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'Ranchie' McLean is dead

Howard Campbell

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

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BASS player Bertram 'Ranchie' McLean, who played on seminal hit songs like I Need a Roof and Dreamland, died last Wednesday at the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew. He was 64.

His son, Antonie McLean, told the Jamaica Observer that his father had been ill for some time. He had surgery for prostate cancer two years ago and was wheelchair-bound for the last year.

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Bassist Lloyd Parks, who knew McLean for over 40 years, said he was a "very talented person" who made the successful transition from guitar to bass.

"One of the great things about Ranchie was that he caught on quickly as a musician. He played some great lines," said Parks.

Parks, McLean, keyboardist Ansel Collins and drummer Sly Dunbar were the mainstay of the Skin, Flesh and Bones band that played the popular club scene along Red Hills Road in the late 1960s. Later, they became the nucleus of The Revolutionaries, house band at the Channel One studio which was launched by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972.

McLean had played guitar at Studio One, recording with the Ethiopians and Jacob Miller during his stay at producer Clement 'Coxson' Dodd's base. But he made his mark at Channel One, the hottest recording studio in Jamaica in the 1970s.

He started out on guitar but in a 2010 interview, said he switched to bass after the Hoo Kims heard him play on The Mighty Diamonds' Have Mercy. McLean never looked back, recording numerous hits at Channel One including I Need a Roof, Right Time and Africa (The Mighty Diamonds), Woman is Like a Shadow (The Meditations), Ballistic Affair (Leroy Smart) and John Holt's Up Park Camp.

He also had a good run with producer Sonia Pottinger and Burning Spear. He played on two of Pottinger's biggest hits, Dreamland and Stepping Outa Babylon by Marcia Griffiths, and was guitarist on Spear's 1976 album, Man In The Hills.

In the early 1980s, McLean recorded and toured with Jimmy Cliff as a member of the singer's Oneness band. He co-wrote Rub a Dub Partner from Cliff's 1982 album, Special, and the following year played on his big hit, Reggae Nights.

McLean and Dunbar both hailed from the Olympic Gardens community in St Andrew. In 1974, they launched the short-lived Taxi label which Dunbar revived in 1978 with bass player Robbie Shakespeare.

McLean suffered a stroke in 1998 which effectively ended his career as a musician. He is survived by eight children and several grandchildren.


Appears on

Strictly Drum And Bass

As a musician
Guitar

Baba Dread - Earthman Connection [1978-79]
Burning Spear - Marcus Children [1978]
Chantells - Waiting In The Park [1978]
Chantells & Friends - Children Of Jah [1977-79]
Culture - Cumbolo [1979]
Culture - Harder Than The Rest [1978]
Culture - Trod On [197X]
Desi Roots - Doing It Right [1980]
Don Carlos vs Earl Cunningham - Prison Oval Clash [1980]
Earl Sixteen - Songs For A Reason [1983]
Freddie McKay - Harsh Words [1982]
Gladiators - Naturality [1979]
Glen Brown & King Tubby - Termination Dub [1973-79]
Gregory Isaacs - Cool Ruler [1978]
I Roy - Cancer [1979]
Impact All Stars - Randy's Dub [1975]
Itals - Early Recording [1971-79]
Jimmy London - Hold On [1977]
Jimmy London - The Jimmy London Collection [197X]
King Tubby & Errol Thompson - The Black Foundation In Dub [197X]
Knowledge - Rasta Don't Take Bribe [1978X]
Larry Marshall & King Tubby - I Admire You In Dub [1975]
Lloyd Parks - Loving You [1976]
Mexicano - Move Up Starsky [1977]
Mighty Diamonds - Heads Of Government [198X]
Osbert Maddo - You Wanna Turn Me On [1982]
Revolutionaries - Top Ranking Dub [1978]
Royals - Moving On [1981]
Royals - Pick Up The Pieces [1977]
Royals - Ten Years After [1978]
Scientist - Crucial Cuts Vol 2 [1984]
Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare & Various Artists - Unmetered Taxi [198X]
Techniques - Techniques In Dub [197X]
U Roy - Jah Son Of Africa [1978]
Various Artists - 17 North Parade [1972-75]
Various Artists - International Rockers [1975]
Various Artists - Sly & Robbie's Taxi Sound [198X]
Various Artists - Sunsplash Showcase [1981]
Winston Jarrett - Wise Man [1979]
Winston Wright - Grass Roots [1977]
Yabby You & King Tubby - King Tubby's Prophesy Of Dub [1976]
Yabby You & Various Artists - Jesus Dread [1972-77]

Lead Guitar

Al Campbell - Rainy Days [1978]
Alton Ellis - Many Moods Of Alton Ellis [1978-80]
Black Uhuru - Red [1981]
Don Carlos & Gold - Raving Tonight [1983]
Earl Morgan - D.C. Dub Connection [1982]
Inturns - Consider Yourself [1978]
Jimmy London - It Ain't Easy Living In The Ghetto [1980]
Keith Poppin - Pop Inn [1977]
Lambert Douglas - Living Man [1977]
Larry Marshall - Throw Mi Corn [197X]
Owen Gray - Watch This Sound [198X]
Ranking Trevor & Trinity - Three Piece Chicken & Chips [1978]
U Brown - Repatriation [1979]
U Roy - Rasta Ambassador [1977]
Winston Jarrett & Righteous Flames - Man Of The Ghetto [1977]
Winston Jarrett & Righteous Flames - Ranking Ghetto Style [1980]

