The Gladiators were a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1967 in Kingston by four friends from the same neighborhood: Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon, Errol Grandison, and David Webber.
In 1968, Griffiths and Webber joined forces with Errol Grandison, to form the Gladiators. The band soon topped the Jamaican charts with “Hello Carol” in late 1968. However not long after their first chart success David Webber started to shows signs of serious mental illness. The decline in Webber’s mental health meant that he was eventually replaced in the band by Clinton Fearon. However, family commitments drew Grandison away around this same time, and the Gladiators were now reduced to a duo. Eventually Griffiths invited Gallimore Sutherland to join the band.
In the 1970’s the Gladiators continued having success with hits, including “Freedom Train”, “Rock a Man Soul,” and “The Race”.
In 1976, the Gladiators signed with Virgin Records in Britain, and began work on their label debut with producer Prince Tony Robinson. The end result was the Trenchtown Mix Up album, a set which included several hits, and revisions of earlier Studio One tracks including “Mix Up,” a re-cut of “Bongo Red” and two Bob Marley covers. |
