Producer of hit reggae records

Joe Gibbs, 65, an influential reggae music producer who helped create the 1970s hit “Two Sevens Clash” for Culture, died Feb. 20 of a heart attack in Jamaica, according to news reports.

Born Joel Gibson, he opened a record shop and a recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, in the late ‘60s and began producing records with noted reggae recording engineer Lee Perry. He later worked with co-producer and engineer Errol Thompson, and they became known as the Mighty Two.

In addition to “Two Sevens Clash,” which became popular on the British punk scene, the producing team had success with Dennis Brown’s “How Can I Leave,” J.C. Lodge’s cover of Charley Pride’s “Someone Loves You Honey” and many other reggae and dub recordings with Gibbs’ house band, the Professionals.

The Gibbs-Thompson collaboration stalled in the early 1980s when the studio was sued for nonpayment of royalties related to “Someone Loves You Honey.” In the ‘90s Gibbs revived his business with rereleases of his extensive reggae catalog.