By the time this came out in the mid-80s, Studio One was well and truly on the wane. The digital era had been en vogue for the last couple of years, Jammy's was king, and all Sir Coxsone was left to do was watch other producers cream all his best riddims to create the jams shaking dancehalls all over the land. Studio One's attempts to adjust to the dancehall era were, in the early days at least, little more than adding effects to 60s and 70s versions, albeit sometimes with stunning results (more on that later). And yet, on the flip side of a digital update of the Vanity riddim (aka I'm Just A Guy) by Sister Nancy's brother (Brigadier Jerry) is one of the finest female performances the label ever put out. And not only that, lyrically it's pure roots: a conscious hymn to unity and rejection of rude boy posturing, a complete antithesis of what the Jamaican music scene was into at the time.
If you're looking to get into Studio One, this is as good a place to start as any. Pure rocksteady, with an infectious 2-note organ riff which distracts from the despair Larry has for his lover who's decided to give him the elbow. Respect also due to Alvin Leslie, whose backing vox often go uncredited (a shame when you consider the prominence of 2-and-3 part harmony groups during the Rocksteady era). That said, Larry is the star here, and could have had a more prodigious career were it not for label jumping and squabbling over money. For an alternative take, well worth checking out Dennis Alcapone's Nanny Version which - just as this killer track - is a beauty to behold.
48
Easy Take It Easy - Dennis Brown
RIDDIM - You Don't Care
As Rocksteady morphed into 'reggae', Studio One was blessed with a roll-call of impressive male vocalists (a few of which to be featured as the list gets towards the sharp end). A veteran of Brentford Road by 1972, this cut by the Crown Prince of Reggae takes the You Don't Care riddim originally sung over by Larry Marshall a couple of years prior and instead pitches it as a ode to pacifying rudie (or telling his missus to not get over-excited in the sack. Although given he was only 15/16 at the time it's more likely to be the former). Ace cut.
47
Dancing Mood - Delroy Wilson
RIDDIM - Dancing Mood
From one child star to another. Like Dennis Brown, Delroy Wilson was only 13 when he started recording for Coxsone, and this rocksteady track has all the carefree abandon and jollity of a post-independence, pre-political turmoil Kingston dancehall.
Taken from his debut album for Coxsone (Im Flash Forward). Like a number of the Skatalites, Brooks was a former student of the Alpha Boys School, an education establishment in Kingston run for 'wayward boys' who needed a place to live and study. Under the patronage of Sister Ignatius the likes of Brooks, Tommy McCook, Don Drummond and many others honed their skills, and Coxsone often took on students of the school to be part of one of various entities of his house band (Soul Vendors, Brentford All-Stars, Sound Dimension, etc.). Brooks came to Coxsone around a decade after his Skatalite classmates (a group he'd later join many years after this came out), but given his work with Count Ossie his instrumentals - of which this is one of his finest - are drenched in the spiritual inspiration of Rastafari.
Originally put out on Studio One offshoot Forward Records, Dillinger's first cut for Coxsone was also his best. Having spent the majority of his career toasting over Scratch productions it's something of an irony that this cut, capitalising on the kung-fu craze that took hold in Jamaica in the mid-70s, came out the same year as Perry's own Kung Fu Meets The Upsetter. Perry and Dillinger would reunite the following year to cut CB200, but left Coxsone with an early sing-jay stylee gem and a killer LP (Ready Natty Dreadie) to go with it.
44
Bandulo - Freddie McGregor
RIDDIM - Love Won't Come Easy
After a lean few years in the mid-70s, Coxsone came back with a vengence towards the end of the decade, re-cutting many tracks using riddims that had served him well in the past and updating them in one way, shape or form. McGregor's "Bandulo" is a classic case of this, taking an early Heptones cut, re-recording the backing track to capture the vibes of the early dancehall era, and giving prominence to a vocalist who had been part of Studio One since the early days. Taken from what (remarkably) was McGregor's debut LP for Coxsone (despite having released 45s for Dodd for some 17 years prior), this ghetto plea for criminals ("Bandulu man") to change their ways is one of the finest tracks the artist's so far cut in a career that spans half a century.
