Sampalue covers Gregory Isaacs classic

In 1976, a song titled ' All I Have is Love' gave singer Gregory Isaacs his first number one hit.

Produced by Phil Pratt, it is one of the tracks that defined 'The Cool Ruler's career. Pratt's son, Garfield 'Sampalue' Phillips, has covered All I Have is Love with deejay Kerry Lopez. During production, Sampalue said it got the thumbs up from engineer Colin 'Bulby' York.

"Bulby was mixing the song at Mixing Lab studios and he said to me, 'Sampalue, this song is reminiscent of Shabba Ranks and Krystal's Twice my Age.' And I said, 'Wow, that is a great comparison', given the fact how popular that collaboration was," he recalled.

Sampalue said he got the idea to cover All I Have is Love while going through his father's vast catalogue, which also includes classic songs like Strange Things by John Holt, Talk About Love by Pat Kelly, and Artibella by Ken Boothe.

After getting the go-ahead from his 'old man', who lives in London, he recruited Lopez to add a toast to his vocals.

Pratt was one of many independent music producers in Jamaica during the 1970s and 1980s who amassed formidable catalogues. Others include Bertram Brown with Freedom Sounds and Henry 'Junjo' Lawes and his Volcano label.

Sampalue launched his career as an artiste six years ago after success as a producer with his Diamond Rush label, which produced initial hit songs by Lady Saw, as well as Frankie Paul and Dennis Brown. His songs include a cover of Brown's Make it Easy on Yourself and Democracy. His album, Welcome to Hannah Town, was released in 2019.