greatest hits
Genre: Ska / bluebeat / pop. The 1964 debut album by Millie Small (born Millicent Dolly May Small, Clarendon, Jamaica, 6 October 1947 – London, 5 May 2020) was released in the United Kingdom under the title More Millie and in the United States as My Boy Lollipop, with a slightly different track selection. The US edition was issued on Smash Records; UK releases were on Fontana. It was produced by Chris Blackwell, with musical direction and arrangement by the Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin. Ranglin, already celebrated for his session work at Studio One in Kingston — the legendary Jamaican recording studio described as the 'Motown of Jamaica' — was brought to London specifically for the session, and his rearrangement of the ska rhythm was central to the record's sound. Small had begun her career in Jamaica after winning the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest at age twelve, moving to Kingston to record for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One and later working with producers Lindon Pottinger and Prince Buster. Her popularity attracted the attention of Anglo-Jamaican entrepreneur Chris Blackwell, who became her manager and legal guardian and brought her to London in late 1963. The centrepiece of the album is the single 'My Boy Lollipop' — a rearrangement of 'My Boy Lollypop', originally recorded in 1956 by American singer Barbie Gaye from a song written by Robert Spencer of the Cadillacs, with credits disputed and claimed also by Morris Levy and Johnny Roberts. Blackwell had purchased the original record in 1959 and found his tape copy in 1963. The session recording, clocking in at under two minutes, featured a harmonica solo (widely attributed to Rod Stewart, though this has been disputed). The album includes cover versions and originals, with Ranglin directing an ensemble that infused the material with Jamaican ska rhythms.
Label: Fontana Records (UK) / Smash Records (US), 1964.
Producer: Chris Blackwell. Musical direction and arrangements: Ernest Ranglin.
Recording studio: Not individually specified in publicly available sources; recorded in London, UK, late 1963 / early 1964.
Critical reception: My Boy Lollipop was celebrated as a historic breakthrough for Jamaican music. The NME credited the title single with helping to spark the worldwide popularity of ska and reggae, and opening doors for other genres of Jamaican music on the global stage. The Grammy website described Millie Small as 'the Caribbean's first international recording star and its most successful female performer.' Chris Blackwell stated that she 'opened the door for Jamaican music to the world.' Radio DJ David Rodigan credited watching Small perform the song on Ready Steady Go! as a schoolboy as the origin of his lifelong passion for Jamaican music. The song featured in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
Commercial success: 'My Boy Lollipop' reached number 2 in both the UK and US charts and sold over seven million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling hits with a reggae/ska influence. It was also the first major international hit for Island Records. The album peaked at number 132 on the Billboard 200. A second single, 'Sweet William', reached number 40 in the US and number 30 in the UK. Small subsequently toured the world and performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair, where Smash Records arranged 'Millie Small Day' on 12 August 1964.
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