I just found out the reggae singer Bunny Brown just passed away. He was the first one at Sly & Robbie’s studio that pulled me aside and wanted to hear what I had to say as a songwriter, and to just be friends.
The last time we spoke we talked about working more on this beautiful song of his he wanted me to cover, and whether we would be in Jamaica at the same time to make some cool things happen.
He made sure I had his US number to reach him while he was in Atlanta, seeking some medical attention, but of all the numbers I ever lost changing phones, that was the saddest one to lose.
We were fast friends, and I am going to cover the hell out of this song Bunny wrote for Bruce Springsteen but gave to me as a mission to record.
I talked to Jimmy James about helping me turn it into a Seattle Soul masterpiece. Bunny was going to sing it with us.
This is part of the reason why I got a day job, and why I am working on a plan to sell a portion of my publishing on new songs and old to my friends to fund recording projects like this, that just shouldn’t have had to been another great idea that had to wait.
Because life and fate waits for no one.
I loved Bunny Brown. When I wrote ‘Mr. Brown’ about Dennis Brown, I was also thinking about this man’s voice. The last time we spoke, I told him about the song and he told me about how his own mother helped raise up Dennis.
When I walked into that studio and Anthony Cameron and Bunny asked to hear my songs, I was given a sense of urgency, and the passing of Bunny Brown is why.
I don’t think the world recognizes how great this man truly was and how he has such an incredible instrument and soul, through the very end.
I am going to sing the hell out of this song and people are going to know everytime I sing it, he wrote this “big chune”.
I need to focus harder. I need to be somebody because of the miracle of ‘Free Your Mind’ so I can do something the world will give a damn about a guy like me singing a song like this by the greatest Jamaican singer I have ever known.
This was maybe the nicest man I ever met. He just wanted to share his talent with the world. He did. He sang lead and back up on records that sold in the millions, played dozens of countries, had been signed to Polygram and other majors.
But like Bernie Worrell, as he joined the ancestors, you just wanted more people to know about his legacy before he was gone.
You know when you meet a Jedi. At least I do. Good bye Bunny. Thank you for being so kind and doing such beautiful tings with all 12 of those notes that you could paint across a canvas 4 exulted octaves.
I won’t let you down. I promise.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. Davin’s new song has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.
