1963 - The Maytals - I'll Never Grow Old / Part 2

I updated my for sale page! Also, expect to see more records added to the list over the next few months!

This posting marks the first in this decade set that is produced by one of the original sound system bosses, Sir Clement "Coxsone" Dodd. While some of the business-oriented producers of early ska music pushed more commercial music that they believed would sell internationally, the sound system men were spreading Jamaica's ghetto music. Unlike their business counterparts, these sound system names like CS Dodd and Duke Reid would grow to become synonomous with reggae music. Coxsone perhaps stands above the rest though. A search for his productions in the Roots Knotty Roots database returns 3433 tunes - and this is ONLY tunes released on 7", so it doesn't include most full length LP tracks or even some of the rarer singles. For comparison, other major names come in with the following marks - Duke Reid - 935, Bunny Lee - 1551, Prince Buster - 847, and Lee Perry - 1104.

The Maytals are no small name either. They were one of the few Jamaican names that would grow to mega international stardomn among names like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff; they would do so, however, under the more familiar psuedonym Toots & The Maytals. They began their recording career in 1963 with Coxsone, who would license most 63 shots to the Chris Blackwell's UK-based Island label. Most of these Island releases, however, would have the artist listed as "The Vikings." Over the next few years, the Maytals would hook up with other big name producers such as Prince Buster, Lindon Pontinger, and Leslie Kong, with whom they would have quite a long stint.

This song is in the traditional ska style of 1963. You can hear that the Jamaican groove has certainly taken over from the US r&b that dominated Jamaican recordings in the previous years. Hibbert's hollering style is in full force hear and in their first year as a recording act, The Maytals sound like well seasoned musicians.

This release is actually form 1977. The a-side was the version released in '63, but it was originally released on a different label - "Rolando & Powie" - one that I don't think I've ever seen. This rerelease has the "part 2" on the b-side which is a dub version of the tunel or atleast the closest that ska can get to dub. As the dubbing techniques of the later 70s and early 80s grew in popularity, Dodd began rereleasing some older tunes with small edits that reflected the remix's era. For instance, I recently bought a rerelease of Delroy Wilson's LP, "Feeling Good All Over." This rocksteady LP was rereleased by Coxsone probably in the 90s in his New York distribution center and has all the original tunes and artwork, but some of the tunes end with vocal cutouts and dub-inspired reverbs that epitomize the era.

Coming up next, 1964!

Listen & download here:
A-side: The Maytals - I'll Never Grow Old
B-side: The Maytals - I'll Never Grow Old, Part 2

1962 - Jimmy Cliff - Make It Up / Eric Morris - Cinderella

This disc is the first Jamaican release I've put in this mini anthology, but we still haven't seen any native Jamaican producers. Alongside Chris Blackwell and Edward Seaga, Leslie Kong, the producer of these two tracks, is yet another huge name in the island's history of recorded music that was not natively Jamaican. Kong's background was Chinese, a quality that would become a picking point for Prince Buster in his fued between Kong and Derrick Morgan (read here for more!).

Kong and his brothers ran an ice cream parlor and record shop in Kingston called "Beverley's" and, after discovering the young Jimmy Cliff, they decided to enter the recording world. The resultant label by the same name grew to become a foundation in Jamaican music. The green label design on this 7" was the earliest design released on the Beverley's label. They only released a handful of singles on this label before moving to the more familiar red, white, and black label (see it here).

Two the sides on this are both fabulous ska hits by some classic artists. I've already posted a record by the young Jimmy Cliff here, and this one is from the shortly after. "Make It Up" resembles the syncopated r&b groove of "Hurricane Hatty" more so than the ballad-styled "Dearest Beverley." As you probably already know, Cliff would retain his popularity and grow to international stardom.

