World of Jamaican Music

Discover artists and hear songs from everyone on the site! Log in to Spotify in this browser to hear full songs. SourcesYour Voice

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

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

Jack Ruby

Producer. Reggae

Active
1972-1989
Sunrise
March 14, 1943, St. Mary, Jamaica
Sunset
April 7, 1989

Lawrence "Jack Ruby" Lindo was a record producer and sound system operator who worked out of Ocho Rios rather than Kingston, the only major Jamaican producer of the period based outside the capital. He took his working name from the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald.

Lindo was born in St. Mary, grew up in Kingston, and ran the Jack Ruby Hi Fi sound system in Greenwich Farm before moving to St. Ann, where it became, in Bradley's words, an "Ocho Rios-based sound system"; it was known for its "heavy roots selections and militant, conscious atmosphere," and U-Brown was among the deejays who played it. He assembled a studio band that he named the Black Disciples, drawn from the Soul Syndicate and the Wailers band and including the trumpeter Bobby Ellis, who also wrote the horn arrangements. The horn writing is the most identifiable feature of his productions. Bradley calls the Spear records "fatter, rootsier, slower, horn-drenched," and the Rough Guide a "far fuller, 'dreader' production style," driven by the horns of Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall, Herman Marquis, Vin Gordon and Ellis.

He produced Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey (1975) and Man in the Hills, both licensed to Island, which established Winston Rodney internationally. By Lindo's account the title track of Marcus Garvey was worked out at their first meeting. Horsemouth Wallace, who played on it, said, "Jack treated us so good we wanted to give him a wonderful album." Garvey's Ghost, a dub of the first album assembled by Island, appeared in 1976. Spear's earlier records had been made for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, not for Lindo. He also produced Justin Hinds ("Jezebel," "Just in Time"), the Gaylads, the Heptones, Big Youth, and Tyrone Taylor ("Life Table," 1975), and compiled "Black Slavery Days (The Sound of St. Ann's)."

