General Trees

When deejay General Trees wrote Minibus in 1985 he was simply recording a personal experience. But in doing so he marked a significant development in Jamaican history, the divestment of the public transportation system and the replacement of the 'country' buses.

That change in how Jamaicans travelled on the public transportation system also changed how they behaved. And, along with producer Jack Scorpio, Trees made history with the first deejay song to be number one for the year.

A framed certificate from RJR in Scorpio's Molynes Road, St Andrew, studio is testament to that achievement.

Trees told The Sunday Gleaner that the song was actually named Minibus and not Minivan, as many people call it because of the first verse, which states:

"Minivan people control Jamaica

One driver a dozen conductor"

And the chorus asks:

"Where have all the jolly bus gone

Long time ago

Where have all the jolly bus gone

I, I, I don't know"

The detailing of his harrowing but humorous experience begins with:

"Me lef from work wid one intention

Fe tek a minibus an go Westmoreland

As me hit West Parade here come three young man"

Contributed

It all came out of personal experience.

"Scorpio (sound system) a play a Westmoreland. Sassafras was the original deejay for the sound. Sassa lef' out an go Canada. Right now me decide me a go hol' a bus an go a wes, go a de dance," Trees said. "So me pack a likkle bag, a one pants, a one shirt, merino an so on a go downtown go hol' a bus."

Instead of him getting to "hol'' a bus, though, it was Trees who was held on to.

"When me go downtown 40 man approach me or more," Trees said, laughing at the memory. "One man tek my bag an' gone pon one bus, me en' up in a different bus. Me haffi start get bringle now an sey wha oonu a do? Even when me go fe my bag, some man still a haul an pull me. Me haffi puddung my bag an mek dem know whe me a go."

Even when he got on the correct bus for 'Wes' the trauma was not over. "When me go pon de bus me tink it ago move inna five minute, cause it look full. But a pure conductor deh pon it," Trees said.

Hauling and pulling

However, in the hauling and pulling at West Parade another kind of 'haul an pull', the sound system variety, was in the making in Trees' mind, as "same time de incident a gwaan de lyrics a tek place".

"Yu a go a country an yu want a new lyrics," Trees said. However, he did not get to present what became Minibus at the dance he was heading for. The debut was closer to Kingston, at Three Piece Lawn in Naggo Head, St Catherine. It made an immediate impact, as "firs' time me draw it me get forward fe it".

Recording was not far behind the live performances, as Trees said "Scorpio hear the tune now a gwaan good. Him sey 'Trees, we haffi go lick a riddim fe da tune deh'". And they did, at Channel One in downtown Kingston, Trees saying, "We know it was a nice song and it hit."

Jack Scorpio said, "Trees is so much of a deejay, any lyrics him draw pon stage is a hit," pointing out that before Minibus he had teamed up with Trees to do the popular songs Ghost Rider and Monkey and Ape. Minivan was special, though, because "due to the situation downtown, it create this kind of vibe throughout Jamaica, you know, the vibe is real".

Great song

Jack Scorpio

The accompanying music video put sight to the sound of the 'vibe', Trees acting out his experience, this time for the camera. It was done in downtown Kingston where the minibuses were clustered, over at Gunboat Beach where there was a derelict JOS bus and the Lyndhurst Road depot where many were parked.

"It is a great song. It is a song I play every time," Scorpio said.

The first time Trees delivered Minibus live after it hit on record was at Cinema II in New Kingston, where Black Scorpio was playing against Metromedia, Black Star and King Jammy's. Naturally, it did well.

So, Minibus spent 35 weeks on the charts, Trees said, the longevity carrying over into subsequent years as, even though in the Corporate Area the buses are now run mainly by the Government (at least officially) Minibus remains a danceable record of days past.