Kentrick Randolph Patrick, 1935-2023 · born San Fernando, Trinidad · moved to Jamaica 1959
Kentrick Randolph Patrick was born in San Fernando, Trinidad in 1935 and moved to Jamaica in late 1959, arriving just in time to become one of the foundational voices of the island’s recording industry. His 1962 “Independent Jamaica” was chosen to mark the country’s independence and was the first record issued by Chris Blackwell’s Island Records in the UK (Island 001). He is also the song’s credited writer — the composition credit reads Kentrick Patrick, his legal name, so the writer and the first performer are one man listed under two names on two sets of paperwork. He brought the song with him from Trinidad and first cut it in 1963 for Vincent “Randy” Chin under a different title. By the 1970s he had largely dropped out of the business; UB40’s cover of “Kingston Town” brought him back, and Jamaica awarded him the Order of Distinction in 2022. He died on 30 June 2023, aged 87.