43
Pick Up The Pieces - The Royals
RIDDIM - Pick Up The Pieces
Recorded a good few years before it was finally released by Studio One and originally credited to The Tempests, the stand-out cut by Roy Cousins' seminal vocal harmony group enjoyed something of a chequered history at Brentford Road. All in all The Royals only cut a handful of tracks for Coxsone, and eventually this would only end up being released at all after the band jumped ship and re-cut it on Cousins' own Wambesi imprint. Despite a version by Burning Spear appearing on his self-titled debut LP for Studio One, The Royals version - and their Studio One cut of it at that (with the hypnotic organ intro, a vocal harmony that sounds like it's deliberately going against the melody, and Cousins' own unique Louis-Armstrong-meets-Nat-King-Cole-with-a-lisp approach to singing) - is fyah from beginning to end, and to these ears the best version by a long shot.
Subscribers to Vinyl Me, Please will have more than likely been sent a copy of Silver Bullets in the last few months. It's a shame, however, that their debut LP for Scratch muddies the waters as to their legacy, as prior to this they'd recorded some classic rocksteady cuts for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle throughout the 60s. "Smile" is in a similar mould to their work with The Trojan - a beautiful 3-part harmony with a killer original riddim backing it which given its style surprisingly didn't see the light of day until the late 70s. The version's a scorcher too - check out the link from 3:01 onwards.
41
Pretty Looks Isn't All - The Heptones
RIDDIM - Pretty Looks
Geez, if you're going to take anything away from this run-down of Studio One tracks then hopefully it'll be that The Heptones' On Top is not only one of the top 3 albums that Jamaica ever produced, but (to me at least) one of the best records ever made period. Unsurprisingly they'll be at least a couple more cuts from the LP popping up later, but suffice it to say if you've read this far and haven't yet sampled Sirs Sibbles, Morgan & Llewelyn's work for Sir Coxsone you are in for an absolute treat.
The man pictured above is a legend. What follows over the next few posts is my attempt to compile my all-time Top 50 Studio One cuts, which considering the sheer volume of music Jamaica's version of Motown put out (although I've never liked that analogy) is something that's taken me far too long to put into some sort of order over the last few weeks since I first decided to have a stab at it. Think of it as my Xmas gift to you all - and even if one of you gets something out of it then my work 'ere is done.
If the track's on YouTube I'll put a link up, but suffice it to say that every single track in the 50 demands to be heard and especially those whose knowledge of Jamaican music is limited to the obvious it might open your eyes up to something new. For everyone else, grab a can of Red Stripe, sit back and chill.
Blessings one and all... JD...
(PS - if after giving some of these a spin you fancy delving further here's a chart you may enjoy...)
Thanks, brother! This was what I wanted for Christmas & I didn't even know it.
Sampled all over the shop and even used to sell baked beans, "Beardsman Ska" is one of the those quintessential tracks you don't know you've already heard until you've heard it, if that makes any sense. A supergroup long before the term was coined, without Coxsone and his cajoling of jazzman Tommy McCook the Skatalites may have never been, but with the likes of Jackie Mittoo, Roland Alphonso and Don Drummond in their ranks (a couple of whom we'll hear from later) I doubt they'll ever be as talented a collective of musicians to ever grace a Jamaican recording studio again.
Expressing the same sentiment as (50) and (44), The Paragons' plea to rudie was a far cry from "The Tide Is High". Written by and featuring the voice of John Holt (for me, his best track apart from "Ali Baba") who was to leave the group in the early 70s to forge a solo career, this was one of the last 45s the band cut for Coxsone before he left. Amazingly given the absence of their main songwriter they still had an ace up their sleeve... but more on that later.
38
It Takes Two To Make Love - The Termites
RIDDIM - N/A (possibly Why Did You Leave - see note)
A rocksteady duo, The Termites' star shone briefly yet brightly for Coxsone. Whilst their major JA hit, "Have Mercy Mr. Percy", was an appeal to a landlord to cut them some slack, it's this track - released only as a single in the UK and now changing hands for £100s - which stands out for me as their finest work. Criminally the riddim, with all its urgency and shuffle, was (to my knowledge at least) never used by Coxsone on any other tracks (not at the frenetic pace here at least - it could be a recut of The Heptones' Why Did You Leave which came out a year earlier, but I can't be sure...)
Or - Coxsone, 'im strike bak inna dance. As previously mentioned the dancehall era saw Studio One riddims recycled all over Kingston, so it was only fitting that one of dancehall's early stars should cut a version on a Skatalites instrumental (and a bloody killer one at that, awash with Don Drummond's trombone a-wailin') and release it for Sir Coxsone before re-cutting it later on Jah Life. Johnny Osbourne had previously released singles for Winston Riley's Techniques label prior to signing with Dodd, but whilst his magnum opus for Studio One (Truths And Rights) is a more rounded and soulful affair "Murderer" is pure dancehall. Killer track.
36
No Man Is An Island - Dennis Brown
RIDDIM - No Man Is An Island
As well as being a boss track, the most remarkable thing about the title track on Dennis Brown's Studio One debut LP is the emotional maturity and sincerity in the delivery of the 13 year-old singer. A gorgeous song with warmth and pathos that belied Brown's tender age as well as a call to unity and inclusion, and a perfect example both stylistically and topically of early reggae's transition from the rocksteady era. Essential.
Rocksteady's dominance of the Jamaican dancehalls was an all-too-brief affair, coinciding with the burgeoning self-governance of the Jamaican music industry post-independence and one of the hottest summers on record. When Ska transmuted into Rocksteady in the mid-60s the influence of US R&B and soul was easy to spot, and whilst vocal trios and jazz-turned-Ska musicians still prevailed the rise of the Jamaican balladeer saw Coxsone sign and record some of the finest pre-reggae talent around. Bob Andy was that rare breed at Studio One - a singer/songwriter that relied on his own creativity rather than Dodd penning the hit - and this, his 1966 island-wide smash (later collected on the essential LP Bob Andy's Song Book) preempted his later international popularity with fellow Studio One artist and future I Three Marcia Griffiths on tracks such as "Young, Gifted and Black" and "Pied Piper".
34
Picture On The Wall - Freddie McKay
RIDDIM - Picture On The Wall
"Picture On The Wall" was cut for both Coxsone and Duke Reid's Treasure Isle, but as proto-reggae goes it's the Studio One cut that carries the most clout. Like (49) another ode to rejection and loss - a universal song theme that just goes to show that not all reggae necessarily concerns itself with Jah and di 'erb - but the question remains why he didn't just chuck that fucking photo in the bin and be shot of the cow. Oh well...
33
I'll Be Around - Otis Gayle
RIDDIM - I'll Be Around
Tune, tune, TUNE. A cover of the 1972 hit for the Drifters, "I'll Be Around" is perhaps the most soulful track Studio One ever put out, and it's a great shame that Otis Gayle's career did very little after this point (a handful of singles only is all he's got to show for one of most honeyed, almost Philly-sounding voices that ever recorded for Coxsone). The riddim here though - criminally underused and not really geared for the dancehall - is fyah: Jackie Mittoo's organ is the star, and whilst one could argue that Johnny Osbourne's spin on the version ("We Need Love") is even better it's the original cut that's the deepest for this skanker... speaking of which...
...another riddim later used by Coxsone for Osbourne (on "Can't Buy Love", also to be found like "We Need Love" on Truth & Rights), in which some ertswhile Skatalites (Dizzy Moore, Mittoo, Alphonso among them) were kept on by Dodd to form the latest incarnation of his Studio One house band. And it's testament to the enduring quality of both the track and the musicians that this riddim was still prevalent in Jamaican dancehalls throughout the 80s and 90s, with the likes of Frankie Paul, Gregory Isaacs and even Shabba Ranks versioning it. The original more than stands up on its own, however.
One of the most upfront roots tracks ever put out by Studio One, and one of only 5 45s cut by Brother Judah for Coxsone, "Jah Light" is something of an anomaly on this list. Far from being against Rastafari, given his dancehall/sound system origins Dodd's music was more about the dance, the vibe of roots reggae seeming to clash with his musical mindset at least from an outsider's point of view. That said, this song has always been prized by Studio One aficionados, so much so that it wound up on the killer Pirate's Choice compilation, released as a reaction to a bootleg 'best of Studio One' put out in Canada. Seriously worth tracking down for this scorcher, as well as (33) and at least one track that'll feature near the top of this lickle countdown an' t'ing...
Horace Andy's longevity is testament not only to a voice that could melt polar ice caps (as Massive Attack would later testify), but also - from a Studio One standpoint at least - to being given some of the best riddims to sing over. "Fever" is a classic case in point - a killer vibe later rebooted by dancehall kings Jammys and Junjo, amongst several others. This won't be the last time he pops up in the list either, in case anyone's wondering why this classic is as low down as it is...
29
Oh Mr. D.C - Sugar Minott
RIDDIM - Pressure And Slide
Although Minott would enjoy more popularity in the 80s (cutting for the likes of Wackies and Channel One, as well as through his own Black Roots imprint), his early work with Coxsone was some of the best he produced. Taking a well-trampled Tennors riddim (used previously by Prince Buster on "Shaking Down Orange Street" as well as others), Minott's stand-out Studio One moment was the flipside of rude boy, pleading with local law enforcement not to deprive a rural 'erb dealer of the only means to feed his family. Best heard on his Showcase LP, where it's presented inna Discomix stylee with the version immediately following the vocal cut.
28
Simmer Down - The Wailers
RIDDIM - N/A (covered by Johnny Clarke)
Regular readers will know that I'm not the biggest Bob Marley fan out there. So it's hardly a surprise that my all-time favourite Wailers track is this: pre-reggae, urgent, frenetic, raw - and Bob at his most pure vocally until he moved away from Studio One and Scratch and into the world of AOR. Indeed, I urge everyone reading this to pick up a copy of The Wailing Wailers to sample more pre-Island Wailers (and the original cut of "One Love"). As for "Simmer Down", the riddim was never re-used, although Johnny Clarke cut a cover of it in the mid-70s inna reggae style (which sounds bland to these ears. Stick with the original).
27
See A Man's Face - Horace Andy
RIDDIM - See A Man's Face
Quintessential Horace Andy - a conscious message, delivered with warmth, gusto, the purest vibrato, against a perfect backdrop of (what one can only assume) Jackie Mittoo's foreboding organ riff. Hardly the most celebrated or widely known track in his Coxsone discography - perhaps not helped by it first appearing on Studio One offshoot Sight 'N' Sound rather than the parent label - but on reflection not only one of Horace Andy's, but also Dodd's best.
26
When I Fall In Love - Ken Boothe
RIDDIM - When I Fall In Love
Coxsone was fortunate to be blessed with some major vocal talent in the late 60s. But for purity of voice and the smoothest of delivery Mr. Rocksteady himself couldn't be surpassed. I'd always held Ken Boothe's tracks in contempt over the years - a combination of his watery output in the 70s ("Everything I Own", for example") and being the face of "UK Pop Reggae" as the Clash coined it on "(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais". Then I heard his work for Coxsone. It's different league. There's loads of other Boothe cuts from his Studio One era to discover (try “Moving Away” or “Home Home Home” and also sample the Man & His Hits LP - "Thinking" was a whisker away from making this list, and I implore you to give it a listen), and from an outsider's point of view it's just a pity his later work saw his Brentford Road period output get tarred with the same pretty lame brush.
With John Holt having departed to start a solo career and having previously hopped ship to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle, the Paragons returned to Brentford Road in the mid-70s and cut what was arguably their best track for Coxsone. The horns make it - as well as the tight harmonies - but what's perhaps most enduring about "Danger In Your Eyes" is how Dodd obviously knew a killer riddim when he heard one, re-using it for a straight-up (albeit pitched up) cover by Judah Eskender Tafari 3 years later, as well as...
24
Eye Of Danger - Michigan & Smiley
RIDDIM - Danger In Your Eyes
Sing-jay stylee was all the rage of the early dancehall, and in Papa Michigan and General Smiley Dodd had two of its greatest exponents. The album they cut for Studio One - Rub-A-Dub Style - is wall-to-wall killer: 6 tracks of discomix with this being the standout. By no means the first DJs to cut for Coxsone (c.f. (45), Dennis Alcapone) nor the best (Prince Jazzbo and Lone Ranger were arguably more talented and had a deeper Studio One discography), but there's something irresistible about "Eye Of Danger" where M&S bounce off each other before the version/dub kicks in.
A belter of a rocksteady track, taken (unsurprisingly) from the stellar On Top LP. Recut at least twice by the Heptones for other producers (Phil Pratt, Scratch) and versioned all over the place, even up to the 2010s where Glen Washington (who cut a couple of LPs for Coxsone at the end of the 90s) reused it, "Party Time" is classic summer vibes stuff, and an utterly essential tune for any Studio One devotee.
More rocksteady, but this time from an act which should have had as much of a legacy of the Heptones. The Gaylads turned out 45s on an almost monthly basis for Studio One in the mid-late 60s, and virtually all of them are knockouts. This - the title track of their debut LP (called Rocksteady in the UK) - perfectly sums up the period: effortless groove, piano (Jackie Mittoo possibly?) runs and stabs, male harmonies. It's nigh-on perfect.
