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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Mighty Diamonds

Band. Reggae, dub

Active
1974-present

The Mighty Diamonds were a harmony trio whose first album, Right Time, recorded at Channel One in 1976, is among the defining records of the roots era. Donald "Tabby" Shaw (1955-2022) sang lead, with Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson and Lloyd "Judge" Ferguson in harmony behind him. The Guardian credits their "exceptional command of vocal harmony" and says of Shaw's powerful tenor, always given pride of place, that "it was Shaw's voice that kept the Diamonds shining."

The three met at school in Trench Town in the mid-1960s and formed the group in 1969, calling themselves the Limelight until Shaw's mother took to referring to them as the Diamonds. Their phrasing and their stage routines were modeled on the American soul groups of the period, which is what distinguished them from the harder vocal trios around them. Simpson named the Manhattans, the Stylistics and the O'Jays, but added, "You have to have your own sound." They freelanced for most of the early 1970s, recording for Pat Francis, Stranger Cole, Rupie Edwards, Bunny Lee, Derrick Harriott and Lee "Scratch" Perry with little return. "Shame and Pride," produced by Francis in 1973, was their first hit. Their harmonies on Susan Cadogan's "Hurt So Good" helped it into the British top five in 1975.

The move to Joseph "Jojo" Hoo Kim at Channel One settled the sound. "Country Living" and "Hey Girl" came first, then "Right Time" on Hoo Kim's Well Charge label. Virgin signed them as part of its push into reggae and issued the album Right Time in 1976, with the Revolutionaries behind them and Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare setting the pace. The songs are direct about what was happening around them, "Them Never Love Poor Marcus" on Garvey's betrayal, "I Need a Roof," "Have Mercy," "Africa," and the harmonies carry them without softening them. A concert at London's Lyceum in August 1976 is said to have been the first to feature a live dub mix.

Virgin sent them to New Orleans for the follow-up, Ice on Fire (1977), recorded with Allen Toussaint and local musicians, which their audience did not take to. They returned to Jamaican producers, cutting Deeper Roots (1979) and continuing with Gussie Clarke and others through the digital turn of the 1980s. "Pass the Kouchie," cut for Gussie Clarke in 1981, became the biggest thing they were connected to without being their record: Musical Youth rewrote it as "Pass the Dutchie" the following year and took it to number one in Britain. The group issued more than forty albums over five decades and was awarded the Order of Distinction, Officer Class, in 2021.

