ENTITY · PERSON

Ruddy Redwood

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Rudolph 'Ruddy' Redwood was a Spanish Town sound-system operator and record dealer whose Supreme Ruler of Sound gave rise to the reggae 'version'. His late-1960s discovery, playing a vocal-less Treasure Isle acetate of the Paragons' 'On the Beach', led Duke Reid to press instrumental cuts on B-sides, a practice foundational to dub and dancehall deejaying.

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Type: person
Confidence: Well supported
Era: Open era →

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In stories

Story · ProbableThe Dub Revolution: How King Tubby and Lee Perry Turned the Mixing Desk Into an Instrument

In the studios of 1970s Kingston, engineers learned to dismantle a finished song and rebuild it as something stranger, launching the version, the remix and the idea of the producer as author.

Story · Well supportedLyrical War: Dubplates, Sting, and the Art of the Sound Clash

How a one-off acetate became Jamaica's ultimate weapon, and the arena culture that turned selectors and deejays into generals.