For this Soul Revivers Special, David Hill looks at the soulful rocksteady productions of Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, one of the most important and prolific producers of the time.
In October 1966, Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions were booked to play a series of live shows in Jamaica by Byron Lee. The two years that directly followed saw the music slow from the frenetic Ska that had dominated the JA music scene for over five years, to become a Jamaican interpretation of American group harmony soul. Rocksteady was often performed by vocal harmony trios, as per The Impressions, and during this magical period, well-over five thousand rocksteady tracks were recorded.
The heavy influence of US soul led to many rocksteady versions, and the show includes covers of songs first sung by The Impressions, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Billy Stewart Howard Tate, and Brenton Wood.
Soul Revivers: Coxsone Rocksteady Special
1. Sound Dimension ’Swing Easy’ JA Coxsone 45
2. The Eternals ‘Queen of the Minstrels’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
3. Alton Ellis ‘I’m Just A Guy’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
4. Owen Grey ‘Ain’t Nobody Home’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
5. The Octaves ‘You’re Gonna Lose’ UK Blue Cat 45
6. The Termites ‘Mama Didn't Know’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
7. Jackie Mittoo and The Soul Vendors ’Sure Shot’ UK Coxsone 45
8. Slim Smith ‘Rougher Yet’ JA Coxsone 45
9. Alton Ellis ‘A Fool’ JA Studio One 45
10. Bop & The Beltones ’Not for a Moment’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
11. Delroy Wilson ‘I’m Not a King’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
12. The Cables ‘Baby Why’ JA Studio One 45
13. Marcia Griffiths ‘Mark My Word’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
14. The Heptones ‘Darling I Love You’ JA Coxsone 45 1969
15. Larry & Alvin ‘Can't You Understand’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
16. The Righteous Flames ‘You Don’t Know’ JA Coxsone blank 45
17. The Gaylads ‘I Am Free’ UK Coxsone 45
18. The Clarendonians ‘He Who Laughs Last’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
19. The Wailers ‘What Am I to Do’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
20. The Paragons ‘My Satisfaction’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
21. Carlton & His Shoes ’This Feeling’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
22. Alton Ellis ’Tumbling Tears’ JA Studio One 45
23. The Termites 'I Made a Mistake’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
24. Trevor Clarke ‘Giving Up on Love’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
25. Mr Foundation ‘Jail House’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
26. Alton Ellis ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ CA Heartbeat LP
27. Sound Dimensions ‘Park View’ JA Coxsone LP
28. Mr Foundation ‘We Can Talk It Over’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
29. The Enforcers ‘Forgive Me’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
30. Lloyd Charmers ’Time is Getting Hard’ UK Coxsone 45
31. Hortense Ellis ‘Sitting in the Park’ JA Studio One blank 45
32. The Minstrels ‘People Get Ready’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
33. Owen Grey ‘Give Me a Little Sign’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
34. Mr Foundation ‘Bye Bye Baby’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
35. The Martinis ‘I Second That Emotion’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
36. Jimmy Riley ‘You Should Have Known’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
37. The Viceroys ’Trying Had to Leave’ JA Coxsone 45
38. The Three Tops ‘Man of Chances' JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
39. Basil Daley ‘Hold Me Baby' JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
40. Sound Dimension ‘Every Day is a Holiday version’ dubplate
41. Roy & Enid ‘Rocking Time’ UK Coxsone 45
42. Roy Tomlinson ‘I Stand for I’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
43. Lloyd Robinson & Winston Francis ‘Your Cheating Heart’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
44. Anthony Ellis ’The Ruler’ JA Mu-Zik City blank 45
45. Alton Ellis ‘Breaking Up’ JA Coxsone 45
46. Sound Dimension ‘Breaking Up version’ dubplate