Oldies But Goodies

A fantastic old scratchy Melodisc LP from Brick Lane market I found many years ago. It has the most wrong sleeve ever as all the song titles are mixed up and the label on the disc itself is Side One on BOTH sides! So I had to listen to the lyrics to get the titles but some of the instrumentals might be wrong? Anyway all the songs are from the 60's when Ska was at it's height in Jamaica and one can clearly hear the influence of New Orleans and American rythym and blues and jazz here.

"Ska Music originated in Jamaica as a result of Jamaican musicians adopting and personalising many different forms of American music. By the early 1950's Jamaican bands were taking inspiration from American artists and forming bands like Eric Deans Orchestra featuring the talents of trombonist Don Drummond and guitarist Ernest Ranglin. By the end of the 1950's, jazz, r&b, and mento (a style of calypso) influences were merged into a new style called Shuffle. Shuffle gained popularity through the works of such greats as Neville Esson, Owen Grey, The Overtakers, and The Matador Allstars.
In 1962, a time when Jamaica was copying the musical style of America, Cecil Bustamente Campbell, later known as Prince Buster, knew that something new was needed. He had his guitarist Jah Jerry emphasize the offbeat instead of the downbeat. To the present day, the offbeat is essential to Jamaican music styles. Ska Music was born.

Despite the primitive mono recording facilities, it was the determination of the ska enthusiasts which enabled ska to become the first truly commercial Jamaican Music. In fact, the ska was later named the national dance and music of Jamaica.

In the 1970's the Rude Boy ideals were revitalized and expressed in the fusion of reggae and punk by bands such as The Clash (Rudie Can't Fail). In the mid to late 1970's, bands such as The Coventry Automatics chose to use ska instead of reggae because, according to Jerry Dammers, it was easier. The Coventry Automatics later became The Automatics then The Specials AKA The Automatics, then The Special AKA, then The Specials."


The Folks Bothers - Oh Carolina

Buster Allstars - Down Beat Burial

Winston & Errol - Fay Is Gone

Jamaica Greatest - It's Burke's Law

The Prince - Feel Up

The Flames - Helena Darling


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