Winston Anthony Morris (1 April 1955 – 20 April 2024), known professionally as Tony Tuff, was a Jamaican conscious roots reggae singer and a member of The African Brothers in the late 1960s and 1970s before embarking on a solo career.
Biography
Tuff started his career in 1969 as a member of the vocal trio The African Brothers, along with Sugar Minott and Derrick "Bubbles" Howard.[1][2] The African Brothers split up in the mid-1970s, and Tuff pursued other work outside music until he returned as a solo artist in the late 1970s, with the album Tony Tuff Meets Errol Schorder [sic], split with Errol Scorcher, and self-productions including the "I'm So Glad" single on his own Winston label.[1]
Drawing lyrical inspiration from Parables in Luke 12 Tony Tuff released "Love Light Shining" with Coxsone Dodd. The horns melody and bass line from the song was later reworked by Hugh Mundell in his Scientist-produced Discomix track "Red Gold and Green."Joseph Hoo Kim also released a version of the tune with Tony Tuff, recorded at Channel One Studios, their recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica. Junjo Lawes also produced several successful singles by Tuff including "Water Pumpee", and "Mix Me Down", and also produced his 1983 album Come Fe Mash It. He continued to be active during the 1980s, but was largely absent from the music scene in the 1990s. He returned in 2000 and recorded several albums in the new millennium, including recording the album How Long and a selection of Discomixes and dubplates with London Rasta Sound System operator, conscious Roots Reggae artist, Jah Shaka. He toured Europe twice in 2002, before touring Canada and the United States.[4]
Tony Tuff died on 20 April 2024, at the age of 69.[5]
How Long Dub (2009), Jah Shaka Music – Jah Shaka featuring Tony Tuff
Tony Tuff & Jah Stitch – Rumours of War / Dragon, Snake & Spider
Compilations
The Best of Tony Tuff (1983), Vista Sounds
20 Super Hits (19??), Sonic Sounds
References
^ abcLarkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN0-7535-0242-9, p. 303
^Moskowitz, David V. (2006) Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN0-313-33158-8, p. 298
