Reddit mentions: The best rocksteady music

"Simmer Down" is ska from about '64. There are a bunch of 60's ska CDs out there but be careful because many, especially the compilations, have overlapping tracks. Here are some examples:

• Island Records Presents Ska
  
• Treasure Isle Records Presents Ska
  
• Prince Buster - Fabulous Greatest Hits
  
• Bob Marley & Wailers - One Love at Studio One
  
  "Harder They Come" is early reggae from about '72. Between ska and reggae was a style called rock steady that was sort of like slow ska. Most ska CDs will have at least a few rock steady songs mixed in too. It's a little later than the time period of "Harder They Come" but the best selling reggae record of all time is Bob Marley - Legend and it's worth checking out if you're not familiar with it. Here are some examples of early reggae:
  
  
• Original Labour of Love Collection
  
• Harder They Come OST
  
• Jimmy Cliff - Jimmy Cliff
  
• Desmond Dekker - 007, Best of...
  
• Toots & Maytals - Pressure Drop

Ohhhh, that takes me right back.

I lived in Bristol in the early 90s and the Star & Garter was a hundred yards away and a great place for a lock-in. DJ Derek used to play there several nights a week. I couldn't believe that this wizened old little white fella, who looked like a council road sweeper or toilet attendant, played such a geat selection of ska, reggae, and rocksteady, and chatted freely in patois to the black guys.

DJ Derek is a proper one-off and I'm delighted to have met him.

DJ Derek images on Google - go on, look, if you don't know who he is you'll be surprised.

And there's a terrific little documentary about the man on Vimeo - part 1 and part 2 - lovely stuff.

EDIT : Arse, arse, and thrice arse - his last ever outdoor gig was ... yesterday :-(

EDIT 2 : Derek's own selection, as found on his Trojan compilation LP :-

1. Blazing Fire - Derrick Morgan
   
2. Honky Tonk Ska - The Granville Williams Orchestra
   
3. Watermelon Man - The Baba Brooks Band
   
4. Penny Reel-O - Eric Morris
   
5. Over The River - Justin Hinds & The Dominoes
   
6. Make It Reggae - Shark Wilson & The Basement Heaters
   
7. In The Dark - Toots & The Maytals
   
8. Darling Patricia - Owen Gray
   
9. Mr. Bojangles - John Holt
   
10. Rock With Me Baby - Johnny Clarke, The Aggrovators
    
11. Police & Thieves - Junior Murvin
    
12. Satta Amassa Ganna - The Abyssinians
    
13. Redemption Song - Dean Fraser
    
    

I knew nothing about Prince Buster until I heard a few interviews with David Rodigan and he kept referencing him. So glad I finally discovered him.

Thanks for this awesome song OP. Have you ever seen this box set from Trojan Records? It's pretty awesome and has a lot of great rocksteady/early ska like this song. Check it out if you haven't.

yes a great tune! lovely ´68 Rock Steady vibes! check out this compilation for tunes from the same period!

Glad you enjoyed it. I can only think of two things...

It isn't fusion, but I would call it at least in the vicinity of the same headspace - Bob Marley/Bill Laswell - Dreams of Freedom.

A sample: Exodus

Also, you might take a look at The Grassy Knoll.
I would have a hard time classifying it, but to quote the allmusic.com review of the first album:

>"Nothing on The Grassy Knoll sounds like anything else before it, save the snatches here and there of a trumpet call right out of Miles Davis, a stab at Hendrix, a bit of Duane Eddy guitar, and loads of eerie electronics which whisper into your ear only to explode your head seconds later. Any further description might throw you completely off track, so suffice to say that The Grassy Knoll is made up of great grooves intertwined with creepy quiet parts that you can dance to."

(note this album was released in '94)


Examples: March Eighteenth or Less Than One

Great movie--the late great, John Hurt was fantastic in it and Joanne Whalley was sexy as FUCK in it, despite only having one nude scene.

Love the part where they go get stoned with the rude boys in the ska club. They even released a whole companion album with just the ska tracks:

https://www.amazon.com/Scandal-Ska-Various-Artists/dp/B000000G1B

Interesting (except for the cheeseball vocals).

But what does it matter?

This is what he'll be remembered for:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legend-Remastered-Bob-Marley/dp/B0000669JL

The McDonald's of Reggae music? Ubiquitous, fills-a-hole, but hardly satisfying?

(Interestingly, there are twenty 5-star reviews. Perhaps more of a religion than entertainment ...)

Not his "best" or definitive or anything, but this is a great project by Bill Laswell using original studio recordings of Bob Marley and putting the music into more a dub context: http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Freedom-Bob-Marley/dp/B000005HQ1

For more standard stuff, Exodus is a great place to start.

That's Treasure Isle, Universal just this week released a nice and cheap double CD set

http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Isle-Presents-Rock-Steady/dp/B0079JNDZE/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334674240&sr=1-5

You also can't go wrong with the Heartbeat collections like:

http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Reids-Treasure-Chest-Rock-Steady/dp/B00000041P/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334674290&sr=1-1

and

http://www.amazon.com/More-Hottest-Hits-Treasure-Isle/dp/B000000428/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334674310&sr=1-3

If you are just starting out, dig out some Trojan Box sets. They have a great selection of old ska, and would be a really good starting point.


eg http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trojan-Ska-Box-Various-Artists/dp/tracks/B00000IBBB/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

Gotcha


amazon related link hope I win!

I listen to the Funky Kingston/In the Dark album at work all the time. The cover of Take Me Home, Country Roads that changes "West Virginia" to "West Jamaica" is awesome. Pressure Drop is one of my favorite songs, period.

Amazon link-
http://www.amazon.com/Funky-Kingston-Dark-Toots-Maytals/dp/B00008NRKB

This album of Bob Marley remixes is one of my favorites of all time.

Please.

Frank Zappa 'Call Any Vegetable.' Just Another Band from LA
Radiohead 'Reckoner' In Rainbows
Bob Marley 'Three Little Birds' Legend Bob Marley

thanks! Here's what I picked up! (made 4 orders without clearing cache or anything)

• MF Doom - Operation Doomsday
  
• Wolf Alice - My Love is Cool
  
• Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street
  
• Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
  
• Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai
  
• Zero 7 - Simple Things
  
• Dream Theater - Images and Words
  
• Bob Marley - Legend Tri Color
  

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Price History

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https://www.amazon.com/Legend-50th-Anniversary-Tri-Color-LP/dp/B00K6D20SG

It's no coincidence that Legend just got a 30th anniversary pressing on three color vinyl.

Candle Freak

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