Bass

Al Campbell - Rainy Days [1978]
Alton Ellis & Heptones - Mr Ska Bean'a [1980]
Augustus Pablo - Authentic Golden Melodies [1974-79]
B.B. Seaton - I'm Aware Of Love [1979]
Barry Brown - Far East [1982]
Bim Sherman Meets Horace Andy And U Black - In A Rub A Dub Style [1982]
Bob Andy - Lots Of Love & I [1977]
Clint Eastwood - Death In The Arena [1978]
Culture - Cumbolo [1979]
Culture - Trod On [197X]
Derrick Harriott & Revolutionaries - Reggae Chart Busters Seventies Style [1977]
Desi Roots - Children In Exile [1982]
Dillinger - 24 Karat Gold Ragnampiza [197X]
Dillinger - Bionic Dread [1976]
Dillinger - CB 200 [1976]
Earl Morgan - D.C. Dub Connection [1982]
Earl Sixteen - Reggae Sound [1981]
General Echo - Tribute To General Echo [1983]
Horace Martin - Pozitive Vibez [1983-85]
Ja-Man All Stars - In The Dub Zone [1976-79]
Jah Ruby - Dread Affairs [1977]
Jah Woosh - Religious Dread [1978]
Jimmy Cliff - Special [1982]
Junior Reid & Don Carlos - Firehouse Clash [1986]
K.C. White - Try A Little Happiness [1982]
K.C. White - Try A Little Happiness [198X]
King Sounds - Come Zion Side Happiness [1979]
Lacksley Castell - Princess Lady [1983]
Lambert Douglas - Living Man [1977]
Leroy Smart - Ballistic Affair [1977]
Leroy Smart - Let Everyman Survive [1979]
Leroy Smart - The Best Of Leroy Smart [197X]
Lincoln Thompson & Rasses - Natural Wild [1980]
Manzie & Ranking Barnabas - King's Dub [1980]
Marcia Griffiths - Naturally [1978]
Martin Mandingo Williams - Afrikan History [1983]
Meditations - Guidance [1978]
Mighty Diamonds - Right Time [1976]
Mighty Diamonds - Stand Up To Your Judgment [1978]
Mighty Diamonds - Tell Me What's Wrong [1978]
Mikey Dread - African Anthem [1979]
Mikey Dread - Evolutionary Rockers [1979]
Nathan Skyers - Dem A Fight I [1983]
Prince Far I - Health & Strength [1978-79]
Prince Lincoln & Rasses - Vortex Dub [197X-8X]
Ranking Joe - Weakheart Fadeaway [1978]
Ranking Trevor - In Fine Style [1978]
Ranking Trevor & Trinity - Three Piece Chicken & Chips [1978]
Ras Midas - Rastaman In Exile [1980]
Ras Midas - Stand Up Wise Up [1984]
Revolutionaries - Jonkanoo Dub [1978]
Revolutionaries - Reaction In Dub [1978]
Revolutionaries - Revival [1973-76]
Revolutionaries - Revolutionaries Sounds Vol 2 [1976]
Revolutionaries - The Revolutionaries [1976]
Sir Lee & Illie P. - The Twinkle Brothers DJ Selection [198X]
Skin, Flesh & Bones - Dub In Blood Vol 2 [1976]
Sly Dunbar & Various Artists - Simple Sly Man [1978]
Sly & Revolutionaries - Don't Underestimate The Force, The Force Is Within You [1977]
Sly & Revolutionaries - Go Deh Wid Riddim [1977]
Soferno B - Soferno B In Dub 1980 Style [1979]
Sonia Spence - Pure Love [198X]
Sonya Spence - In The Dark [197X]
Trevor Hartley - Innocent Lover [1979]
Twinkle Brothers - Enter Zion [1984]
Twinkle Brothers - Love [1978]
Twinkle Brothers - Praise Jah [1979]
U Brown - Weather Baloon [1978]
Various Artists - Allform [1983]
Wailing Souls - Wailing Souls At Channel One [197X]
Winston Jarrett & Righteous Flames - Ranking Ghetto Style [1980]

Rhythm Guitar

Al Campbell - Rainy Days [1978]
Black Uhuru - Red [1981]
Black Uhuru - Sinsemilla [1980]
Burning Spear - Dry And Heavy [1977]
Dillinger - Cup Of Tea [1980]
Don Carlos - Harvest Time [1982]
Don Carlos & Gold - Raving Tonight [1983]
Earth & Stone - Kool Roots [1976-78]
Frankie Jones - Them Nice [1985]
Junior English - Naturally High [1978]
Ken Boothe - Who Gets Your Love [1979]
Lambert Douglas - Living Man [1977]
Meditations - Greatest Hits [197X]
Owen Gray - Watch This Sound [198X]
Ranking Joe - Weakheart Fadeaway [1978]
Ranking Trevor - In Fine Style [1978]
Sly & Robbie - Disco Dub [1979]
Sly & Robbie - Dub Rockers Delight [1982]
Stanley Beckford & Turbines - Africa [1971-73]
The Rolands - Johnny Dollar [1982]
Voice Of Progress - Mini Bus Driver [1982]

Wah Wah Guitar

Winston Jarrett & Righteous Flames - Ranking Ghetto Style [1980]

Pick Guitar

Sly & Robbie - Dub Rockers Delight [1982]

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