Reggae veterans honour Garnett Silk’s legacy
THOUGH THREE decades have lapsed, reggae veterans say the memory of Garnett Silk remains irrevocably linked to Rebel Salute. During the 30th staging of the festival, held at Grizzly’s Plantation Cove over the weekend, the common thread among artistes was gratitude for Tony Rebel sustaining the titular show and reverence for the now- deceased musical icon.
While King Yellowman and Rebel himself dub the first staging of Rebel Salute as their favourite because of the inclusion of the Zion Is A Vision singer, Luciano says that due to Garnett Silk’s death, the show has always held a sense of sadness for him.
Recalling the night when the famed performer died, Luciano told The Gleaner, “The night when he passed away, we had a show in Mandeville and he was to come and close it. I was there singing and hoping to see him, because mi a say mi a go extra because mi want Garnett Silk fi see me. And lo and behold, we couldn’t see Garnett none at all. I went out on the balcony to look across and I saw this fire burning in the horizon, and I didn’t know it was Garnett. So it shook me up.”
Silk died at the age of 28 in house fire in his home parish, Mandeville, in 1994, just 11 months after the first staging of Rebel Salute, where he delivered the now-classic performance.
After learning of the singer’s demise, Luciano said: “I drop off a me bed, and I cried for days.”
Even a month later he was still overcome by emotion. He explained, “There was road show I had to do in May Pen and I couldn’t sing. I go on the show and I couldn’t sing, it just came right up for me. So that staging of Rebel Salute, I think Tony Rebel had paid tribute to Garnett on that show, and then I was to perform. I cried right through my set. Even until today, somehow Garnett spirit is still attached to Rebel Salute. A lot of people still talk about it from the day of inception.”
Though bittersweet, the living legend says he is happy to see how the festival has grown.
“It’s a big festival, because people from all over the world come to Rebel Salute. Today I was short of passes and I went to the ticket booth. When I hear people coming up and going [in] lines to buy their VIP tickets I really felt proud. This is a big festival! Anuh nuh ordinary festival weh people affi a feel fi dem money; people fly in, so I’m really honoured to be a part of this.”
Feeling a similar swell of pride, Sean Paul says though this was his debut at Rebel Salute, he has always held the show in high regard.
“I used to go school in Mandeville,” he began. “So the biggest artistes from Mandeville at the time was Tony Rebel and the great Garnett Silk. A few years after I left being schooled there, they started the performances. It’s just something that I always looked up to, watching Anthony B and Capleton over the years on it, and the different acts.”
He continued, “Tonight, Etana was awesome and the great Leroy Smart brought back memories, you know. For me, when I heard Leroy Smart up there , mi affi kick back inah mi self and say, ‘Yow, dem man deh.’ You know, I was a kid when him a do him thing, and him still a do him thing. In a sense, they showed me the way, the elder artistes who still a do greatness.”
For the 30th anniversary of Rebel Salute, Tony Rebel decided to have 30 featured artistes, including some from the inaugural staging.
Though excited that the show has grown, Rebel admitted the first will always been his favourite.
“My favourite memory is the first one. The first one, rain fell all night. Garnett Silk performed on the first one, which was pretty good. And then there was 2004, when we went into the street and got this man who was 28 years into his mental disability and brought him on stage in the form of Junior Byles. When he sang on stage, everybody cried. ‘He who put his trust in vanity and have no love for humanity shall fade away.’ When he sang that, the whole place tun upside down; and then Jimmy Cliff, the following year, was so outstanding. He performed for two and a half hours, he played the piano. He did everything that a man is supposed to do on stage and nobody moved. The youths were standing up there in amazement to see the performance of a king.”