by Howard Campbell
[KINGSTON, Jamaica] – The deaths of Tabby and Bunny Diamond of The Mighty Diamonds has left that legendary roots-reggae great group without two of its original members. Not many of those aggregations, who came to prominence during the 1970s, are still around, though Link & Chain vows to carry on the proud tradition.
Dwight Campbell, who co-founded the quartet 36 years ago, said he and his colleagues were encouraged by Tabby Diamond to stay the course.
“In 1995 we had the pleasure of meeting them. We went to perform at H I M’s (His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I) celebration at Emancipation Park (in Kingston) where after we did our set and came off stage, Tabby Diamond greeted us and said, ‘Yute, uunu (you) sound good. Keep up the good work and stay together’. That is something that we always remember….to be encouraged by such a great group has also kept us going,” he recalled.
Link & Chain took Tabby’s advice. Campbell, colleagues Trevor Douglas, Paul Williams and Oniel Griffiths have released a number of songs in the past two years.
New Releases
In 2022, they have released Guide me Jah and are preparing to follow-up with Dirty Works. Both are produced by Issachar Muzik out of Los Angeles.
Campbell noted that The Mighty Diamonds are among Link & Chain’s biggest influences. They grew up in rural St. Mary parish in eastern Jamaica listening to their hit songs including I Need A Roof, Right Time and Have Mercy.
Tabby Diamond, 67, was killed in front of his Kingston home by gunmen on March 29. On April 1, Bunny, who was ill for some time, died at hospital in the Jamaica capital at age 70.
Lloyd “Judge” Ferguson is sole survivor of the trio that formed in Trench Town in 1969. The thanksgiving service for Bunny Diamond took place here on May 12, while Tabby’s service is scheduled for May 20.