Tabby Shaw's life was taken in a drive-by shooting on McKinley Crescent in Kingston on March 29, 2022, at sixty-seven. Bunny Simpson, who had been in poor health since a stroke and had been treated for diabetes, departed three days later, on April 1. Judge Ferguson, the surviving member, has continued to perform in the group's name.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Bradley calls the group "Channel One's greatest triumph." Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 358. The Rough Guide says "their Channel One work remains the benchmark." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 157.
  2. The Jamaican sleeve of the album credits "Donald Shaw (Tabby)" and "Lloyd Ferguson (Judge)" on lead vocals and "Fitzroy Simpson (Bunny)" on harmony. "The Mighty Diamonds: When The Right Time Come (I Need A Roof)," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2030817. Ferguson said he was "the original lead singer of the group, but I step back and allow Tabby to lead," and that he was "the main songwriter." Yasmine Peru, "OD for Mighty Diamonds, the Longest Group Together in Reggae Music History," Jamaica Gleaner, August 15, 2021, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20210815/od-mighty-diamonds-longest-group-together-reggae-music-history.
  3. "'A Full-Force Trinity': The Glory and Tragedy of Reggae Group the Mighty Diamonds," Guardian, April 1, 2022, https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-guardian-usa/20220401/281943136397719.
  4. The Gleaner says the group "got their name from Tabby Diamond's mother." Peru, "OD for Mighty Diamonds." Shaw dated the group's start to "late 1969," with Simpson coming from Jah Lloyd's group the Meditators and Ferguson joining later; their first single was issued under the name the Dymonds. David Katz, "'A Full-Force Trinity': The Glory and Tragedy of Reggae Group the Mighty Diamonds," Guardian, March 31, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/31/a-full-force-trinity-the-glory-and-tragedy-of-reggae-group-the-mighty-diamonds.
  5. The Rough Guide describes Garveyite lyrics sung "with the type of harmonies associated with Philly and Chicago softsoul groups such as the Stylistics and the Chi-Lites." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 157. Bradley: "plaintive, intricate old-time singing but with thoroughly modern sentiments." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 358.
  6. Angus Taylor, "Interview with Bunny Simpson (The Mighty Diamonds)," Reggaeville, October 17, 2013, https://reggaeville.com/artist-details/mighty-diamonds/news/view/interview-with-bunny-simpson-the-mighty-diamonds.
  7. Katz names singles for Rupie Edwards, Lee Perry and Bunny Lee. Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity." Ferguson recalled rehearsing for three years before their first release. Peru, "OD for Mighty Diamonds."
  8. Jah Lloyd (Pat Francis) first issued "Shame and Pride" on his Teem label and then took the group to Hoo Kim. Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity."
  9. Katz says they had landed at Perry's Black Ark in 1974, and that "the following year, their riveting harmony on Susan Cadogan's Hurt So Good helped it reach the UK Top Five." Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity."
  10. The Rough Guide dates "Back Weh A Mafia" and "Right Time" to 1975 and lists "Country Living" among the early Channel One discs. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 157. "The Mighty Diamonds: When The Right Time Come (I Need A Roof)," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/235217.
  11. The Virgin sleeve lists Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare and other Channel One players. "Mighty Diamonds: Right Time," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1679639. Bradley notes the group among the Virgin signings of its Jamaica talent hunt. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 455. Sly Dunbar said the rockers style was first heard "on the Mighty Diamonds' 'Right Time.'" Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 479.
  12. Bradley lists "I Need a Roof," "Have Mercy," "Them Never Love Poor Marcus" and "Africa." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 358.
  13. Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity."
  14. The Rough Guide calls Ice on Fire a "1977 set - produced by Allen Toussaint in New Orleans," "critically mauled on release." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 160. Katz calls it "bland." Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity."
  15. "The Mighty Diamonds: Deeper Roots (Back To The Channel)," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/161420. The Rough Guide notes their albums for Gussie Clarke and later hits for Joe Gibbs, Tappa Zukie and Clarke. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 157, 307-8.
  16. The Rough Guide credits the record to Gussie Clarke, recorded when he was "still using the Channel One studio," and notes that Musical Youth "cleaned up on the global market" with "a cooking pot rather than a pipe of herb." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 285, 288. "The Mighty Diamonds: Changes," Discogs, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/834048. "Pass the Dutchie" spent three weeks at number 1 in 1982. "Musical Youth," artist page, Official Charts, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19782/musical-youth/.
  17. Peru, "OD for Mighty Diamonds." Ferguson put the group's output at "46 albums." "RIP Tabby Diamond - Mighty Diamonds' Lead Singer Killed," Reggaeville, accessed October 4, 2026, https://www.reggaeville.com/artist-details/mighty-diamonds/news/view/rip-tabby-diamond-mighty-diamonds-lead-singer-killed/.
  18. The Gleaner report quoted by Reggaeville gives the time as about 9:45 p.m. and his age as 67; Reggaeville gives his birth date as October 7, 1955. "RIP Tabby Diamond," Reggaeville. Katz also gives 67 and says another man was killed in the same attack, in Waterhouse. Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity."
  19. Katz attributes his death, at seventy-one, to "diabetes complications." Katz, "A Full-Force Trinity." The Observer, quoted by Reggaeville, notes a stroke in 2015. "RIP Tabby Diamond," Reggaeville.

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