John Singer Sargent's drawings bring his model out of the shadows She is survived by her daughter, Jaelee Small, a singer based in London. Small lived most of her adult life in England. I had the hit, I toured the countries and came back to England, and that was that. I just saw it as a song that had become a hit somewhere, honestly, she said. In the Goldmine article, perhaps the only in-depth interview of her career, Small looked back matter-of-factly on Lollipop and its influence.
#MILLIE SMALL MY BOY LOLLIPOP 1964 TV#
She stopped recording after her album Time Will Tell was released in 1970 and gave no interviews for decades, except for a brief appearance on British TV in 1987, in which she said she had been sleeping in a hostel with her infant daughter because she had no money. But Small was soon to become one of the most elusive performers in pop history, as the music magazine Goldmine said in a 2016 feature. Other recordings followed throughout the 1960s, as did tours. Smalls cheerful, up-tempo ska rendition arranged by the great Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin added punchy horns, a bluesy harmonica solo (by Rod Stewart, according to urban legend, although Stewart has said it wasnt him) and Smalls irrepressible vocals.
Their 1962 duet, Well Meet, released under the name Roy and Millie, caught Blackwells attention.īlackwell brought Small to England, put her in the studio and suggested that she sing My Boy Lollipop, first recorded in 1956 as an R&B shuffle by a white American singer, Barbie Gaye. After placing second in a singing contest in Montego Bay at 12, she began recording for pioneering producer Coxsone Dodds Studio One label, scoring hit records with her fellow singer Roy Panton. She was already a veteran recording artist when she connected with Blackwell. 6, 1946, in Clarendon, Jamaica, where her father worked in the sugar cane fields. Millie was sassy she was sparky she had that effervescent quality. The ska sound was starting to filter through in the U.K., but there was no personality who looked great, British journalist Vivien Goldman, an authority on Jamaican music, said in a phone interview. Just 17 and a country girl, she toured the world with Blackwell as her chaperone, performed at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair and became a star in swinging London, where her vivaciousness and her dancing captivated television audiences. My Boy Lollipop was the first big success for Blackwell, whose Island label would go on to release music by Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Roxy Music, U2 and others.Īs skas breakthrough act, Small was a global ambassador with a spunky personality and a distinctively high-pitched, pneumatic singing voice. It was a turning point in Jamaican music that brought the islands signature sound to a wider audience, opening the door for artists, like Bob Marley, who would popularize skas rhythmic successor, reggae. 2 on both the American and British charts, it was a significant one. The announcement did not specify the cause, but Blackwell told the Jamaica Observer that Small had suffered a stroke.Īlthough My Boy Lollipop was Smalls only major hit, reaching No. Her death was announced by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records and the songs producer. Millie Small, the Jamaican singer whose 1964 hit, My Boy Lollipop, introduced the upbeat rhythms of ska to international audiences, died Tuesday in London.
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