BEFORE RIHANNA, there was Jimmy Senya Haynes – the first Barbadian to win a Grammy Award.

Twenty-two years ago, before Rihanna was even conceived, Jimmy held the coveted gold-plated gramophone in his hands, a just reward for producing and arranging the 1985 Steel Pulse album Babylon The Bandit.

It won Best Reggae Recording at the 1986 Grammys at a time when reggae was not as internationally accepted as it is today.

So when the 19-year-old Bajan songstress scored another one for Barbados at the 2008 Grammy Awards, Jimmy was more than happy for her. What he wasn't too pleased about was people getting their facts wrong.

Happy for Rihanna

"I'm glad for Rihanna's success. I am glad for her because it gives young kids inspiration; it is a fantastic thing. Because she has so much attention on her at the moment, it is going to put Barbados out there.

"However, I was dumbfounded and stunned when I heard and saw in the newspaper people saying that Rihanna was the first Barbadian to win a Grammy. Granted my win was 22 years ago but enough has been written about it.

"I didn't really mind because I know these mistakes happen but I would like it to be clarified – not for my own ego but I think Barbados needs to know. It is just a little bit sad that it has taken her to do that for people to recognise what I did 22 years ago," said Jimmy from his Fairholme Gardens, Christ Church home.

He believes Babylon The Bandit put reggae into the categories at the Grammys, paving the way for other reggae artistes.

"My name is not the name that actually won the Grammy in terms of the artiste's name Steel Pulse but I put all that stuff together; I composed and played most of the stuff on it. That's artistry. Before then reggae wasn't recognised as a music itself, it was seen as an ethnic thing. And that Grammy is the only one to date for British black music," he said.

Jimmy has spent the majority of his life overseas, in England and the United States, making a name for himself in the music industry.

He grew up in Shop Hill, St Thomas, but left Barbados in 1959 for England at the age of nine. His given name is actually Cecil Haynes but he prefers Jimmy, a nickname he earned from playing a lot of Jimmy Hendrix songs early in his career.

His musical inspiration was born in Shop Hill from a most unlikely source.

"There used to be a man called Tarzan in Shop Hill who drank a lot and at night, he would come out and play some of the sweetest calypsos. I remember as a kid looking through the window waiting for him to come around with his rum bottle and guitar.

"I loved to watch him play. When I went to England, my father asked me what I wanted and I said a guitar. I remembered [Tarzan's'] finger positions from observing him and I played one of his songs at my school concert – I elaborated on it a little though," Jimmy recalled.

Guitar skills

From there, he developed his skills on the guitar learning by ear. He didn't attend a music school but would practise eight hours a day until he got it just right. As a result, he developed "an intuitional connection to music as opposed to an intellectual one".

Charting a musical path as a young black man in England was difficult. Doing so as a Barbadian was even more challenging because there was no music coming out of the island at the time that was recognised internationally. So Jimmy gravitated towards working with Jamaicans.

"Even reggae music wasn't recognised as an international thing so much and it was very hard to get recording contracts. Rap was taking over and they wanted us to just copy and be like the Americans, they didn't want us to be ourselves. So that was difficult. But we pushed and we made it work," he said.

Prior to Babylon The Bandit, Jimmy worked on another Steel Pulse album Earth Crisis released in 1984. He still keeps in touch with the guys from the band and even plans to work with them on another album scheduled to be released in February next year.

It is true that not many Barbadians know of him or what he has achieved. But he doesn't let that faze him. He spends a lot of time in Jamaica because he is recognised there for his accomplishments.

"Nothing happens here for me. I make my moves between Jamaica and the United States. Last year, I did some production for Third World," he said.

It is also a little known fact but he produced and arranged I Ain't Movin' for fellow Barbadian and international recording artiste Des'ree. That album, her second, went double platinum five years ago. He is currently working with her on another upcoming album.

Though he is based in Barbados, Jimmy is back and forth working with various artistes.

His mother's illness brought him back home two years ago for good. Sadly, she died of cancer last month. Now he's based in Barbados but continues to work with both local and international artistes.

He didn't bring his Grammy with him to Barbados. It is still at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. And, he has no pictures with his award.

While Government hinted that some form of celebration was in the works to mark Rihanna's recent achievement, there was no national recognition of Jimmy's Grammy win.

"I just presented a picture to the National Cultural Foundation and that was about it. But I don't think about it like that. At that time it was different. Barbados didn't really have a thriving music industry so nobody really cared. I was recognised in Jamaica, New York, London and got to play for royalty. My whole production price went up so I did very well from it," he said.

Asked if he would be attending any celebratory function for Rihanna, he replied: "Only if I'm invited."

Jimmy is so busy working on other projects, including one for jazz singer Rosemary Phillips, and another for saxophonist Arturo Tappin, he has not yet completed his first solo album in ten years but hopes to do so soon.

And, he said he would welcome any opportunity to work with Rihanna if the opportunity presented itself.

"I have stuff I know would suit her. But she is surrounded by a team and I understand how that works but it would be a good thing if we got the chance to work together. I would love to do something with her just acoustically or something," he said.