Thread by @owillis

As most of you know, my dad, Lloyd "Gitsy" Willis passed away last month. I thought it might be interesting to go through some of his musical work here. TBH I'm not a music person and we didn't talk about it a ton, so a lot of this is new to me as well. Might be a long thread.

Dad's main instrument was the guitar and the Jamaica Gleaner - biggest newspaper in Jamaica - described him as a "genius guitar player" in their report on his death. He played w ppl like the Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, Sly & Robbie, John Denver, and Elton John allmusic.com/artist/lloyd-g…

Dad also composed music. His biggest hit, by far, was his work with the duo Chaka Demus & Pliers. Of the songs on their album the smash recording was "Murder She Wrote." At 1:19 in the video you can see Dad on guitar.

So one of the weird things that happened in the last 10+ years is that apparently A LOT of people like the music from Murder She Wrote. And it has been sampled/included in a ton of songs. Especially in Latino music. So now there are all these songs w Dad as a writer.

(if you actually know any of these songs lemme know, again, not a music guy)

So there is "El Taxi" by Osmani Garcia featuring Pitbull. You can actually hear "Murder She Wrote" right at the beginning.

Then there's "Post to Be" by Omarion featuring Chris Brown (booo!). You can hear "Murder She Wrote" at about 1:05

"Hasta Abajo" by Don Omar, where you can hear it right away.

"Que Tire Pa' Lante" by Daddy Yankee - the Murder She Wrote bit is at about 00:27

"Safera" by Bad Bunny - I don't exactly know where in the mix it is but its in there somewhere lol

So on to non-sample stuff. This is one of Dad's songs I actually know - "Concrete Castle King" by Dennis Brown, who is a legendary Jamaican singer. My Mom said she and Dad were dating when he wrote this one.

I really like this one personally cause I listened to it myself - got the CD for free, hah! - "Tease Me" by Chaka Demus & Pliers, which I think was more of a hit in the UK.

Oh here are the gold records Dad had for the Chaka Demus & Pliers singles. I took these photos at his house in Kingston the last time I visited, in 2016. (and also the award he got for the Omarion song)

"Twist & Shout" by Chaka Demus & Pliers which of course is also a take on the Isley Brothers song of the same name

"She Don't Let Nobody" by Chaka Demus & Pliers

"Ali Baba" by John Holt, who is another very well known Reggae singer.

Oh this is another sample one. "Freaks" by French Montana featuring Nicki Minaj. You can hear "Murder She Wrote" at 0:22

Ok, this one is new to me. "Angel Eyes" by Raghav, a Canadian singer. Wikipedia tells me this song went to #7 in the UK, so... pretty good! Its got Murder She Wrote through the whole thing.

"Boggling Queen" by Simple Simon & Sister Smurf, which - and this is my first time hearing it - sounds like kind of a lazy thing laid on top of "Murder She Wrote" but what do I know?

"Dancehall Music" which lists Dad as the performer but this isn't him singing (he never sang on a recording as far as I know), it's him on guitar though.

"Dread Lion" by Lee "Scratch" Perry, who is known to reggae people.

"Go Shabba Go" by Shabba Ranks and... CHUCK BERRY? (this one's totally new to me!)

"La Barria" by Wisin & Yandel - all of the ones in Spanish are especially funny because Dad did not speak Spanish at all. But ya know, I guess if the music works, the music works.

"La Toxica" by Farruko - some of these songs are clearly huge, this one has over 230 million views on YouTube

Not an official recording but "Murder She Wrote" was part of Beyonce's set list during her tour, so YES, I'M CONNECTED TO BEY

Ritmo (Remix) from Black Eyed Peas, which was apparently on the soundtrack for Bad Boys for Life (who knew, not me) - you can hear "Murder" at 1:00, looks like that's Jaden Smith rapping over it (Will Smith's son)

That's basically it - and that's just the tip of the iceberg, according to BMI/ASCAP there's 254 songs w Dad credited as a composer/writer, and he released some solo stuff on his own as well.

More importantly he's my Dad and I'll miss him💔. Here he is in his home studio.