As the bustle of Kingstons Beat Street became the musical hub of Jamaica in the late 50s', the stream of acts from town and country brought new talent, and everyone was clamouring to work with Coxsone Dodd or Duke Reid, hoping to find their musical fortune in the big city.
Shrewd to the touch, both producers were seemingly one-eyed gods in the land of the blind, and their rough dominance of the industry would eventually leave a reputation in history that is still being unravelled even today.
But our legend's story starts on January 11th 1952, with the daughter of a harbour master raised in the hobnob of the beat street at 133 Luke Lane, Dawn Pickering was exposed by her mother to music lessons, learning a variety of instruments, but eventually found her first love in the piano.
Alongside her sisters Pat and Audrey, Dawn honed her vocal skills, practising harmonic arrangements and popular music reprises way beyond their years and set the pace for a very unexpected future.
On this week’s edition of the World #1 Reggae History Podcast we feature the life and music of the Reggae Icon Dawn Penn on the Best Reggae Web Experience on the Web