Eric Morris was another Jamaican musician to retain popularity through the 60s ska/rocksteady wave. His career extended into the 70s but tapered off by the late 70s. His early ska songs are the favored part of his catalogue for many collectors. This one has the same upbeat type of groove and horns as the a-side, just with Morris substituted in on vocals. On this one, he sings a pretty straight forward melody but it's still enjoyable. The band really kicks it up a notch when the brass solos kick in, which are perhaps the better parts of the song. The same may be the case for a number of earlier ska shots - many of the house musicians were highly trained in jazz, latin, r&b, and classical styles!

The sound is certainly progressing from what it was in 1960 and 1961. Next we'll hear some ska from 13 Brentford Road's Coxsone Dodd for the 1963 entry so stay tuned!

Listen & download here:
A-side: Jimmy Cliff - Make It Up
B-side: Eric Morris - Cinderella

1961 - Jackie Edwards - Whenever There's Moonlight / Heaven Just Knows

We'll continue the story on the same label, Starlite, but with the other producer mentioned in the previous post, Chris Blackwell. Blackwell can perhaps be credited with revolutionizing the distribution of Jamaican music. He was the first to take it abroad, securing a deal with this Starlite label. Back at home in Jamaica he also opened up the distribution. At the time, sound system giants and producers would cut their discs and only supply limited amounts to a few local shops that they knew, similar to in the movie The Harder They Come. Blackwell, not being a sound man, was able to treat his ventures as a purely business affairs. According to Jimmy Cliff, "he knew the way he could get the most out of the music business was to get his records to as many shops as possible."

His story is almost mythical. According to Lloyd Bradley's This Is Reggae Music, Blackwell was a "white, planter-class-wealthy, Jamaican-born Harrovian" who discovered Jamaica's ghetto music after he had been rescued by a group of Rasta fisherman after he had been knocked unconscious while stranded on a reef. After they treated his wounds, Blackwell left determined to promote culture and music hidden in Jamaica's ghettos. His first artist was the famous Laurel Aitken. Blackwell's continuous development of his distribution networks, ultimately led to today's Island Records that is owned by Universal Music Group.

The Wilfred Edwards here is an early pseudonym for the more familiar Jackie Edwards. Along with giants such as The Wailers, Alton Ellis, John Holt, Desmond Dekker, and so on, Edwards was a winner of the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour. This was variety show offered in Kingstons city area in the mid 50s that quickly became the generation's comparative "American Idol." The show offered "singers, dancers, comedians, trick cyclists," etc, and hosted an uproariously demanding audience; so much so that a poor performance would likely not make it to the end before being hissed off stage. He recorded with Blackwell's crew almost exclusively through the 60s and would team up with Bunny Lee for the majority of his remaining career.

You can hear the similarities in style between this and the last - the piano rhythms, the r&b influence - and can also here some evolutions such as the emphasized syncopation. This is a trend that will continue over the next few years! Enjoy this, 1962 on the way!

Listen & download here:
A-side: Jackie Edwards - Whenever There's Moonlight
B-side: Jackie Edwards - Heaven Just Knows

1960 - Higgs & Wilson - Lover's Song / It Is A Day

This post marks the beginning of a ten part series that I'll be doing - a set of 10 postings documenting 1960-1969 in Jamaican music, one year at a time. This one is from 1960, the next will be 1961, then 1962, and so on. This one has seen better days, but keep in mind that this record is 50 years old now! Other records on the list will be in better shape! Enjoy!

The mid-1940s saw the beginnings of a music culture that would sweep for Jamaican island people for decades to come. Workers on ships bound south from ports such as New Orleans, Mobile, and Houston would carry US records to Jamaica that would disperse through people. It wouldn't take long for enthusiasts and shop owners to begin playing these records over loud systems to attract business or draw crowds. Over the next decade, these gatherings developed in to Jamaica's sound system dancehall scene. Names like Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd, and Tom The Great Sebastion would hosts dances where they would set up their competitively large stereos and man the turntables. These soundmen took on extravagant attitudes to draw attention and develop loyalties as local sound systems grew rivalrous.

