Ernie Smith

Jamaican singer-songwriter (born Glenroy Smith) known for early-1970s hits such as 'Pitta Patta', 'Bend Down' and 'Duppy or Gunman' that blended reggae with pop and country influences; a popular crossover singer of the era.

He also belongs in the archive's record of political cost. Clive Chin, producing at Randy's in the period, recalls that Smith released "Jah Kingdom Gone To Waste" on the Wildflower label and left the island immediately afterwards, settling in Canada — one of several artists, in Chin's account, for whom an explicitly political record was a mark you could not carry in Kingston at the time. Bradley credits Smith as songwriter of "Hail the Man" (1973), performed by Ken Lazarus in praise of Michael Manley and among that year's best-selling Jamaican singles, a marker of the high tide of pro-PNP sentiment before Manley's later economic troubles set in.