Pato Banton

born on 28/1/1961 in Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom

Alias Patrick Murray

Pato Banton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Pato Banton

Pato Banton (born Patrick Murray, 5 October 1961) is a reggae singer and toaster from Birmingham, England. He received the nickname 'Pato' (Jamaican Patois for "wise owl") from his stepfather, and 'Banton' from the disc jockey slang for a "heavyweight DJ".

Biography

Born in Birmingham, Banton first came to public attention in the early 1980s when he worked with The Beat.[1] He recorded "Pato and Roger a Go Talk" with Ranking Roger, included on the 1982 album Special Beat Service.[2] He went on to record a series of singles for Fashion Records and Don Christie Records.[2] He was one of the guest artists that appeared on the UB40 album Baggariddim in 1985. Banton's debut album was the 1985, Mad Professor-produced Mad Professor Captures Pato Banton, followed in 1987 by Never Give In, which included a collaboration with Paul Shaffer and a follow-up to his earlier collaboration with ranking Roger with "Pato and Roger Come Again".[3] After an EP in 1988, Banton released a more pop-oriented LP, Visions of the World, followed by 1990's Wize Up! (No Compromise), which included a college radio hit in Spirits in the Material World (The Police cover) and another collaboration, "Wize Up!", this time with David Hinds of Steel Pulse.[2]

Banton then worked on a live album and with Mad Professor, and then released 1992's Universal Love. The album Universal Love featured a song covered by Banton called "United We Stand", which was written by fellow Birmingham musician Ray Watts, of the group Beshara. After a 1994 British Number 1 hit in Baby Come Back (originally by Eddy Grant performing with The Equals), with Robin and Ali Campbell of UB40,[2] a best-of album was released, and Banton was invited by Sting to join him on his "This Cowboy Song" single.[3] 1996's Stay Positive was followed by Life Is a Miracle in 2000. Life Is a Miracle received a Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album in the 2001 Grammy Awards.[4] More recently, Banton has been playing with Mystic Roots, a reggae band formed in Chico, California.

A period of deep reflection and meditation left Pato feeling guided to continue his musical journey. In early 2005 Spiritual Guide Yahe Boda invited Pato to do a short tour across America to Gather the People in Praise. This experience led to Pato recording the inspired double album entitled The Words of Christ, a narrated album of Christs teachings as revealed in The Urantia Book.

In 2006 he appeared onscreen in a brief cameo role, playing Jay, the owner of an upmarket bar, in the film Lycanthropy."

Pato's most recent release is Destination Paradise (2008). He began 2009 with the formation of a new band, The Now Generation, who undertook a state wide tour of the United States, with a commitment to spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. In the early 2010 Pato performed a special Ska-version show in Tijuana with The Ghostownians as backing-band. Throughout the performance he gave a peace message to the audience to counter the violence there at the time.

Discography

  • Mad Professor Captures Pato Banton (1985)
  • Never Give In (1987)
  • Visions Of The World (1989)
  • Mad Professor Recaptures Pato Banton (1990)
  • Wize Up! (No Compromize) (1990)
  • Live & Kickin All Over America (1991)
  • Universal Love (1992)
  • Collections (1994)
  • Stay Positive (1996)
  • Tudo De Bom - Live In Brazil (2000)
  • Life Is A Miracle (2000)
  • Live At The Maritime - San Francisco (2001)
  • The Best Of Pato Banton (2002)
  • Positive Vibrations (2007)
  • Pato Banton and Friends (2008)
  • Destination Paradise (2008)

Filmography

  • Lycanthropy (2006)

References

  1. Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn., Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4, p.403
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, p.19-20
  3. 3.0 3.1 Moskowitz, David V. (2006) Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-33158-8, p.21-22
  4. CNN.com - Entertainment - 43rd Grammy Awards - February 21, 2001

External links

This page was last modified 26.02.2014 09:41:11

This article uses material from the article Pato Banton from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.