Cedric Myton

Cedric Myton
Birth name	Cedric Constantine Myton
Born	1947
Origin	Jamaica
Genres	Reggae
Associated acts	Ashanti Roy, Watty Burnett, Lee Perry, Lincoln Thompson

Cedric Myton (born 1947 in Old Harbour, Jamaica), is a Reggae musician and Rastafarian. Cedric Myton began his singing career with the group The Bell Stars, who recorded one single 45" "over and over", the record was a minor success. This record was released in 1967. Alongside Lincoln Thompson, "preps" Lewis, and Devon Russell, Cedric Myton formed "The Tartans" in 1968, the group released many 45" singles, and had early success in 1969 with the hit 45 "Dance All Night". After a couple of years The Tartans disbanded, and Myton alongside Lincoln "Prince" Thompson, formed "The Royal Rasses". Cedric Myton spent almost 3 years alongside Thompson, writing the tracks which would constitute the Royal Rasses album "Humanity". Cedric Myton also sang on every track on the album "Humanity". This album was a big success, although Cedric Myton left The Royal Rasses shortly after the release of "Humanity", his beautiful falsetto tones on every track, undoubtedly brought many fans to the attention of "The Royal Rasses" and the band continued without Cedric Myton, who went on to form "The Congos", alongside Roydel Johnson, who had a rich "tenor" and Watty Burnett who provided a "Deep Barritone", which combined with Cedric Mytons rich "Falsetto" anchored The Congos, whose music is easily distinguishable and highly regarded in not just reggae circles but worldwide. Unfortunately, due to both a dispute between the producer Lee"Scratch"Perry and Island Records favouritism of Bob Marley,the great first release LP from The Congos "Heart Of The Congos" was "Shelved" because it was deemed "a strong album" and Island Records.led by Chris Blackwell felt "Heart Of The Congos" would take away the limelight from Bob Marley. Many years later the English group "The Beat" released "Heart Of The Congos" on their own "Go-Feat" label, as did the company "Blood And Fire", and "Heart Of The Congos" was a big success,and rightly so, however it has to be said that had the album been released when it was first recorded it would have been a massive success. Instead it was released initially in very limited numbers on Lee Perry's "Black Art" label and Perry re-mixed the album adding various external sounds, such as "cow Horns" provided by the barritoned Burnett.^[1] They recorded the album Heart of the Congos, with Lee Perry at the controls,^[2] producing what is widely considered one of the great classics of reggae. Later Myton pursued a solo career. After some time, the Congos reformed and recorded an album titled, Back in the Black Ark. The group toured as well, appearing at music festivals such as the 2012 Rototom Sunsplash.^[3]

References

1. "Biography", jamaicansmusic.com, Retrieved 30 July 2014
2. Dougan, John. "Biography: The Congos". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
3. McMahon, Gerard "Cedric Myton", unitedreggae.com, Retrieved 30 July 2014