When Tarrus Riley sat down for an interview with journalist Elaine Wint prior to the filming of TVJ’s Reggae Month 2023 finale concert We Remember Bob Andy – Live, he stated that “you can always find yourself in a Bob Andy song … [and] music is what feelings sound like.” Just after the interview, the reggae star performed his rendition of Bob Andy’s “Desperate Lover” from the Dean Fraser-produced We Remember Bob Andy album, which had been released on February 10, 2023. Tarrus Riley’s live performance of the song will be released by VP Records on September 22nd, 2023 as a digital single.
Andy, born Keith Anderson, is celebrated as one of Jamaica’s greatest songwriters, with a catalog including tracks like “Too Experienced,” “My Time,” “Unchained,” “Sun Shines For Me,” “Fire Burning,” and “I’ve Got To Go Back Home,” among dozens of evergreen anthems.
Bob Andy’s catalog has been covered or adapted hundreds of times over the decades and forms a key part of the greater Jamaican canon of original songwriting and recordings. Whether through popular interpretations like Barrington Levy’s version of “Too Experienced” or through the rhythmic framework of tracks like “Feeling Soul,” “Desperate Lover,” or “Unchained,” Bob Andy’s melodies and rhythms are woven through the entire fabric of Jamaican popular music across more than five decades.
Tarrus Riley’s successful catalog with Dean Fraser includes “She’s Royal” which was celebrated this year for achieving the 100 Million streams mark on popular music video platform, YouTube.
Stream the Best of Tarrus Riley on Spotify: