Saying thanks to 'Herbie'

Herbert 'Herbie' McKenzie, a roots singer who recorded for the Marley family's Ghetto Youths label, died recently from a heart attack at age 53. McKenzie died at the Kingston Public Hospital on the evening of August 3.

He was taken there for treatment after complaining of feeling ill, his sister Eva McKenzie told The Sunday Gleaner.

The sixth of 12 children, McKenzie was born in Kingston and raised in the community of Majesty Gardens, close to the neighbourhood of Greenwich Farm which was a hotbed of musical activity during the 1970s.

He recorded sporadically and was a regular on the sound-system circuit in his hometown. In the early 1990s when Ziggy and Stephen Marley activated their Ghetto Youths label, McKenzie was one of the artistes they enlisted.

Obeah Man, one of the songs he recorded for Ghetto Youths, was released in the early 1990s.

McKenzie's recording career stalled in the last decade, but recently he cut Educate The Youths for the French company, Makasounds Records.

Herbie McKenzie is survived by four daughters, grandchildren, seven brothers and six sisters. The thanksgiving service for his life takes place at the Penwood Road Seventh-day Adventist Church today at 2 p.m.