Boris Gardiner

Biography

Boris Gardiner (born 13 January 1943) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bassist. He was a member of several groups during the 1960s before recording as a solo artist and having hit singles with "Elizabethan Reggae" (in 1970), "I Wanna Wake Up with You×I Wanna Wake Up With You1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1I Wanna Wake Up With You4:052You're Good For Me3:30" and "You're Everything to Me" (both 1986). One of his most notable credits is bass on the influential reggae song "Real Rock".

Career

Born in the Rollington Town area of Kingston, Jamaica, Gardiner attended Franklin Town Government School and St Monica's College, dropping out of education after being diagnosed with tachycardia.
In 1960 he joined Richard Ace's band the Rhythm Aces, which also included Delano Stewart, later of the Gaylads. With the group he recorded "Angella", and the local hits "A Thousand Teardrops" and "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S" (written with his brother Barrington). The group split up and by 1963 Gardiner had joined Kes Chin and The Souvenirs as vocalist, and began learning guitar. He went on to join Carlos Malcolm & the Afro Caribs with whom he started playing electric bass after the original bassist left, and when that band ended he started his own group, the Broncos, named after the Bronco Club where they had a residency. He later played with Byron Lee's Dragonaires. In the late 1960s and 1970s he worked extensively as a session musician as a member of the Now Generation, The Upsetters, The Aggrovators, and The Crystallites. While working at Studio One he played on hits such as The Heptones' "On Top", Larry and Alvin's "Nanny Goat", and Marcia Griffiths' "Feel Like Jumping".
As a solo artist, Gardiner had a number 14 hit in the UK singles chart with the song "Elizabethan Reggae" in 1970, a version of Ronald Binge's "Elizabethan Serenade". When the single was released in the United Kingdom, the first copies were printed with the label incorrectly identifying Byron Lee (not Gardiner) as the performer. Lee was the producer of the track. The UK singles chart printed this error for the first chart entry and the first four weeks of its re-entry into the chart. After 28 February 1970, all printings gave Gardiner credit. Gardiner told Jamaican vlogger Teach Dem on February 14, 2023 that he did not receive a penny of royalties, or any payment, for "Elizabethan Reggae".
His debut album, Reggae Happening×Reggae Happening1970 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Dynamic Pressure2:50A2Commanding Wife3:25A3News Flash2:18A4Barbwire2:37A5Reggae Me Dis, Reggae Me Dat2:47B1Mr Sandman2:10B2Spooky2:50B3Merry Jig2:26B4Something Tender2:50B5Lock Jaw2:41, was also released in 1970, but did not chart. Music journalist Ian McCann said that the album "sold respectably for a reggae LP" in the UK. Gardiner's music continued to be popular in Jamaica, but interest waned in the UK. During the 1970s he continued session work, including several recordings for Lee "Scratch" Perry including Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves".
The Boris Gardiner Happening recorded a version of "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1973 with Paul Douglas singing lead, and Boris Gardiner playing electric bass, for the album Is What's Happening×Is What's Happening1973 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1What's Happening2Can't Stand You Lonely3Ain't No Sunshine4Let's Stay Together5Happiness Is A Warm 'Pussin'6Melting Pot7You'll Never Get Away8Same Old Way9Breezin'10You Just Got To Be In Love.
In 1986, Gardiner recorded the single "I Wanna Wake Up with You×I Wanna Wake Up With You1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1I Wanna Wake Up With You4:052You're Good For Me3:30", which became a surprise number one hit in the UK. It spent two months in the top ten. The accompanying album, Everything to Me×Everything to Me1986 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Wrong End of the Rainbow3:552Next to You3:563Cara mia3:504Jean3:335I Want to Wake Up With You4:036I'm Falling in Love3:297All in My Dreams3:598Let's Make It Tonight3:409You're Everything to Me3:4110Last Night3:25 also included the follow-up hit, "You're Everything to Me", which peaked at number 11. The single "The Meaning of Christmas" (a re-recording of "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S") was also released later that year, and was a minor hit. Later, Gardiner signed to RCA Records. In 2002, a 22-track anthology, The Very Best of Boris Gardiner, was issued on CD by Music Club.
In 2015, his song "Every Nigger Is a Star×Every Nigger Is a Star1973 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Every Nigger Is a Star3:18A2You Just Got to Be in Love3:18A3Rough & Tough in the Ghetto2:58A4Ghetto Funk3:13A5Home Again3:01B1Funky Nigger5:47B2Deadly Sting3:02B3Rats in the Ghetto3:11B4Every Nigger Is a Star3:00B5Negril2:58" was sampled on "Wesley's Theory", the opening track of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly. The song also opens the 2016 film Moonlight.

Albums

Reggae Happening (1970), Trojan
It's So Nice to Be with You (1970), Steady
Soulful Experience (1971), Dynamic Sounds
For All We Know (1972), Dynamic Sounds
Is What's Happening (1973), Dynamic Sounds
Every Nigger Is a Star OST (1973), Leal Productions
Everything to Me (1986), Revue, AUS No. 45
Lover's Lane (1989), TNT
Let's Take a Holiday (1992), WKS
Next to You (1992), VP
Reggae Songs of Love (Plus) (2008), Encore

Compilations

The Very Best of Boris Gardiner (2002), Music Club
I Want to Wake Up with You: The Best of Boris Gardiner (2004), Sanctuary/Trojan