Reggae group The Tennors

by DRW
(Jamaica)

Reggae group the Tennors was formed in the mid 1960s by George "Clive" Murphy he later teamed up with Maurice "Professor" Johnson. They were later joined by Norman Davis.

The group mostly sung Rocksteady and Reggae music.

Their first recording was "Pressure and Slide" for Jackie Mitto of Studio One in 1967. Reports are that they did not received any royalties for the track, this led to them leaving Studio One record producer Coxsone Dodd.

The accidental death of Johnson reduced the trio back to a duo. They went on to record tracks such as "Cleopatra (I've Got to Get You Off My Mind)", "Grandpa", Massi Massa", "Girl You Hold Me" and "Rub Me Khaki", "Sufferer", "Sign of the Times", "Biff Baff" (aka "Traitor"), "Bow Legged Girl", "Little Things", "Cherry" and "Oh My Baby".

In 1968 the group became a trio again with the addition of Ronnie Davis, they were later joined by George Dekker, Howard Spencer and Hilton Wilson.

THE TENNORS disbanded in the mid-seventies, but the founder and original member - Clive (Murphy) "Tennors", who also produced and co-produced most of their recordings has carefully, Using state of the art DAT technology, restored these songs from the original master recordings which he kept all these years.


True to form, the biblical saying "a prophet is least recognized in his own country" became the hallmark of the music industry of Jamaica, but with few exceptions.Thus it was that artistes of the calibre of "The Paragons", "the Techniques", "The Tennors", "The Clarendonians", Blues Busters, Jimmy Cliff, Wilfred Jackie Edwards, Derrick Morgan became more recognized abroad than in their own country, as they continued to churn out hit after hit.

The Tennors, and many other artistes, have never received the recognition they truly deserve for their musical contributions and pioneering spirit. But they are, undoubtably, among Jamaica’s unheralded famous that birthed the music industry.

It is with nostalgic memories that you will listen to the MOODS OF THE TENNORS, as each song marks the passage of time with its changing styles.

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