by Howard Campbell
[CALIFORNIA] – Garth Dennis, who made his name as a member of two outstanding reggae groups, died in Ontario, California on December 9 at age 72.
His manager, Marjel McFaddin, said the former Black Uhuru and Wailing Souls singer died at the Kaiser Hospital where he was admitted two weeks ago. Cause of death was complications from pneumonia.
Dennis was originally from Trench Town in Kingston. His family was prominent in that community’s sports and music scenes. He was an original member of Black Uhuru in 1972 along with Duckie Simpson and Don Carlos.
Garth joined the Wailing Souls during the mid-1970s, singing on roots-reggae standards like Jah Jah Give us Life, Things And Time and War.
Photo credit: Jan Salzman
Dennis left The Wailing Souls in the early 1980s for a second stint with Black Uhuru. The highlight of that five-year run was a Grammy nomination for Ironstorm.
Dennis and Don Carlos left Black Uhuru in 1994 because of differences with Simpson. The split resulted in a bitter court case over who founded the group and who owned rights to its name.
The case ended in 1997 with a ruling in favour of Simpson in a California court.
Garth Dennis is survived by his wife Jenje, six children, 20 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
