Old Ska and Rocksteady

Start a thread about reggae, Van Morrison or The Kinks and I'm in!

 

I wish I could find the Ken Lazarus version of "Monkey Man", which I prefer to any other version. It's hard to find any of his stuff.

 

i was reading that thread with Graeme Goodall and it was very cool stuff to read.... are there any documentaries about the ska/ rocksteady scene of the 60s?

in the thread they mentioned the documentary about Tom Dowd which is absolutely fantastic

 

i was inspired by this thread, so over the weekend i picked up the Gaylads "Soul Beat" album on CD. great music! sound quality not so great - at times sounds like tenth gen tape dubs with noise reduction, some tracks worse than others. still, i don't know if there's any other way to hear this music apart from tracking down the original vinyl.

 

I have that on an LP I got back in the 1970's called REGGAE'S GREATEST HITS, VOL II, subtitled Solid Gold: The Greatest Records of All Time. This disc also has my own favorite Ken Lazarus track, Bongo Nyah.

 

I used to have that lp without the "Reggae's Greatest Hits" banner, and I recall it had a gold cover. Yes, I also love Bongo Nyah, Dynamic Pressure and a few others on it.

 

Yes, gold cover in front. The Lazarus tracks are:

Dynamic Pressure
Cecilia
Bongo Nyah
Monkey Man

 

np : Trojan Ska Box

 

I went on a jag many years ago diving deep into ska/rocksteady and love a lot of it. Some other names besides the bigger ones already mentioned Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, Dandy Livingstone, Justin Hinds & the Dominoes, Tommy McCook, Melodians, Rico & the Rudies, the Upsetters.

Here is a 1964 documentary should you want to polish your moves.

 

Any recommendations for essential Blue Beat ?

 

Hi Scope J. I'm glad you asked that question because there has been confusion over the meaning of the name Blue Beat music since the mid 1960s.

Blue Beat was not actually a musical genre but a UK label that issued Jamaican Ska, Rocksteady/into early Reggae 7" singles and at the time the label name was supposed by many to also be the style of music that that label were issuing.

To this day many people still refer to the term Blue Beat music, thinking it is Jamaican Ska or Rocksteady or an unidentified off-shot from both.

 

I've mainly been listening to a lot of pre/early ska stuff lately, especially Basil Gabbidon and Frank Cosmo. Both virtually unknown outside of collectors circles and forgotten by many Jamaican music fans in favour of bigger more popular artists. Great singers, plenty on YouTube if you don't know them.

 

Does...

"Oh Carolina" - The Folkes Brothers
count?

 

A good couple of years ago, MOJO had a Studio One comp. disc that came with their magazine.
Boy, I played that to death!
PS. intipbly.... LOVE your avatar... I'm sure Scope J does, too!

 

Freakin' love all the Jamaican 60's tunes....and I'll buy any comp of that stuff I come across. Best yard-work music ever....

 

For fans of Rocksteady, or those who are interested and want to explore, I can recommend checking out "The 100 greatest Rocksteady tunes" listing over at DanceCrasher:
http://www.dancecrasher.co.uk/the-100-greatest-rocksteady-tunes/

All the songs have soundclips and most of them have suggestions on where to find them on CD (although many of the suggestions are for now out of print titles).

 

You must check out Lee "Scratch" Perry. A studio pioneer that invented among other things DUB. Genius!
The Harder they Come soundtrack
Artists: Desmond Dekker, the Ethiopians, the Upsetters (Lee Perry is in the band), Don Drummond.
Essential song: Carry go Bring Come by Justin Hinds & the Dominoes

 

Isn't he awesome!

 

Delroy Wilson.
The Heptones.

 

Love those opening lines:

Hello FBI, I am the sky
Hello po-lice, I am Christ

 

I love ska and rocksteady....probably my prize possession in the field is an LP (by a Jamaican hotel show band) signed by band member Ernest Ranglin circa early 60s-one of my best thrift store finds. Anyone who is into soul music would do well to check out rocksteady.
One of my FAVORITE musical genres!

 

This track just totally blew my mind when I first heard it in the 80's, I used to listen to a fantastic reggae/ska/rocksteady show that turned me on to it: