There is more than one artist named Larry Marshall

(1) A Jamaican singer active in the 60s and 70s.

(2) A folk and experimental singer-songwriter from Rhode Island.

(1)Larry Marshall (Fitzroy Marshall, Lawrence Park, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, 17 December 1941) is a Jamaican singer who was active mainly in the late 1960s - early 1970s in the reggae and rocksteady genres.

Marshall's musical career stretches back to the early 1960s, his initial inspiration being Ben E. King. Between 1962 and 1967, he had minor hits for producers such as E. Henry ("Too Young To Love"), Philip Yap ("Promise Is a Comfort to a Fool" and "Snake In The Grass"), Coxsone Dodd ("Please Stay"), and Prince Buster ("I've Got Another Girl" and "Suspicion").

His greatest successes came in the late 1960's when he teamed up with Alvin Leslie in the duo Larry & Alvin, recording hits for Dodd's Studio One label such as the massive Jamaican hit "Nanny Goat" which is regarded as the record that began the shift from rocksteady to reggae, followed by "Hush Up", "Your Love", and "Mean Girl". "Throw Me Corn" also became a big hit in Jamaica when released in 1971. Marshall also recorded as a duo with Enid Cumberland, as Larry & Enid.

In the early 1970s, Marshall worked for Studio One as assistant studio engineer to Sylvan Morris, writer, arranger, and dub-plate seller, and the label released a compilation of his recordings, Presenting Larry Marshall, in 1973. While at Studio One, Marshall arranged several recordings by Burning Spear, and also provided backing vocals. Morris left Studio One in 1974, prompting Dodd to offer the chief engineer job to Marshall, but he declined the offer, unhappy with the wages.

After leaving Studio One in 1974, he released the 1975 single "I Admire You", followed by an album of the same name. The dub version on the b-side of the single was one of the first to be credited to King Tubby. Marshall released several singles in the mid-1980s produced by Gussie Clarke, including remakes of "Throw Me Corn" and "I Admire You", and released further albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Marshall also provided backing vocals on Junior Byles' 1986 album Rasta No Pickpocket.

Marshall moved to Miami, and, having not received significant financial reward for his musical career, supported himself by working on building sites. He continued to record occasionally.

Although he was an integral part of the rock steady and early reggae scene, Larry Marshall doesn't seem to get the notoriety that, say, an Alton Ellis does. Perhaps this is because he was simply less prolific or perhaps because he wasn't as energetic a showman as Ellis. Regardless, he produced some seminal material for Studio One in the late '60s and early '70s -- indeed, his classic rocking "Nanny Goat" was one of the first truly "reggae" (as opposed to ska or rock steady) tunes back in 1968. The album, "Presenting Larry Marshall" collects his hits from '68 to '71, all carrying a similar late rock steady/early reggae rhythm. Aside from "Nanny Goat," "Throw Me Corn" might be his best-known song. Marshall's soulful voice is as adept as Ellis', but not as distinct, which may have hurt his staying power. What stands out most, however, is his top-quality songwriting, which is as good or better than most of Ellis' tunes.

(2) "Queer and Wonder" is a collection of songs from Larry Marshall, an elusive and mythic figure whose self-described "Gothic Folk...from the future" is presented here for the first time in glowing, psychedelic stereo-surround, etched on black wax. Larry has been living in Rhode Island for his entire life, and has performed at many of the storied (and now defunct) venues in and around Providence, RI. Despite this long history, his music is barely known outside of a small circle of close friends and die-hard local fans. Queer And Wonder is a collection of songs from Larry's catalog: three tracks were previously released on a small cassette edition from Unskilled Labor, and a track by the band Box Patrol (w/Larry on vocals and pitch-pipe) was previously released on a CDR by the legendary Fort Thunder Records. The LP is rounded off w/ a few live tracks from a solo gig in Manchester, England, a live radio session, and some collaborations unearthed from tapes found in Larry's apartment in West Warwick, RI.

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