The Mighty Diamonds
Sweet three-part harmony carrying hard realities. The Mighty Diamonds made hunger, violence, judgment and ganja law sound communal rather than solitary.
Donald “Tabby” Shaw, Fitzroy “Bunny” Simpson and Lloyd “Judge” Ferguson formed The Mighty Diamonds in 1969. By the middle of the next decade, their close harmonies and direct social writing had made “I Need a Roof,” “Have Mercy,” “Right Time” and “Back Weh Mafia” roots-reggae standards. Channel One and The Revolutionaries gave the songs a hard rhythmic floor without crowding the voices. Their 1981 “Pass the Kouchie,” built on Studio One’s Full Up foundation, later became the basis for Musical Youth’s international “Pass the Dutchie.” The group’s original lineup remained together for decades. Tabby and Bunny both died in 2022, ending one of Jamaican music’s longest-running vocal-group stories.