He appears as himself in Rockers (1978), which shows the protagonist collecting records to sell from Lindo's distribution business and, separately, Kiddus I cutting "Graduation in Zion" at a Lindo session. That session was at Harry J's studio in Kingston, not at Lindo's own; the film's director, Ted Bafaloukos, walked in on it and wrote the scene around what he found. Ill health reduced his output through the 1980s, though he produced the debut album by Foundation in 1988. His son records as Jack Ruby Jr. and his grandson is the singer Sean Kingston.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide places him "in the North Coast town of Ocho Rios," and Bradley calls Jack Ruby Hi-Fi an "Ocho Rios-based sound system." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 147; Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 273. Wikipedia calls him the only major Jamaican producer of his time not based in Kingston. "Jack Ruby (music producer)," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby_(music_producer).
  2. Howard Campbell, "Jack Ruby Gets Due," Jamaica Observer, February 22, 2012, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Jack-Ruby-gets-due/.
  3. Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace told the Observer that he met Ruby in the late 1960s in Greenwich Farm, where Ruby ran his sound system, and that Ruby moved to Ocho Rios in the early 1970s. Campbell, "Jack Ruby Gets Due." In the Rough Guide, King Stitt recalls being "in Ocho Rios with Jack Ruby" in 1968 and 1969. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 122. A 2026 Observer article says Lindo was born in St Mary, not Kingston. Kediesha Perry and Javier Gordon, "On 83rd Birthday Anniversary, Jack Ruby Remembered for Contribution to Reggae, Community," Jamaica Observer, March 14, 2026, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/03/14/83rd-birthday-anniversary-jack-ruby-remembered-contribution-reggae-community/. The Observer gives March 14, 1943, St. Mary. Kediesha Perry and Javier Gordon, "On 83rd birthday anniversary, Jack Ruby remembered for contribution to reggae, community," Jamaica Observer, March 14, 2026, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/03/14/83rd-birthday-anniversary-jack-ruby-remembered-contribution-reggae-community/. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 273; Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 190. Kediesha Perry and Javier Gordon, "83rd Birthday Anniversary: Jack Ruby Remembered," Jamaica Observer, March 14, 2026, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/03/14/83rd-birthday-anniversary-jack-ruby-remembered-contribution-reggae-community/.
  4. Wallace names the Marcus Garvey players as himself, Bobby Ellis and Herman Marquis on saxophone, Vin Gordon on trombone, Robbie Shakespeare, Chinna Smith, Earl "Wya" Lindo, Touter Harvey, and Tyrone Downie, recording at Randy's. Campbell, "Jack Ruby Gets Due." The Rough Guide credits the horns of Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall, Herman Marquis, Vin Gordon, and Bobby Ellis. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 146. Neither source names an arranger.
  5. The Rough Guide describes "a far fuller, 'dreader' production style, driven by the horns." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 146. Bradley calls it a "fatter, rootsier, slower, horn-drenched production job." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 273.
  6. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 273; Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 146.
  7. The Rough Guide dates Marcus Garvey to 1975 and says Man in the Hills "appeared the following year." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 146, 147. Bradley calls them "Spear's 1975 albums Marcus Garvey and Man in the Hill." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 273, 274. Discogs lists the Island edition of Man in the Hills (ILPS 9412) in 1976. "Burning Spear: Man in the Hills," Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/108156.
  8. Wikipedia, citing David Katz's liner notes to the 2010 reissue, says "Apparently, Lindo and Burning Spear realized the opening track to this album, 'Marcus Garvey', on their first meeting." "Marcus Garvey (album)," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey_(album).
  9. "Jack Ruby Gets Due," Jamaica Observer, February 22, 2012, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2012/02/22/jack-ruby-gets-due.
  10. The Rough Guide notes that Island remixed the album for its UK release and that the Mango issue couples it with "Garvey's Ghost, the dub version." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 147. The year is from Wikipedia. "Jack Ruby (music producer)."
  11. The Rough Guide says Rodney "made two albums' worth of exemplary tracks for Studio One" before moving to Ruby. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 146. See also Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 213, 273.
  12. The Rough Guide says Justin Hinds made records "first for Jack Ruby, then for Sonia Pottinger," and lists Ruby productions of the Gaylads, the Heptones with Naggo Morris, and Big Youth's "Mosiah Garvey." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 150, 147. Bradley adds Israel Vibration, the Viceroys, the Twinkle Brothers, and Leonard Dillon. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 366. The Rough Guide dates Black Slavery Days to 1975 and likens it to "the Jack Ruby-produced work of Burning Spear" without crediting it to him. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 147. Discogs credits its production to Soulsville, with Dave Zang as musical director. "Various: Black Slavery Days," Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/150094. Katz says Tyrone Taylor "reached another level of popularity" in 1975 with the singles he made for Ruby, among them "Life Table" and "I'd Like to Know." David Katz, "Tyrone Taylor," Guardian, December 17, 2007, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/dec/17/guardianobituaries.obituaries.
  13. Wikipedia's plot summary has Horsemouth get records to distribute from Ruby's and Joe Gibbs's businesses. "Rockers (1978 film)," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockers_(1978_film).
  14. Kiddus I recalled: "I was recording 'Graduation In Zion' in Harry J studio back in 1976, when Jack Ruby brought in Ted Bafaloukos," who asked him "to repeat the scene for the movie, so that's what I did two years later." "Kiddus I: Cabaret Sauvage 04/2009," Rebelbase, accessed October 2, 2026, https://rebelbase.be/interviews/detail/kiddus-i---cabaret-sauvage-042009. Wikipedia places the filmed recording in Ruby's own studio. "Jack Ruby (music producer)."
  15. Wikipedia, citing Spin (1988). "Jack Ruby (music producer)." Discogs dates Flames (Mango) to 1988. "Foundation: Flames," Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/416794.
  16. Campbell names Sean Kingston as his grandson. Campbell, "Jack Ruby Gets Due." Wikipedia says his son is a deejay who has worked with the Toasters. "Jack Ruby (music producer)."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map