Factories with primitive capabilities of cutting records were in Jamaica around the same time. As technologies developed, names like Stanley Motta and Ken Khouri emerged with their respective studios. Motta was a sound system owner and specialized in calypso and mento (Jamaica's native folk music) recordings. Khouri opened Federal Records Limited that struck a contract with the US label Mercury as it looked to expand in to the Caribbean. Ken and his brother Richard would produce and release singles over the next few decades but their company would turn in to one of Jamaica's busiest pressing facilities.

While the soundsystem kings did begin to cut their own tunes in the mid to late 50s, their competitive nature led them to cut very few pressings and not to distribute many copies. This way, the songs at their dances would be exclusive and monster tunes would ensure a consistent crowd. In this manner, some of the most successful early producers in Jamaica were not these famous, native Jamaican names, but were of more aristocratic foreign ancestry that took advantage of the island music for international exploitation. This is where we will begin our story, in 1960, with Higgs & Wilson's "Lover's Song" / "It Is A Day."

A year prior, the duo Joe Higgs & Manny Wilson cut one of Jamaica's first recordings that stepped away from the US r&b swing, "Manny Oh," with the same producer, Edward Seaga. Seaga was Boston born to Jamaican parents of Syrian descent. He moved back to Jamaica with his parents at 3 months of age but would eventually receive a Harvard education in anthropology in African music and religion. When he returned to Jamaica's ghetto, he was well equiped to put his interest in the black community to work in the music industry. He did so for a short while, starting the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) label, but would ultimately sell the label and pursue a political career.

Joe Higgs went on to a prolific career, releasing a plethora of succesful solo work and even mentoring the young Wailers trio and Jimmy Cliff. His early work in this duo is sought after by many collectors as their early work showcases the reggae music in its infant stages. These two were released in Jamaica on Seaga's WIRL records and in the UK on Starlite, a label that Chris Blackwell had secured a licensing deal with. Starlite would release Seaga's and Blackwell's tunes in England as a forerunner to other labels that would do so in the future such as Blue Beat and Island.

Coming up next, 1961!

Listen & download here:
A-side: Higgs & Wilson - Lover's Song
B-side: Higgs & Wilson - It Is A Day

Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - Bother Ration / Vincent Hinds - Mouth Trombone

Justin Hinds is one of my favorite singers and is another artist who successfully spanned all incarnations of the early Jamaican reggae, from the early 60s through the late 70s. This one is from 1971 and was his second version of the tune; he had previously recorded it in 1965 for the same producer, Duke Reid. A number of Hinds' early ska tunes show up again in his 1970s catalogue, such as this one and Carry Go Bring Come.

This one has a nice relaxed, open groove. Hinds' unmistakable voice fills the space with his uncanny knack for melodies, rhythms, and lyrics. If the pops and crackles weren't as sharp it may be more obvious, but a major player in this one for me is Duke Reid's production. The backup vocalist's shouts and tone are memorable at the least, as is Hinds re-imagining of the song.

The b-side is the same rhythm track with an extended solo throughout. To be honest, I'm not sure what instrument it is, but I imagine it has to be either a trombone, a mouth, or Tommy McCook's tenor sax. To me, it sounds like it could be any of the three, but it is a great track nonetheless!

Listen & download here:
A-side: Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - Bother Ration
B-side: Vincent Hinds - Mouth Trombone

NYC

Any record stores in NYC with a decent reggae selection? I'll be there next week so please let me know!

Edit:
Found Coxsone's Music City in Brooklyn, Clement Dodd's New York operations base. From what I understand, he moved up to NY in the 80s and opened this shop that he managed until his death in 2004.

The place doesn't have any originals, only reprints, but I still picked up some goodies:

Delroy Wilson - Good All Over LP (1969)
Jackie Opel - Cry Me A River LP (1965)
Jump Jamaica Way - VA Ska Compilation LP (1963)
The Techniques - Little Did You Know / Run Come Celebrate 7" repress (1968)

As I have mentioned, I'm quickly approaching 100 posts. I wanted to do something special to honor the number and considered just putting up a mega rarity, putting up a full length compilation of some of my favorite singles, putting up a "decade of (insert producer here)" compilation, etc. What I have decided on is to make posts 90-99 display a short history of reggae music from 1960-1969 respectively. So the 90th post will be 1960, 91st - 1961, 92nd - 1962, and so on. Then for the 100th post, I'll either do a 1970 tune or pick out one of my mega rarities to post.

