The World Famous Clarendonians are Celebrating their 60th Anniversary in 2023!
The duo was formed in Hayes, Clarendon, Jamaica in 1963 with Cecil “Peter” Austin (lead vocals, songwriter) and Earnest Wilson. Thoroughly revved after winning several talent shows in their hometown and gaining widespread popularity, they headed to the nation’s capital, Kingston.
Upon arrival in Kingston, the Clarendonians’ first stop was ace producer Beverley’s Records the label that had on its roster some of the biggest names in the Jamaican music fraternity at the time, Desmond Dekker, and the Aces, Derrick Morgan, Toots and the Maytals, and Jimmy Cliff. They made their fantastic debut with “A Day Will Come”, which became an instant hit on the pop charts in Jamaican, and the Clarendonians were off and running at lightning speed!
They continued for the next seven years to record hit after hit for various producers of repute, namely Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd, Prince Buster, and others. Not only that, but they garnered more than thirteen top Ten hits including “Rudie Gone A Jail”, Sho Be Do Be”, “Rudie Bam Bam”, “You Can’t Be Happy”, “You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down”, “Table Gonna Turn”, “Lonely Heartache”, and more.
Utterly unable to take care of their families with the pittance they were getting for their records, despite having so many hit songs, Peter, grew frustrated; hence he took a break from the music industry to work at the Norman Manley Airport for 22 years. However, encouraged by his long-time friend basis, singer, and band leader Lloyd Parks of “We The People Band”, to return to the music scene, Peter reconnected with his partner Earnest Wilson for a few well-received concerts in Jamaica.
In 1990, Peter met singer and songwriter Lincoln Cousins who became the replacement for Earnest after he decided to continue to pursue his highly successful solo career, which at that time was well established globally. Bitten by the entertainment bug, Peter decided to remain in the music industry along with Lincoln as the Clarendonians. They both have been performing successfully as The Clarendonians for well over three decades. Their international visits have taken them to diverse landscapes such as Los Angeles, New York, Florida, Mexico City, London, Germany, and now SNWMF!
