Lowell Fillmore “Sly” Dunbar 10 May 10 1952, Kingston, Jamaica -Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare September 27 1953 – Died December 8 2021
Sly Dunbar, then drumming for Skin Flesh and Bones, and Robbie Shakespeare, playing bass and guitar with the Agrovators, discovered they had the same ideas about music in general (both are fans of Motown, Stax Records, the Philly Sound, country music, along with Jamaican record labels Studio One and Treasure Isle), and reggae production in particular. According to Sly, Lloyd Knibb, the drummer for The Skatalites, was his mentor. Additionally, I used to listen to the drummer for Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Al Jackson Jr. There are other drummers in Jamaica, such as Santa and Carly from The Wailers Band, Winston Bennett, Paul Douglas, and Mikey Boo. All these drummers have taught me a lot and I respect them. I listened to them and created my own style based on what I heard. Sly and Robbie first worked together and some of The Revolutionaries for the newly created Channel One studio and label that was operated by the Hoo Kim brothers.
Right Time, The Mighty Diamonds’ 1976 breakthrough album, established them as masters of groove and propulsion, according to The Independent. The drum beat of the title song was particularly challenging for Dunbar; he stated in 2001, “When that tune first came out, nobody believed it was me on the drums; they thought it was some sort of sound effect.en when it rose to number 1 and stayed there, everybody started trying for that style and it so became established.