Word came over the weekend that reggae legend Joe Gibbs succumbed to a fatal heart attack last Thursday at the age of 65. A label owner and producer, Gibbs was involved with Jamaican music from the heyday of rocksteady to the dancehall explosion of the ‘80s. He played an important role in the careers of so many reggae greats, including Niney the Observer, Dennis Brown, Culture, Sly & Robbie, Errol Thompson, and Lee “Scratch” Perry — who wrote the bitter “People Funny Boy” after his business relationship with Gibbs went sour. Perry couldn’t stop Gibbs, but oddly enough, a lawsuit from country singer Charley Pride over royalties brought Gibbs’ career to a halt. You can read details on all of the above in AMG’s Joe Gibbs biography.

Currently, much of his output is getting the reissue treatment by the VP label’s 17 North Parade imprint with a Joe Gibbs Reggae Anthology promised for May of this year. Click here for VP’s tribute and also check the banner on Reggae-Vibes’ homepage for a video of the man doing business in the 1977 film Rockers. Below are ten prime examples of “The Joe Gibbs Way”:

Roy Shirley - “Hold Them”
The Pioneers - “Longshot”
Lee “Scratch” Perry - “People Funny Boy”
Sir Gibbs - “People Grudgeful Boy”
Count Matchuki - “Movements (The Joe Gibbs Way)”
Nicky Thomas -”Love of the Common People”
Dennis Brown - “Money in My Pocket”
Culture - “Two Sevens Clash”
Althea & Donna - “Uptown Ranking”
J.C. Lodge - “Someone Loves You Honey”