Errol D. Bean – Poet, Singer/Song Writer, Author
… Then
...Now
Errol D. Bean
Part 1: A CREATIVE PROFILE – BACKGROUND
‘To inspire, motivate and give hope to humanity through inspirational words and music’ –
This is what guides Errol D. Bean on his journey in the creative industry.
Born on February 14, 1951 in Maryland, Hanover, Bean grew up in Frankfield, Clarendon; he later moved to Kingston & St. Andrew and now resides in St Catherine. A former ordained minister /pastor, teacher/lecturer, life underwriter, marketing and communication consultant, Bean has put much of his energy into the creative industry as poet, author, singer and songwriter.
Bean has written and recorded an extensive repertoire of songs and poems and has self-published two books. With over forty years of literary and musical production to his credit, he has worked with the iconic Ernie Ranglin, and top entertainers and musicians including, Ken Boothe, Dwight Pinkney, Grub Cooper, Wayne Armond, Donald Waugh, Nambo Robinson, Dean Frazer, Tony Greene, Desi Jones, Dennis Ruston, Jon Williams, Ian Hird, John Sharpe, Pam Hall, Gem Myers as well as top recording engineers and producers like Rohan Dwyer and Delroy Pottinger.
Embracing his Afrocentric ancestry, Bean regards himself as a liberated/enlightened Christian, and espouses the view that despite the historical atrocities committed under the banner of Christianity, the teachings of love, peace, joy and hope by the REAL Jesus Christ (Christ/Krystos) are relevant to liberate and empower humankind to deal with the struggles of life and prepare for a peaceful transition.
Bean’s creative work, ‘THINKING, Imaginative OUTflows’, are reflective of seminal events which have indelibly influenced his perspective on life, including growing up without his father and being fired from ministerial service in a local traditional church.
Bean’s father left for Britain during the wind rush era when he was about four years old and his father’s promise to have the family reunite in Britain never materialized. Converted to the Christian Faith in his late teens, Bean responded to a “Call” to the pastoral ministry and was trained and ordained as minister of religion (September 25, 1981). However, this was short lived; he was summarily fired from ministerial service within a few months not on grounds of immorality or impropriety but because of opposing theological perspectives and high-handed church politics. Dreams were shattered, but hope was renewed by teaching for a number of years at Calabar High School and later lecturing Shortwood Teachers’ College in Kingston as well as by his creative ventures. Bean subsequently served in the life insurance industry and the cooperative movement for over twenty-seven years combined.
Addressing the congregation – Errol D. Bean, newly ordained Minister of Religion
(September 25, 1981) -St Catherine, Jamaica.
Part 2: CREATIVE CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Bean produced and hosted “Words & Music”, a sponsored fifteen minute non-traditional Gospel programme, aired on former JBC Radio 1 in Kingston (August 1985 to December 1987). In 1987, Bean recorded and released his first recording, “Freedom” (a 45 RPM), an anti-apartheid song that tackled other forms of oppression and HIV/AIDS. The song got the attention of popular radio announcer Free I (Jeff Dixon), who joined the fight against Apartheid in South Africa; he saw the song ‘Freedom’ as having a positive message for the liberation struggles of humankind. He frequently used the dub version to make his live commentaries on his night shows on JBC Radio 1. Free I later invited Bean to meet Reggae icon Peter Tosh on September 11, 1987 to get further inspiration. But as fate designed, the meeting was cancelled and sadly, on that day Peter Tosh and Free I were fatally shot.
Undeterred, Bean followed with the 1988 single, “Love Yuh Woman”, distributed by Dynamic Sounds but the devastation of Hurricane Gilbert forced him to put his music career on hold.
