonderful World Beautiful People’ and Vietnam’,the Maytals finally made their international breakthrough with ‘Monkey Man’, while the Pioneers‘ ‘Long Shot Kick De Bucket’ and the Melodians‘ ‘Sweet Sensation’ also became big-sellers.

By 1971, Leslie‘s insistence in using only the best performers, musicians, sound engineers and equipment had produced a body of work that few of his peers could ever hope to match. And while his Beverley’s Recording Company now dominated the local music scene, the launch of his property business, Kong’s Real Estate Ltd., had also proved a major success.

But just when it seemed that the best was still yet to come, his life was tragically cut short. On August 9th 1971, he suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Norbrook Aces Drive in Kingston leaving his wife and two children at the age of just 38.

His loss was an immeasurable blow to the Jamaican music industry, but there is no doubt that he will be long remembered for the wealth of superb music that he was instrumental in creating.

LAURENCE CANE-HONEYSETT