Forbes, McGregor honoured by Canadians

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Anyone who knows Copeland Forbes well will tell you he is rarely at a loss for words. On Monday, during a ceremony honouring him and singer Freddie McGregor at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston, reggae's best-known manager lived up to his reputation.

Forbes not only reflected on his 49-year globetrotting career, but spoke about his long-standing ties to Canada, where the two entities paying homage to him and McGregor, are from.

Forbes received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ottawa Reggae Festival and a Legend Award from the Toronto International Jamaica Day.

Child performer

McGregor, who started his career as a child performer at Studio One in the early 1960s, also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jamaica Day organisers.

Jamaica Day founder Hewitt Loague presented his committee's award to Forbes. He received the Ottawa plaque from Rick McElrea of the Canadian High Commission.

Ras Asher, a longtime friend of McGregor's, represented the singer, who is on tour.

Speaking with The Gleaner, Forbes said the Canadian reggae scene has grown considerably since he began promoting shows there in the late 1970s.

In the 1980s, his Reggae Superfest series featured some of the biggest names in reggae, including McGregor, Dennis Brown and Marcia Griffiths.

"What people have to realise is that most of the West Indian community is concentrated in Toronto and Montreal, so the music never really reached the entire country," Forbes explained. "Only Bob (Marley), Peter (Tosh) and Jimmy (Cliff) really had a massive following there."

Marley, Tosh and Cliff were just three of the acts Forbes toured with during the 1970s and 1980s. He also managed numerous package tours to North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

McGregor appeared on many of those tours in the 1980s when he was arguably the most in-demand reggae artiste in Jamaica. That decade produced some of his biggest hits such as Big Ship, All In The Same Boat and Push Come To Shove.

Forbes and McGregor were supported by a strong music industry cast. Disc jockeys François and Richard Burgess; consultant/publicists Jerome Hamilton, Clyde McKenzie, Dave Rodney and Anthony Turner; singer Warrior King and saxophonist Dean Fraser were among the guests.