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| Watty Burnett | |
|---|---|
| Name | Watty Burnett |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Walter Burnett |
| Birth date | 1950s |
| Birth place | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae, Roots reggae, Dub |
| Occupation | Singer, songwriter, arranger |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Labels | Upsetter, Trojan, Ariwa |
| Associated acts | Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Upsetters, The Congos, Junior Byles |
Watty Burnett Watty Burnett is a Jamaican reggae singer and baritone vocalist best known for his work with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry and the house band The Upsetters. His deep voice and harmony arrangements contributed to seminal recordings within roots reggae and dub during the 1970s and 1980s. Burnett performed on landmark sessions at Black Ark Studios and collaborated with artists across the Jamaican scene, leaving a durable imprint on recordings issued by labels such as Upsetter Records and Trojan Records.
Born Walter Burnett in Kingston, Jamaica, Burnett came of age amid the postwar musical ferment that produced ska and rocksteady alongside figures like Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan, and The Skatalites. As a youth he sang in local ensembles and sound system sessions alongside contemporaries from communities tied to Trench Town and neighborhoods frequented by artists such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Early contacts with producers and vocal groups placed him within the network that included Coxsone Dodd's Studio One musicians and engineers active in Kingston during the late 1960s. Those formative experiences introduced him to harmony work, baritone leads, and studio practices adopted by many Jamaican vocalists.
Burnett's association with Lee "Scratch" Perry became a defining chapter when Perry invited him to record at Black Ark Studios, Perry's influential studio and production hub. Working with Perry and the core Upsetters lineup—musicians who had played for producers like Keith Hudson and Glen Adams—Burnett contributed to projects alongside vocalists such as The Congos and instrumentalists who later appeared on international compilations. Perry used Burnett's voice for both lead parts and low-register harmony to create the dense, echo-laden textures for which the Upsetters and Black Ark era are known. Sessions yielded tracks that circulated on singles and LPs released by producers including Lee "Scratch" Perry himself and distributors like Trojan Records.
As a solo performer Burnett recorded singles and album tracks issued on labels tied into Perry's circle and other Kingston producers. Notable releases often featured Burnett on material produced by Perry and released through imprints connected with the Jamaican roots scene. His solo recordings reached the same collectors and sound-system audiences that sought out work from artists like Junior Byles, Max Romeo, and Freddie McGregor. Several of Burnett's tracks were later anthologized on reissues and compilations curated by labels such as Ariwa Records and international compilers who highlighted Black Ark-era material. These releases helped preserve his contributions to the era alongside landmark albums by peers like The Heptones and The Wailers.
Burnett's vocal signature is a deep baritone timbre that complemented tenor and falsetto leads common in Jamaican harmony vocals, creating three-part textures heard in recordings by groups such as The Congos and The Abyssinians. His approach emphasized low-register melodic anchors and call-and-response phrasing used by arrangers like Glen Brown and producers like Coxsone Dodd to sculpt vocal stacks. The use of reverb, delay and dub echo at Black Ark integrated Burnett's voice into the production aesthetic advanced by Lee "Scratch" Perry and engineers who worked with musicians from Studio One and the Harry J house band. His style influenced later baritone singers in reggae and contributed to the sonic templates adopted by producers in roots and dub revival movements.
Beyond his appearances with Perry, Burnett sang and provided vocal arrangements on sessions with a range of Jamaican artists and bands. He recorded with groups and soloists from the same milieu as The Upsetters and contributed to sessions involving musicians who also worked with Augustus Pablo, Ras Michael, and Augustus Pablo's melodica-led productions. Burnett's session credits include harmony parts, background textures, and occasional lead turns for artists distributed by labels such as Trojan Records, Studio One, and independent Jamaican producers. His collaborations placed him within the extended community of vocalists and musicians—figures like Cedric Myton, I Roy, and studio stalwarts—who circulated through Kingston's recording ecosystem.
In later decades Burnett's recorded output, reissues, and compilations renewed interest among collectors, DJs, and scholars tracing the Black Ark period and roots reggae lineage. Reissues on international labels and retrospectives on Perry's career placed Burnett's vocals alongside canonical works by Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Upsetters, and The Congos. Contemporary reggae and dub artists, as well as sound-system selectors and historians connected to institutions like Red Bull Music Academy and independent archival labels, cite Black Ark contributors when discussing the era's production innovations. Burnett's baritone parts remain audible on reissued LPs and digital anthologies, securing his place within the documented history of Jamaican popular music and the network of artists who defined roots reggae and dub.
Category:Jamaican reggae musicians Category:20th-century Jamaican singers