Overview
"Liquidator" is a reggae instrumental by Jamaican band Harry J Allstars. It reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart in November 1969 and was certified silver in the UK in April 2022.
Background
Carlton "Carly" Barrett has said that the instrumental was originally for a song by Tony Scott, "What Am I to Do". Harry Johnson bought the rights from Scott, licensed the track to Trojan and credited it to the Harry J Allstars. But Alton Ellis has said that the core of the song was a lift from his rocksteady hit "Girl I've Got a Date".
Musicians involved in the recording included the core of The Hippy Boys: bassist 'Family Man' Aston Barrett, drummer Carlton Barrett and guitarist Alva Lewis. They later formed the core of The Upsetters and The Wailers. The organ was played by Winston Wright who, as a member of Tommy McCook's Supersonics, was acknowledged as Jamaica's master of the Hammond organ. Wright featured on other Harry Johnson hits, including The Beltones' "No More Heartaches" and on Boris Gardiner's "Elizabethan Reggae".
Certifications
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
