Jah Stitch

Jah Stitch. Born 27 July 1949, Kingston, Jamaica. - Died 28 April 2019

Jah Stitch was born as Melbourne James. He was brought up in the same singing yard as singers Roy Shirley, Stranger Cole and The Heptones. Together with a friend called Finger he started the Sound System Fingertone. The sound would later evolve to Lord Tippertone sound system. Around this time Jah Stitch also met Bunny Lee. They started a musical and personal friendship. Stitch's first release was however produced by Errol Holt with the single Danger Zone Chapter 3. Jah Stitch soon left Tippertone and joined Black Harmony Sound which allegedly, resulted in the shooting of Stitch outside of Bob Marleys shop in Kingstons Beeston Street. This incident would lead to Jah Stitch reinventing his deejay style. He cut No Dread Can't Dead where he had an almost spoken delivery.
In the 80's he changed his name to Major Stitch. He also joined Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion focusing instead on selecting for the sound and supervising the cutting of dubplates. He was responsible for the first recording efforts of Yami Bolo, Nitty Gritty, Pinchers and Tenor Saw.