Bitty, Beres, Nadine, Tarrus, ‘Remember Bob Andy’

Veteran singer Bitty McLean has covered Bob Andy’s 1968 hit Let Them Say, and this will be the first single to be released from a tribute album titled We Remember Bob Andy.

A release from VP Records stated that the project, which features 15 artistes covering the late Jamaican singer-songwriter’s catalogue, will be released during Reggae Month in February 2023.

Let Them Say will be released as a single with a music video on Bob Andy’s birthday on October 28. The video, directed by Fredi Nwaka, portrays the struggles of a modern- day busker in the streets of London, whose love for his family and his life in music gets him through his hardships.

Bitty McLean initially recorded as a soul artiste in the 1990s, but his love for Jamaican rocksteady was realised through UK producer and impresario George Peckings and the album Bitty McLean On Bond Street in 2004, a heavily nostalgic release that leaned into the riddim catalogue of the late Duke Reid and his Treasure Isle label. The tracks, including Walk Away From Love, have been reggae standards ever since.

“[It is] a heart-warming, contemporary interpretation of the Bob Andy original,” the released stated.

Produced by Dean Fraser, We Remember Bob Andy will be available on vinyl, digital platforms and as a double CD. The album will include Bob Andy cover versions from Beres Hammond, Tarrus Riley, Luciano, Romain Virgo, Nadine Sutherland, Richie Spice, and others, extended with nine instrumental versions.

JAMAICA’S GREATEST SONGWRITERS

Bob Andy, born Keith Anderson, is celebrated as one of Jamaica’s greatest songwriters, with a catalogue including tracks like Too Experienced, My Time, Sun Shines For Me, Fire Burning, and I’ve Got to go Back Home, among dozens of evergreen anthems. He was one of the founding members of The Paragons, along with Tyrone Evans and Howard Barrett, with John Holt later joining briefly before being replaced by Vic Taylor. Andy left after Holt rejoined and worked for Studio One delivering records and songwriting before embarking on a solo career.

His first solo hit record in 1967, I’ve Got to Go Back Home, was followed by Desperate Lover, Feeling Soul, Unchained, and Too Experienced. He also composed songs for other reggae artistes, including I Don’t Want to See You Cry for Ken Boothe, and Feel Like Jumping, Truly, and Melody Life for Marcia Griffiths.

He was born in Kingston on October 28, 1944 and passed away on March 27 2020.