Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams, (1926, St. Thomas, Jamaica-18 October 1976) was a Jamaican Rastafari movement drummer and band leader. Location latitude 18°05N, longitude 76°40W Capital City Morant Bay Major towns Port Morant, Yallas, Bath, Seaforth, Golden Grove, County Surrey Area 742. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... A Bandleader is the director of a band of musicians. ...

As a young boy he grew in a rasta community were he learned techniques of vocal chanting and hand drumming. In the late 1950s, he (with other percussionists) formed the Count Ossie Group. His first sound recordings were made after meeting Prince Buster. One of those was a song "Oh Carolina," is regarded by some music historians as the first-ever reggae record. During this period Count Ossie also recorded for Harry Mudie. Cecil Bustamente Campbell (born May 28, 1938), better known as Prince Buster, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica and regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Methods and media for sound recording are varied and have undergone significant changes between the first time sound was actually recorded for later playback until now. ... Harry A. Mudie (b. ...

He formed a group called "Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari," and during his life issued two albums that he recorded with them. His masterpiece was "Grounation" (Ashanti 1973), 3 LP set, which includes songs as "Oh Carolina", "So Long", and "Grounation" (the latter title with over 30 minutes running time).

Two years later "Tales Of Mozambique" (Dynamic 1975) was issued, continuing the legacy of the first album.

Discography

Count Ossie & Mror as seen on album art of Grounation

• Grounation (1973)
• Tales Of Mozambique (1975)

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 246 pixel Image in higher resolution (1140 × 350 pixel, file size: 109 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Album cover of the album Grounation by Ashanti, 1973 This image is of a cover of an audio recording, and the copyright for... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 246 pixel Image in higher resolution (1140 × 350 pixel, file size: 109 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Album cover of the album Grounation by Ashanti, 1973 This image is of a cover of an audio recording, and the copyright for...

External links

• Biography on niceup.com
• Count Ossie on Roots archives