The Pioneers - Don’t You Know / Me Naw Go A Believe The Pioneers

The Pioneers were formed in 1962 by two brothers Derrick and Sidney Crooks and their friend Winston Hewitt later replaced by former Heptone Glen Adams.

The Pioneers' early singles were not successful, and the group broke up in 1967. Sydney started working at Joe Gibbs shop and then in the studio where he met a talented new young singer: Jackie Robinson. The new Pioneers were reborn as a duo. They recorded several successful singles such as Longshot Jackpot, Catch the Beat with Gibbs before joining producer Leslie Kong where they recorded Samfie Man which topped the Jamaican charts. They then recruited George Agard and became a trio again.

They scored in the charts again with Long Shot (Kick De Bucket) a sequel to Long Shot, the tragic story of a racehorse that never won and died racing! Kick De Bucket became an instant hit both in Jamaican and in the U.K. particularly among skinheads in 1969. More hits followed and the band moved to the UK in 1970. Over time, their sound changed and became more pop oriented. They eventually recorded soul albums with Eddy Grant as a producer in 1976. It was not successful and the band split… before reforming. They have been performing sporadically since then.

A SIDE: Don’t You Know

A quintessential 1968 Amalgamated-era performance, this killer up-tempo early Reggae track is extremely popular for its cool harmonies allied to a punchy heavily syncopated rhythm and lyrics that blend romantic themes with the emerging language of early reggae.
Super rare and super cool!

B SIDE: Me Naw Go A Believe

This mid-tempo sweet sounding song is in fact more tragic than it seems at first… The mistitled ME NAW GO A BELIEVE really means “Me Not Go To Bellevue”, Bellevue being Jamaica's premier mental health institution where Don Drummond spent time and died in 1969. The song impregnated of Jamaican patois, seems to be about a man refusing to go the infamous psychiatric hospital, maybe a reference to Don Drummond life and death… Nevertheless, this is another top song by The Pioneers and a perfect fit for the more frantic A side…