Jamaican guitarist for Toots and the Maytals and Paul Simon, Hux Brown died June 18, 2020

Lynford Brown (December 4, 1944 – June 18, 2020), known as Hux Brown, was a Jamaican guitarist who featured on many successful rocksteady and reggae records in the 1960s and 1970s, and was later a member of Toots and the Maytals.

Lynford “Hux” Brown was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica. He was nicknamed “Fordie”When at school, then “Fordux”, which eventually became “Hux”.

He formed a band, the Vikings, before moving to Kingston where he joined the Soul Brothers at Clement Dodd’s Studio One label. In 1967, he moved to the rival Treasure Isle studio for producer Duke Reid, and the following year, Hux Brown joined the All Stars, another studio band organised by Gladdy Anderson.

He also recorded extensively with Lee “Scratch” Perry.

He played rhythm guitar on many hit rocksteady and reggae records including the influential “Girl I’ve Got A Date” by Alton Ellis, “Ba Ba Boom” by the Jamaicans, and “Bangarang” by Lester Sterling, which some regard as the first reggae record. He also played on “Rivers of Babylon” by the Melodians and “The Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff.

Hux Brown’s growing reputation drew Paul Simon to use him as one of the Jamaican musicians for his second album “Paul Simon”, which was partially recorded at Dynamic Sounds in Kingston in 1971, and released in 1972 on Columbia Records. Hux played lead guitar on “Mother and Child Reunion”, which was released as a single on February 5, 1972, reaching No. 1 in South Africa, No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

Hux Brown later joined the touring version of Toots and the Maytals, whose 1968 single “Do the Reggay”, was the first song to use the word “reggae”, naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. Hux played with Toots and the Maytals for some 35 years.

Hux Brown lived in Oakland, California, for over 45 years and retired from touring in the early 2000s. He died in Oakland on June 18, 2020, aged 75, no cause of death was given.

Hux Brown’s wife, Bobbie, said he left home to go to Home Depot early that morning but never returned. She was told that he died in the parking lot of Home Depot.

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