Issue 09
THE LEGENDS OF SKA
By Joey AltrudaPhotography By David Jiro
Illustration By Kristian Henson
The year was 1956, and American R&B music was shaping the sound of Jamaica. DJs in Kingston pumped the newest hits at their mobile parties, known as sound systems, and popular dancehalls. With an overwhelming demand for fresh tracks, DJs-turned-producers such as Prince Buster, Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd, and Duke Reid took it upon themselves to develop a novel style of music played by local musicians, something sincerely Jamaican that captured the essence of R&B. They ditched the steel drums of calypso, the traditional folk music of the Caribbean, for electric guitars and horns. To them it was the new sound of the island, informally known as ska.
Legend has it that the first ska session was for Theophilus Beckford’s “Easy Snappin’,” recorded at Kingston’s Federal Studios by Sir Coxsone, who along with other DJs had formerly used the studio to bootleg R&B records for Jamaican distribution. This time, however, the recordings were completely original.
Among those who took part in the session was trombonist Rico Rodriguez, a key pioneer in the horn section arrangements that helped give ska its truly unique sound. His playing can be heard on an overwhelming number of late ‘50s ska songs, including his own, “Rico Special” and “Rico Farewell.” The latter was his goodbye wave to the island in 1961, when he moved to England. Rodriguez’s departure, however, was also a major boost to the international profile of ska, as he and other recent immigrants shared their little piece of Jamaica with eager listeners.
Around the same time that Rodriguez arrived in England, Owen Gray was quickly becoming Jamaica’s number one singing export. A collection of Gray’s singles was compiled into an LP, Owen Gray Sings—the first full-length ska album to be released outside of Jamaica. The success of the album came in large part courtesy of Chris Blackwell, an up-and-coming British producer who recorded Gray’s 1960 breakthrough hit, “Please Don’t Let Me Go.” The song was instantly a chart-topper in Jamaica, convincing Blackwell to bring this new sound overseas.
By the time ska reached British shores, it no longer carried the same raw, hollow tones of the first recordings. Throughout the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, as the musicians and producers refined the sound, the backbeat became more and more prominent. Singers like Derrick Morgan and Stranger Cole found their voices well complemented by the accompaniment of musicians such as bassist Lloyd Brevett and drummer Lloyd Nibb. As the heartbeat of the backing band later to be known as the Skatalites, Brevett and Nibb were key in building the foundation of ska, working with virtually all the great singers produced on Sir Coxsone’s recordings at the time.
A transitional period occurred from 1966 to 1967, bridging the gap between the up-tempo ska and the more bass-driven beat of reggae. Referred to as rocksteady, this style of playing allegedly happened serendipitously one evening when recording artist Alton Ellis’s bass player failed to show up for a recording session. The band’s organist (Jackie Mittoo, now of legendary status) attempted to play the bass part on the keyboard with his left hand, but was having difficulty keeping the tempo steady enough. They decided to try it again, this time at a much slower, more comfortable tempo. The result was a sensual groove that gave the singer much more liberty for interpretation and melodic improvisation, and the dawn of a golden age of vocal harmonies and soulful lyrics.
By 1968, things seemed to change rapidly as different elements entered the picture, primarily the latest mutation known as reggae. At first, this new music seemed to combine the lively up-tempo guitar and keyboard riffing found in ska with the slower-moving bass and drum patterns found in rocksteady. But reggae morphed and mutated at a much faster rate than earlier styles, employing a variety of tempos, instrumentation, lyrical content, vocal stylings, and studio production values to broaden the scope of the sound. The presence of the Rastafarian faith became more and more prevalent in Jamaica, and as a result, many reggae songs contained biblical references and messages of social change.
Reaching a pinnacle with the international success of Bob Marley in the mid ‘70s, reggae music has since become a staple in the musical diet of the masses worldwide. This original Jamaican sound kept morphing and influencing music, and could be found in later revivals of ska come the late ‘70s in England with bands like The Beat (known as the English Beat when they came to the U.S.) and The Specials, who brought in Rico Rodriguez to record and tour.
Fifty years after Kingston’s DJs launched the Jamaican musical revolution, I’m sitting in the oldest still-functioning recording studio in L.A., listening to three men from this formative era of ‘60s Jamaica rehearse their classic hits for an upcoming “Jamaican Legends” concert. Derrick Morgan, Owen Gray, and Dennis Alcapone are taking turns singing the music they took to the top of the Jamaican and British charts. In between, they reminisce about the old days of the Kingston dancehalls. The studio seems like the perfect setting for this time warp, with its vintage Victrolas, original 78rpm jukebox, Hammond B3, and reel-to-reels tucked neatly into every nook and cranny. The only thing remotely modern is the backing band, consisting mostly of Southern Californian 20- and 30-somethings, a testament to the timeless, universal appeal of ska, reggae, and rocksteady.
The Jamaican musicians in the studio—Owen Gray, Derrick Morgan, Stranger Cole, Rico Rodriguez, Alton Ellis, and Dennis Alcapone—have been through every twist and turn in the evolution of their nation’s sound, members of a broader contingent of talent that has shaped and defined crucial elements of modern music for five decades strong. I read a saying on my friend Joey Altruda’s shirt at the recording studio that night, “Without roots, there are no branches.”
To view the entire series of images please visit www.davidjiro.com
Desmond Dekker
Derrick Morgan
Alton Ellis
Owen Gray
Rico Rodriguez