This catalogue is like an old classic juke box. Raw, ready to rock with a colourful outlook containing songs that you know will blow your mind.
Danny Sims, the United States’ first real black music entrepreneur, lived a hugely colourful life and was the first non-Jamaican to recognise the enormous global potential of Bob Marley. He was one of the biggest characters in an industry famous for larger than life people.
His entry into the music business came with the opening of Sapphire, the first black club in Manhattan. This followed by the formation of a promotions company at the behest of his business partner Johnny Nash, (the famous Jamaican singer-songwriter and first reggae chart artist). The company, Hemisphere, was responsible for all the top stars of the day – Sammy Davis, Brook Benton, Ben E. King, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding - Danny worked with everyone from Mohammed Ali to Malcolm X and became one of the biggest African-American agencies of the time.
In the 1960s, Johnny and Danny formed a record (JAD records) and publishing (Cayman Music) label and it was to this label that both the Wailers Peter Tosh and Bob Marley signed. Fellow performers such as Gloria Gaynor, Lloyd Price, Gil Scott-Heron, Byron Lee, Betty Wright, Gene Ludwig, Howard Tate, The Cowsills, The Coasters and English musician Rabbit (Marley, Free, the Who) also found a home with JAD Records & Cayman Music Publishing.
In 1972, Danny and Johnny felt they had taken Marley’s career as far as they could and created a situation whereby they sold his contract to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records so that he could be successfully marketed to the rock market Island had built. Danny continued to publish Bob Marley and Peter Tosh from 1967-1978 and had a huge influence in creating the song writing vision that propelled their careers. Danny said of his relationship with Bob, “I guess I was his godfather – that is in the street sense – I looked out for him.” To this day Cayman still retains a unique collection of rights to songs written by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.
The Cayman catalogue contains a raft of easy to clear, one stop shop, rights for Master and Publishing covering the golden age of Reggae, 60’s soul, 70’s Rock, 80’s pop and all manner of songs in between.
