Beverley's Records
Beverley's was a Jamaican record label active between 1961 and 1971, owned by the record producer Leslie Kong. Beverley's was essential to the development of ska and rocksteady into reggae. The label launched the careers of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, having released Cliff's first recording "Dearest Beverley" in 1961 and Marley's early singles "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee" in 1962.
Beverley's Records
- Founded
- 1961
- Founder
- Leslie Kong
- Headquarters
- Kingston
- Dissolved
- 1971
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Beverley's was a Jamaican record label active between 1961 and 1971, owned by the record producer Leslie Kong. Beverley's was essential to the development of ska and rocksteady into reggae. The label launched the careers of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, having released Cliff's first recording "Dearest Beverley" in 1961 and Marley's early singles "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee" in 1962.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Beverley's Records. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3500796
In this article
History
History
The Beverley's ice-cream parlour/record shop at 135 Orange Street in Kingston, Jamaica, was run by the Chinese Jamaican Kong family, one of whom, Leslie Kong, started the Beverley's record label. Kong launched the label in 1961 after Jimmy Cliff auditioned the song "Dearest Beverley" at the shop, the first release on the label being Cliff's "Hurricane Hattie", with "Dearest Beverley" on the b-side. Prior to this, Beverley's was a restaurant and records shop owned by Leslie Kong and his brothers, Fats and Cecil and never had produced records. Kong had no experience of record production but had the finances to employ the cream of Jamaica's musical talent. The association with Cliff continued, including the "Miss Jamaica" single, and Cliff's debut self-titled album. Throughout the 1960s, Beverley's recorded many Jamaican artists including Desmond Dekker (including many of his biggest hits such as "Israelites" and "007"), the Maytals ("Monkey Man"), Derrick Morgan ("Forward March"), and the Pioneers ("Long Shot Kick De Bucket"), and launched the career of Bob Marley with his first two singles. Marley returned to Beverley's with the Wailers for several more singles including "Soul Shakedown Party". Fellow Wailer Peter Tosh also recorded solo material for the label. Matthew Sherman explains the relationship between the Maytals and Leslie Kong as, In 1963, Kong began licensing recordings to Black Swan, a subdivision of friend Chris Blackwell's Island Records. Later he licensed recordings to Graeme Goodall's Pyramid and to Trojan Records by the end of the 60s. The Beverley's label folded with the death of Leslie Kong in 1971.
Identity
Identity
Beverley's Records is associated with Jamaica.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1961
Beverley's Records established.
1971
Beverley's Records ceased.
Knowledge graph
People and holdings
Those recorded as working within this institution, and the records it holds or is connected with.
Place
1- JamaicaPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Beveridge WebsterPerson
- Beverley CravenPerson
- Beverley KnightPerson
- Beverley MartynPerson
- Beverly CrawfordPerson
- BeyoncéPerson
- Beyond Therapy RecordsOrganisation
- Bezerra da SilvaPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Beverley's Records?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.