World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Dave & Ansel Collins

Dave Barker
Sunrise c. 1947, Kingston, Jamaica
Ansel Collins
Sunrise c. 1949, Kingston, Jamaica

Artist. Reggae

Active
1969-1972

"Double Barrel" reached number one in Britain in 1971 and stayed two weeks, one of the earliest Jamaican records to do so. It was the first reggae number one since Desmond Dekker's "Israelites" in 1969.

Dave Barker was a singer and deejay; Ansel Collins was a keyboardist. Winston Riley produced. Collins led on keyboards, and the drums were played by a teenage Sly Dunbar, one of his earliest sessions. Collins says he brought the tune to Riley, who "put Dave on it." Barker, who did not think of toasting as his natural style, struggled to find the groove until Buster Riley told him from the control room to imagine he was on the highest mountain in the world; he then cut it in one take. Collins maintains that he is its full owner: "everything was written by somebody else" when it reached England.

"Monkey Spanner" followed the same year and reached number seven. The partnership did not last much beyond that. Collins went on to a long career as a session keyboardist and producer, and Barker recorded solo and with Chosen Few before spending years in Britain.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Bradley says the record, released the previous August, was at the top of the UK chart in May 1971, having been "played just thirty-three times on the radio before it got into the Top 40 in April," and that it sold "almost 300,000 copies." Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 233. The Rough Guide says it "reached the UK pop charts in 1970." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 117. The two weeks at number one are from Wikipedia. "Double Barrel (song)," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Barrel_(song).
  2. Bradley calls "Israelites" "the first reggae number 1" and lists "Double Barrel" and "Monkey Spanner" among the reggae records that were "Top 20 pop hits" in Britain. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 241, 242. Rob Barker, "299. Dave and Ansil Collins: Double Barrel (1971)," Every UK Number 1, March 21, 2020, https://everyuknumber1.com/?p=9916.
  3. The Rough Guide calls it Riley's commercially "most successful record." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 117. In Barker's account, Collins "made both riddim tracks, for 'Double Barrel' and 'Monkey Spanner', long before Winston Riley got hold of them" and sold them to Winston or his brother Buster Riley, who then had Barker voice "Double Barrel" at Joe Gibbs's studio. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 232.
  4. The Rough Guide calls the record "piano-led" but elsewhere names Collins as "the original hit's organist." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 117, 326. Wikipedia calls it Sly Dunbar's first appearance on record, at eighteen. "Double Barrel (song)," Wikipedia. The Gleaner says it was his second recorded session, after "Night Doctor," which he cut with Collins's help. "The 'Word Sound and Power' of Sly Dunbar," Jamaica Gleaner, February 1, 2026, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20260201/word-sound-and-power-sly-dunbar.
  5. Angus Taylor, "Interview: Ansel Collins in Kingston," United Reggae, April 3, 2017, https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n2183/040317/interview-ansel-collins; "M Meets Dave Barker," M Magazine, PRS for Music, accessed November 5, 2026, https://prsformusic.com/m-magazine/features/m-meets-dave-barker.
  6. Taylor, "Interview: Ansel Collins."
  7. Bradley says "Monkey Spanner," which Barker voiced at Dynamic a few months after "Double Barrel," "spent four weeks in the Top 10 some two months later," and that their combined sales made the duo the sixth best-selling singles group in Britain that year. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 233. Wikipedia gives number 7 in June 1971. "Dave Barker," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Barker.
  8. Barker told Bradley that Trojan brought the duo to England, where they toured for roughly eight months; Bradley says Barker "came to live in London." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 234, 249-50. Ansell Collins played keyboards in the Revolutionaries, the Channel One house band, and later played organ on Sly and Robbie's Taxi remake of "Double Barrel." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 358; Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 326. Wikipedia says the duo split after cutting an album, attempted a comeback in 1981, and that Barker, settled in Britain, sang with the soul group Chain Reaction (with Bruce Ruffin and Bobby Davis); it does not mention a group called Chosen Few. "Dave and Ansell Collins," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_and_Ansell_Collins; "Dave Barker," Wikipedia.

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