Stay tuned!

Derrick Morgan - Should Be Ashamed / Marjorie

I've put a string of Derrick Morgan tunes up over the past few months, this being the 4th 7". The first was a rocksteady classic, "Tougher Than Tough." The second, "Court Dismiss," was an anti rude boy anthem very similar in style to the Prince Buster Judge Dread series. The third, "John Crow Skank," embodied the loud revive sound of the early 70s and was one of Morgan's closest attempts at toasting. This one is from 1962 and shows a young Morgan performing in the style of ska's earliest imaginations. Furthermore, it's produced by Prince Buster who produced many of ska's biggest names such as Eric Morris, Owen Gray, and The Maytals.

Both tunes represent the common sound of 1962 fairly well. The US r&b influence is still evident but the Jamaican syncopation has certainly taken over and the saxophone solos are decidedly ska creations. Aside from a few of Morgan's rocksteady tunes, this period is my favorite of his. The man released hundreds of singles between 1960 and the late 70s, so it's easy to get lost in any area of his catalog.

I was talking to a neighbor recently about records and he said to me that collecting 45s is an endless road, and it only gets more and more expensive. The first part is absolutely true for Jamaican 45s. The 60s spawned a music culture that infected the island. I believe I've read that the country released the most 7" singles per capita than any other country through late 60s and maybe even the 70s.

If this blog continues to grow, I'd love for it to eventually grow into a sort of Jamaican 7" compendium where other collectors post rips and pictures. A sort of Roots Knotty Roots but with audio files included. Lofty goals, but who knows! On that note, if anyone else is interested in posting some rips, please contact me!

Listen & download here:
A-side: Derrick Morgan - Should Be Ashamed
B-side: Derrick Morgan - Marjorie

John Holt & Slim Smith - Let's Build Our Dreams / Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Testify

Haaaaappy New Year! After just over a year on the blog, I'm quickly approaching 100 posts and this one marks the 50th reggae posting. With this post, I've decided to make the blog primarily focused on reggae for now. I haven't done much collecting of anything else recently and I much prefer doing the reggae postings on here. I hope I don't lose any listeners for this so if you have any opposition to this then please voice it.

I'll likely be playing with the blog layout over the next few days so bare with me!

Just like I mentioned about Jimmy Cliff in the previous post, John Holt is another artist that is hit or miss for me. Holt had an immensely prolific career and released hundreds of singles through the late 60s and 70s, working with producers such as Duke Reid, Bunny Lee, CS Dodd, Prince Buster, Harry Mudie, and the list goes on. Whenever I dig through a new batch of singles, his records always pop up; only a few however really catch my eye and this is one of them.

It's from 1971 and produced by Duke Reid on his Treasure Isle label. While the label doesn't credit him, the song also features Slim Smith for one of the verses. This tune has the classic roots revive sound. This period of Jamaican music saw the search for a new direction after the rocksteady period of the late 60s and before the reggae generation of the mid 70s.

This is the first post of mine featuring Slim Smith's vocals. I've mentioned him in a few posts as one of Jamaica's most soulful singers and he truly is. A falsetto star of the 60s, he lit up tons of rocksteady tunes and is much sought after by today's collectors. I've got a handful of his singles that will certainly make it on the blog eventually so stay tuned!

The b-side is an impressive instrumental featuring Tommy McCook, a founding member of the foundational Skatalites. After the disbanding, McCook continued to work as a central figure in the Jamaican music scene and provided countless rhythms and instrumentals for various producers such as this one, "Testify," for the Duke.

Listen & download here:
A-side: John Holt & Slim Smith - Let's Build Our Dreams
B-side: Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Testify