By Winston Barnes
DAVIE – Tomorrow we will say a formal farewell to a long time friend and a long time friend of Jamaican popular music. This past week end, Warrick Lyn lost his fight with a devastating illness, but we have great memories of him and a body of work that attests to his accomplishments.
Yet I am convinced that not enough Jamaicans know enough about this quiet, humble Jamaican. Warrick Lyn played soccer for St. Georges College in Jamaica at the manning cup level and proved a fearsome winger. But one would not be aware of this because far too many among us believe Jamaican history began only at their birth.
But Warrick had more work to do. He was an inventive and creative producer of popular music starting in the early 1970s at Beverly’s records in Kingston, Jamaica. For a great while he managed and produced Toots and Toots and the Mytals.
Yet what marked the life and work of Warrick Lyn was his warmth and humility. One can never forget his great laugh and his sharing of wonderful secrets about the reggae music business and creative process.
And there is a major reason we should memorialize Warrick Lyn; it is that he so easily and dramatically demonstrated the truths behind the Jamaican motto, “out of many, one people”. I make bold to say if you never knew Warrick Lyn, or even his work, you are missing a part, as a Jamaican.
Winston Barnes
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