Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Vintage Sundays began at Prendy's on the Beach's Kingston location, 7 South Avenue, with a celebration of reggae Crown Prince Dennis Brown's 52nd birthday last week.

Heading up to 10 p.m., the atmosphere was very relaxed, with people seated around tables in the yellow-and-blue wooden fence enclosed area, ample greenery provided by strategically placed trees.

It was Dennis Brown's time, Gladdy and Michael Barnett spinning songs which covered different stages of the late singers stellar career. There were praises to the one "known as Rastafari", before matters of jealousy in Silhouette. Then it was on to another topic, that of betrayal, with Wolves and Leopards.

Taking it back

Brown advised Whip Them Jah before Ol Man River came rolling at a session where the emphasis was on listening, before it was announced "we're going to take you way back, to the early era of Dennis Brown, Big Yard, 125 Orange Street".

The uptempo Lips of Wine started the early years, then a nod to the established pattern of singers reworking early songs with an early version of If I Had The World.

The trip to Brown's early days rode a Westbound Train and went into foreign lands with the Wichita Lineman. The selectors honoured ones who came before Dennis Brown, saying "when you think of Dennis Brown, you have to remember people like Delroy Wilson, who is the mentor for people like Dennis Brown, people like Errol Dunkley, the great Errol Dunkley".

Slow jam

The Dennis Brown selections went on the really slow side before the Crown Prince's run was broken with Asking for Love.

Dennis Brown was born on February 6, 1957, and died on July 1, 1999. His first hit with Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd was No Man Is an Island. From his slew of hit songs, Here I Come, Revolution and To the Foundation are among those most often played at parties up to today.

Vintage Sundays at Prendy's on the Beach in Kingston runs from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., weekly.