In the 1960s, Reid founded the record label Treasure Isle (named after his liquor store), which produced ska and rocksteady music.
After serving ten years as a Jamaican police officer, Reid left the force to help his wife Lucille run the family business, The Treasure Isle Grocery and Liquor Store at 33 Bond Street in Kingston.
[2] He dominated the Jamaican music scene of the 1960s, specialising in ska and rocksteady, though his love of American jazz, blues and soul was evident.
He was dressed in a long ermine cloak and a gilt crown on his head, with a pair of Colt 45s in cowboy holsters, a cartridge belt strapped across his chest and a loaded shotgun over his shoulder.
[6] He had a long string of hits with performers like Stranger Cole, the Techniques, Justin Hinds and the Dominoes, Alton Ellis and the Flames, the Paragons, the Jamaicans, and the Melodians.
Reid's Trojan and Coxsone's Downbeat were the top two sound systems in Jamaica when active, and the competition extended to their Treasure Isle and Studio One labels, respectively.
"[7] By the 1970s, Reid's poor health and the trend towards Rastafarian influenced roots reggae, noticeably reducing the number of releases from Treasure Isle.
Reid maintained his high-profile largely by recording the "toasting" of DJs U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone as well as vaguely Rasta-influenced oddities such as Cynthia Richards' "Aily-I".