In 1998 Bean wrote and self-published “A Flower Blooms”, a 145 page anthology of poems and reflections (The financial proceeds were donated to a student support fund at Wolmer’s High School for girls.). A year later, 1999, Bean engaged the services of Cynthia Schloss and Ainsley Morris and his one man band, Norma Brown-Bell, Keith Noel, Yvonne Chin, Paula Ann Porter, among others to stage a Valentine’s Day show at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. Titled ‘A Flower Blooms for Love’, the show was put on to raise funds for the Women’s Crisis Centre and the Wolmer’s High School for Girls Student Support Fund. Two weeks later, Cynthia Schloss died suddenly, reportedly of “natural cause”; Bean responded by writing and publishing a 252 page book, ‘Cynthia Schloss An Inspiration of Love and Friendship’ which chronicled aspects of her life. Bean established his private Bean3 Music label and returned to recording in 2003; he teamed up with Dennis Rushton, recorded and released ’Time Is Running Out’, a 4 track gospel Reggae project. He later followed with the ‘Tell Me Why’, another 4 track project, featuring Wayne Armond, Tony Greene and Jon Williams. In 2004, he recorded the masterful seventeen track album, “Beyond the Rhythm” which features Ernie Ranglin, ‘So Let It Be’; Ken Boothe, ‘My Mama’; Jon Williams, ‘Dancing on My Tears’, and Abijah, ‘Freedom’; two of his poems, ‘Your Music’ and ‘Dare to Care’, presented by popular Communication Specialists Norma Brown-Bell and Rosamond Brown, respectively. Other notable tracks include, ‘A Wise One’, ‘What Yuh wishing’, ‘Out of Africa’ (poem recorded as a song), ‘As A Man thinks’, ‘My Spirit is Rising’, and ‘If You Could Be’ (produced by Ernie Ranglin).
In 2005 Bean followed up with ‘The Wheels of Hope’ (a submitted entry to American Music Song Competition). Bean was honoured by having his collection, ‘An Exploration Into Friendship’, which features ‘Slices of Friendship’, ‘If You were My Friend’(A Toast to Friendship) and ‘The Blessings of True Friendship’ published the North Atlantic Review (USA)- Number 16 2004/2005.
In 2011 Bean produced and recorded ‘Recall the Emancipation War Heroes & Heroines’, featuring Prof. Verene Shepherd and Miguel Lorne – a spoken word tribute to Sam Sharpe and others who were ‘tried’, sentenced and punished for their role in the ‘The Emancipation War of 1831/1832 in Jamaica’.
Errol D.D Bean poses for his ‘Beyond the Rhythm’ (2004) album photo shoot.
Part 3: MOST PRODUCTIVE PERIODS
One of Bean’s most productive periods in the creative industry came between 2012 and 2016. During this period Bean wrote, produced and recorded over thirty poems and songs, including, ‘Jamaica Fly: A Celebration’, a revivalist flavoured song, and ‘Our Prayer for Jamaica 50’ – kindly sponsored by the CHASE FUND – (a poem /prayer presented in English, Jamaica Talk, French and Spanish) as part of the Jamaica 50 festivities 2012. Other recordings include, ‘I Man Is A Black Man’; ‘The Black African Bloom’, Tribute to the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey ( released February 2020); other notable recorded songs include ‘Peace I Leave With You’ ( six versions and four instrumentals of this song recorded, including a Spanish version, featuring Charmaine Limonius, a Nyabinghi version and a reggae version. ); ‘My Pretty Island’, a duet with Pam Hall; ‘When You Find Love’; the remake of 1988 ‘Luv Yuh Woman’, produced in association with Grub Copper, with Gen Myers on backing vocals; ‘Leave the Children Alone’ (featuring Jamaican poet and recording artiste, Cherry Natural, with backing vocals by recording artiste, Isha Bel), a song aimed at making Jamaicans more aware of their duty to stop child abuse.
Errol D. Bean – performing ‘Jamaica Fly’ at the launch of his ‘Our Prayer for Jamaica 50’: a Jamaica 50 Secretariat endorsed and a CHASE FUND sponsored project at the – The Courtley Hotel and Suits, New Kingston Jamaica. (2012).
Part 4: THE CONSOLIDATION
Bean is delving deeper in the creative industry and has ventured into producing for artistes, most notably Anne Payne (a Jamaican out of Canada), for whom he wrote and produced a song called ‘Show Me’. Currently, Bean is focused on compiling, consolidating and fine tuning all his creative works ( literary and musical) for posterity, including unreleased recordings, poetry, reflections and affirmations, short stories and lyrics to make them available through the various distribution digital platforms.
Having completed a career spanning over four decades in several sectors, including education, life underwriting and financial services, Bean’s career in Jamaica’s creative industry is still being written and he’s confident that his creative work –Thinking Imaginative OutFlows – ( and upcoming publications) will be pivotal in inspiring, motivating and giving hope to humanity.
A graduate of the Frankfield Comprehensive High School (now Edwin Allen High School), the United Theological College, W.I., the University of the West Indies, the School of Education U.W.I., and C.A.S.T. (now the University of Technology), Bean points to his family life as a stabilizing factor in his professional and creative careers. He is a member of JAMMS, JCAP and JAMCOPY.
Errol D. Bean -The Thinking Bean 