Trojan Rocksteady Box Set - Ellis, Alton, esittäjä; Dekker, Desmond, esittäjä; Harriott, Derrick, esittäjä; Hinds, Justin, esittäjä; Kelly, Pat, esittäjä; Bennett, Ike, esittäjä; Morgan, Derrick, esittäjä; Taitt, Lynn, esittäjä; Dunkley, Errol, esittäjä; Dillon, Phyllis, esittäjä; Martin, Honey Boy, esittäjä; Sterling, Lester, esittäjä; et al. (Trojan Records, 1998)
"If you're ready, come do rocksteady" was the slogan of the years 1966-68 which once again comes to live with this box set containing some of the best songs and artists from the heydays of the relatively short-lived rocksteady era. Rude boys with golden voices - inspired by American soulbrothers like The Impressions, The Drifters, The Platters and the Moonglows and sophisticated like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Solomon Burke - sung their tunes like heavenly angels. The leadsinger - Leroy Sibbles, John Holt or Pat Kelly - did the musical call and his buddies - the Heptones, the Paragons and the Uniques - sung the answers just like the American doo-wop groups often used to do. Solo artists like Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe and Slim Smith undoubtedly delivered their best outings during this part of Jamaican musical history. Their silky, passionate and languishing voices were often backed by the swinging riddims of the superb Tommy McCook & The Supersonics, who were the house band of the most important and influential producer of the age, Duke Reid, an ex-policeman and former soundsystem owner who ruled his rocksteady imperium out of his famous Treasure Isle studio on Bond Street. - This "Limited Edition" box set gathers 50 tracks of that most potent and influential music - rocksteady. Of course, well known Duke Reid produced classic hits are represented here, but also other great songs from that fruitful period produced by contemporaries like Mrs. Sonia Pottinger and Derrick Harriott are not forgotten. Besides that some lesser known and hard-to-find tunes are included as well, thus making this a valuable compilation set of timeless music.