Neville Willoughby – I Love Jamaica – 1971

Every year since 1962, Jamaica has had a festival to celebrate its independence. From 1966, there was a song festival, which still goes on today. This song was one of the entries in 1971, but not the winner, which is a shame as it paints a wonderful picture of the country.

Neville was a Jamaican broadcaster who interviewed such reggae greats as Bob Marley. His recording output was not that prolific, but of good quality. To me, this song is his best and is one of the great reggae tunes of the early seventies.

I love the lyrics, where he talks about his travels to places such as Trinidad, New York and London, but to him there is nothing like Jamaica, the land of sugar and rice where the pretty women come from.

Dave Moore