Ruddy Thomas began his career as a reggae singer serving as backing vocalist for more established artists like B.B. Seaton and Delroy Wilson before his knack for delivering smooth lovers rock and energetic American soul standards caught the ear of legendary Kingston producer Joe Gibbs. Thomas and Gibbs cut FIRST TIME AROUND in 1981, and the album succeeded largely on the strength of Thomas’s remarkable reading of the Dobby Dobson classic, “Loving Pauper.” Thomas subsequently recorded with producers like Tappa Zukie and Errol Thompson, and continued to be a powerful draw on the festival circuit until his death in 2006.