The women who shaped the harmony era

Bob & Marcia paired singers Bob Andy and Marcia Griffiths for a run of Jamaican hits in the early 1970s, produced by Harry J; their 1970 cover of Nina Simone's 'Young, Gifted and Black' reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart and became an anthem of Black pride.

Cherry Smith (born Ermine Ortense Bramwell), also known as Cherry Green, was schooled in harmony singing by a young vocal coach in her Trench Town neighbourhood and became a founding member and backing vocalist of the original Wailers from 1962-63; she was present for the group's 1964 Studio One audition though largely replaced on sessions by Beverley Kelso, left the group in 1966, and later worked as a nurse in Florida until her death in 2008.

Judy Mowatt (born 1952) is a Jamaican reggae singer best known as one of the I-Threes, the female trio that sang backing vocals for Bob Marley and the Wailers from 1974. Her 1979/1980 solo album Black Woman is widely regarded as a landmark reggae album by a female artist and among the first reggae albums produced by a woman.

Rita Marley (born Alpharita Constantia Anderson, 25 July 1946, Cuba) is a Cuban-Jamaican singer, the widow of Bob Marley, and a member of the I-Threes who backed the Wailers from the mid-1970s. Originally part of the vocal group the Soulettes, she recorded solo material including "One Draw" and has since managed the Marley musical legacy through the Bob Marley Foundation.

Marcia Griffiths (born 23 November 1949, Kingston) is a Jamaican singer whose career spans rocksteady, roots reggae and dancehall. She recorded for Studio One, formed the hit duo Bob & Marcia with Bob Andy ("Young, Gifted and Black"), and was one of the I-Threes who provided backing harmonies for Bob Marley and the Wailers; she is also known internationally for "Electric Boogie," the song behind the Electric Slide dance.

Vocal trio of Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, best known for work with Bob Marley and the Wailers.

The Soulettes were a Jamaican vocal trio formed in the early 1960s by Rita Anderson (later Rita Marley), her cousin Constantine 'Vision' Walker and Marlene Gifford; coached at Studio One by a young Bob Marley, they recorded rocksteady sides including 'Time for Everything' and a version of 'Turn, Turn, Turn' before Anderson's 1966 marriage to Marley. A later lineup recorded a version of the Beatles' 'Let It Be'.

The vocal group central to the rise of reggae.

The Gaylettes were a Jamaican vocal trio formed in 1967 by Judy Mowatt with Beryl Lawrence and Merle Clemonson, modelled on Motown groups such as the Supremes; recording for the Merritone label during the rocksteady era, they stayed together until 1970, when Mowatt's bandmates emigrated and she began the solo career that led to the I-Threes.

Beverley Kelso, recruited by Bob Marley at age fourteen in 1963, was a founding member and backing vocalist of the original Wailers alongside Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Junior Braithwaite and Cherry Smith, singing on around 25 tracks including 'It Hurts to Be Alone' and 'Lonesome Feeling' before leaving the group in 1965. She later emigrated to Brooklyn and, following Bunny Wailer's death in 2021, became the last surviving founding member.

From the rocksteady queens and the first female producer to the I-Threes, the lovers-rock pioneers and the dancehall crown, women have carried Jamaican music from the studio floor to the world stage.

A starter path from Millie Small's 1964 crossover to Sister Nancy and Marcia Griffiths in global dance memory.

When the tempo dropped, harmony and bass moved to the front.

How the B-side and the mixing desk became instruments.