Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in
Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae,
rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The
Gaylads, The Maytals, and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a
dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady".
Dances performed to rocksteady were less energetic than the earlier ska dances.
The first international rocksteady hit was "Hold Me Tight" (1968) by
the American soul singer Johnny Nash; it reached number one in Canada
As a popular musical style, rocksteady was short-lived; its heyday only
lasted about two years, from 1966 until spring 1968. Around this time,
young people from the Jamaican countryside were flooding into the urban
ghettos of Kingston — in neighborhoods such as Riverton City, Greenwich
Town and Trenchtown. Though much of the country was optimistic in the
immediate post-independence climate, these poverty-stricken youths did
not share this sentiment. Many of them became delinquents who exuded a
certain coolness and style. These unruly youths became known as rude
boys.
Alton Ellis is
sometimes said to be the father of rocksteady for his hit "Girl I've
Got a Date", but other candidates for the first rocksteady single
include "Take It Easy" by Hopeton Lewis, "Tougher Than Tough" by Derrick
Morgan and "Hold Them" by Roy Shirley. In a Jamaican radio interview,
pianist Gladstone Anderson said that guitarist and bandleader Lynn Taitt
was the man who slowed down the ska beat in 1964 during a "Take It
Easy" recording session. Taitt backed this up in a 2002 interview,
stating "I told 'Gladdy to slow the tempo and that's how Take It Easy
and rocksteady came about. Rocksteady is really slow ska." The record
producer Duke Reid released Alton Ellis' "Girl I've Got a Date" on his
Treasure Isle label, as well as recordings by The Techniques, The
Silvertones, The Jamaicans and The Paragons. Reid's work with these
groups helped establish the vocal sound of rocksteady. Notable solo
artists include Delroy Wilson, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon (known as
the "Queen of Rocksteady"). Other musicians who were crucial in creating
rocksteady included keyboard player Jackie Mittoo, drummer Winston
Grennan, bassist Jackie Jackson and saxophonist Tommy McCook.
Despite its short lifespan, rocksteady's influence is great. Many reggae
artists began in rocksteady (and/or ska) - most commonly reggae singers
grew out of rocksteady groups e.g.: Junior Byles came from 'The
Versatiles', John Holt was in 'The Paragons', both Pat Kelly and Slim
Smith sang with 'The Techniques' (it's Pat Kelly singing lead on 'You
Don't Care') and Ronnie Davis was in 'The Tennors' while Winston Jarrett
was in 'The Righteous Flames'. 'The Wailing Wailers' were similarly a
vocal harmony trio (modeled on 'The Impressions') who came from ska,
through rocksteady (though Bob
Marley was working in a car assembly plant in America for most of 1967 -
which explains why there are few Wailers' rocksteady songs) and became a
reggae band with just the one main vocalist. The short-lived nature of
rocksteady, its lauded sound and the somewhat haphazard nature of the
Jamaican music industry make original recordings increasingly harder to
find than those from the ska and reggae eras.
Derrick Harriott
patriotically noted, "Ask any Jamaican musician and they'll tell you the
rocksteady days were the best days of Jamaican music"
source: Wikipedia
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Vintage Reggae
Vintage reggae or the "early reggae" era can be looked as starting in roughly 1968. The influence of funk music from American record labels such as Stax
began to permeate the music style of studio musicians and the slowing
in tempo that occurred with the development of rocksteady had allowed
musicians more space to experiment with different rhythmic patterns. One
of the developments which separated early reggae from rocksteady was the "bubble" organ pattern, a percussive style of playing that showcased the eighth-note subdivision within the groove.
The guitar "skanks" on the second and fourth beat of the bar began to be replaced by a strumming pattern similar to mento and the so-called double chop that can be heard so audibly in the introduction of Bob Marley's "Stir It Up" was developed during this time. More emphasis was put on the groove of the music, and there was a growing trend of recording a "version" on the B-side of a single. The mass popularity of instrumental music in the ska and rocksteady eras continued in reggae, producing some of the most memorable recordings of the early reggae era. Cover versions of Motown, Stax and Atlantic Records soul songs remained popular in early reggae, often helping Jamaican artists gain a foothold in foreign markets such as the UK
As a testament to its far reaching impact in other markets, this era and sound of reggae is sometimes referred to in retrospect as "skinhead reggae" because of its popularity among the working class skinhead subculture in the UK during the late 1960s and early 1970s. One Caribbean band based in London, The Pyramids, even released an entire album dedicated to the unruly English youth culture under the name Symarip which featured songs such as "Skinhead Moonstomp" and "Skinhead Girl". Eventually the, often experimental, sounds of early reggae gave way to the more refined sound made popular by Bob Marley's most famous recordings. Indeed this era seems fittingly capped off by the 1973 release of "Catch A Fire". Notable artists from this era include John Holt, Toots & the Maytals and The Pioneers.
source: Wikipedia
The guitar "skanks" on the second and fourth beat of the bar began to be replaced by a strumming pattern similar to mento and the so-called double chop that can be heard so audibly in the introduction of Bob Marley's "Stir It Up" was developed during this time. More emphasis was put on the groove of the music, and there was a growing trend of recording a "version" on the B-side of a single. The mass popularity of instrumental music in the ska and rocksteady eras continued in reggae, producing some of the most memorable recordings of the early reggae era. Cover versions of Motown, Stax and Atlantic Records soul songs remained popular in early reggae, often helping Jamaican artists gain a foothold in foreign markets such as the UK
As a testament to its far reaching impact in other markets, this era and sound of reggae is sometimes referred to in retrospect as "skinhead reggae" because of its popularity among the working class skinhead subculture in the UK during the late 1960s and early 1970s. One Caribbean band based in London, The Pyramids, even released an entire album dedicated to the unruly English youth culture under the name Symarip which featured songs such as "Skinhead Moonstomp" and "Skinhead Girl". Eventually the, often experimental, sounds of early reggae gave way to the more refined sound made popular by Bob Marley's most famous recordings. Indeed this era seems fittingly capped off by the 1973 release of "Catch A Fire". Notable artists from this era include John Holt, Toots & the Maytals and The Pioneers.
source: Wikipedia
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