Beverley's

Beverley's was a Jamaica-based record label (1961 – 1971) owned by the Chinese Jamaican record producer Leslie Kong. Beverley's was essential to the development of Ska and Rocksteady into Reggae. The label launched the careers of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, having released Jimmy Cliff's first recording "Dearest Beverley" in 1961 and Bob Marleys early singles "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee" in 1962.

Leslie Kong launched the label in 1961 after Jimmy Cliff auditioned the song "Dearest Beverley" at Leslie Kong's ice-cream parlour [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000755/Jimmy-Cliff.html Musician Guide biography] Jimmy Cliff] . Prior to this, Beverley's was a restaurant and records shop owned by Leslie Kong and his brothers, Fats and Cecil and never had produced records.

Throughout the 1960s Beverley's recorded many Jamaican artists including Desmond Dekker, the Toots & The Maytals, Derrick Morgan, and the Pioneers [http://niceup.com/history/reggae67-70.html Reggae 67-70] "Jammin Reggae Archives"] .

In 1963, Kong began licensing recordings to Black Swan, a subdivision of friend Chris Blackwell's Island Records. Later he licesned recordings to Graeme Goodall's Pyramid and to Trojan Records by the end of the 60s.

The Beverley's label folded with the death of Leslie Kong in 1971.

ee also

* List of record labels

References