Jackie Opel


Dalton Sinclair Bishop, better known as Jackie Opel, was a Barbadian singer who possessed a rich, powerful voice with a high octave range. He was known as the "Jackie Wilson of Barbadian culture" and was also a gifted dancer. Bishop was born in Bridgetown, Barbados.
In the early 1960s, he was discovered by Byron Lee, the band master of the Dragonaires, who brought him to Jamaica. His styles included ska, R&B, soul, gospel and calypso. He is credited with inventing spouge music, a fusion of ska, calypso, and R&B music. Opel performed duos with Doreen Shaffer and Hortense Ellis, and in 1964 was backed by Wailers Bob Marley and Peter Tosh on "Mill Man", "Hairy Mango" and "A Time to Cry".
Jackie’s height was about 5’3-5’4, and he was pigeon-toed. He was known as a great stage performer who could dance as well as James Brown.
Opel eventually moved to Trinidad and then subsequently returned home to Barbados. On 9 March, 1970, he died in a car crash on Lower Bay Street, Bridgetown, Barbados.
The night Jackie died he had just performed at Islands Inn hotel, and US music executives attending had inquired if Jackie had recordings or tapes. Jackie went home to get the recordings, but on his way back to the Islands Inn, a woman who was driving fast hit the edge of a pillar sticking out in the bend. Jackie was ejected head-first into a triangular wire fence and onto the concrete steps of Harry's Nightery.
Jackie was singing with the Troubadours at the time of his death, and the group played music at his funeral.

Discography (selected)

United States

  • You Gotta Cry / Shelter The Storm ~ MGM K13391
Note: ‘You Gotta Cry’ is actually in fact ‘Cry Me A River’ renamed to avoid confusion with the Julie London standard.

United Kingdom

Compact disc

  • "The Best Of Jackie Opel"
  • "Cry Me A River"
  • "A Love To Share: Top Sounds From Top Deck, Vol. 2" Split release with Ferdie Nelson
  • "The Memorable Jackie Opel" Spouge recordings

Compilations

The Vow & Old Rocking Chair from "Foundation Ska" Push Wood & Sit Down Servant from "Ska Bonanza: The Studio One Years" Later reissued as "Go Ska Go" You Send Me from "Gaz Mayall Top! Ska Tunes" Push Wood from "It's Ska Time: 20 original Ska Classics" The Mill Man & A Time To Cry from "Wailers & Friends: Top Hits Sung By The Legends of Jamaican Ska" I Am What I Am, Done With A Friend & The Lord Is With Me from "I Am Going Home: 25 Classic Ska Shots" Pictures Of Smoke from "Ska-ntastic: Vintage Jamaican Ska 1963-66" You're Too Bad from "Studio One Rude Boy" I Love Jamaica from "Trojan Jamaica Box Set" Tears From My Eyes from "Ska Non Stop: Top Sounds From Top Deck, Vol. 8" Turn To The Almighty, Turn To The Almighty & Sometimes I Wonder from "Ska Down Jamaica Way: Ska Boo Da Ba, Vol. 2"

Legacy

  • An amphitheatre at the centre of the Barbados General Post Office was commemorated in Opel's name.