21
Feel Like Jumping - Marcia Griffiths
RIDDIM - Boops
It's impossible to overvalue Marcia Griffiths' contribution to Jamaican music. So often seen as a backing singer (from her early days with Byron Lee to her stint as support for The Wailers as an I Three) or the "and Marcia" in her duets with Bob Andy, she's been in the business for half a century and still maintains the credibility and longevity many of her counterparts have long since left behind. Her essential cut for Studio One will always be this - a groovy late-rocksteady classic (c. 1968) where instead of backing the likes of Marley or Andy it's her turn to take centre stage and tell the world what she wants to do. Cut on a riddim that most will know from Toots & The Maytals' "54-46", it's Studio One at its most anthemic.
Studio One goes Rockers. Freddie's best cut for Coxsone - conscious late 70s roots inna Studio One style, and the title track to his debut LP. Check out the above link for a tuff version of a riddim that ended up being a dancehall staple throughout the 80s and early 90s.
Killer, killer riddim (c.f. (50) from earlier in the list), and another example of Sleepy's vocal talent - a perfect mix of Alton Ellis, Marvin Gaye and James Brown, except chilled as fuck. Hypnotic early reggae stylings, great work by the Sound Dimension (guessing either Cedric Brooks or Deadly Headly on those sax breaks), and one of the best things Horace Andy laid his unique vocal stylings over. Essential. And speaking of riddims...
One of Dodd's most versioned tracks, most famously on Willi Williams' "Armagedion Time", later covered by the Clash. Dozens of uses of the riddim since its first appearance in 1967 (including by Coxsone himself - Johnny Osbourne's "Lend Me The Sixteen", Michigan & Smiley's "Nice Up The Dance" to name but two), but the original 1967 cut by Studio One's in-house band is the one.
Only lower down the order due to its history being tainted by that Godawful Steely and Clevie remix from the 90s with the U-Roy sample tacked on the front. Fucking disgrace, because this is not only a Studio One landmark, but still up there as one of the best female vocal performances from Jamaica. Vocal aside, the break (Sound Dimension again) is as synonymous with the track as the vocal. Surprisingly not versioned as much as you would expect for such a well-known riddim (although Ken Boothe had a go at it for Jammys - advice is don't bother), the original version is an all-time Jamaican classic.
16
Rockfort Rock - Sound Dimension
RIDDIM - Rockfort Rock
In which you can see Ska changing into Rocksteady before your very eyes. Some erstwhile Skatalites stuck around Brentford Road after Tommy McCook left and formed the Jamaican version of the Wrecking Crew, and this is perhaps their crowning glory. If you're looking to start with Studio One, this (17) and (18 ) are as close to a Holy Trinity as you'd hope to find.
Poor Larry - his missus sounds like a right pain in the neck. The riddim endured well into the 90s, long after The Mighty Diamonds had versioned it on "I Need A Roof", Sugar Minott's cover of which set the early dancehall scene on fyah in the late 70s.
14
I'm Still In Love - Alton Ellis
RIDDIM - I'm Still In Love With You
If you needed further proof as to Coxsone's ear for a good backing track this encapsulates it to a T. Arguably Studio One's most recognisable riddim, purely down to both covers by Marcia Aitken and Sean Paul (as well as it famously being used by Joe Gibbs on Althea & Donna's "Uptown Top Ranking"), this masterwork was penned not by Dodd but by Alton Ellis himself, who goes down along with Bob Andy as one of the great singer-songwriters of the rocksteady era.
Put out by Dodd in 1965 (on his Muzik City imprint), "Guns Of Navarone" stands up as both a boss track and one of the earliest exposures of ska to a Western (specifically British) audience. Taking its cue from the score of the 1961 film, it predates the rude boy fascination with Spaghetti Westerns that took hold throughout Kingston in the late 60s/early 70s (culminating in an age of Jamaican self-determination with their own take on the genre with The Harder They Come), and was Coxsone's first major success outside of Jamaica. Featuring Lee Perry's whelps and Roland Alphonso on 'vocals', it also showcases ska at its most vibrant and energetic. Alongside Prince Buster's "Al Capone", it's legacy is interwoven with the fabric of British working class society, from skinhead to the punk/reggae love-in in the late 70s. And all this despite the fact it sounds like it was recorded on something akin to a potato.
As per (14), another piece of self-penned gold from Alton Ellis, the riddim of which has been versioned a slew of legendary producers over the years (from Jammys to Junjo Lawes to Bobby Digital, and Coxsone himself for the likes of Michigan & Smiley and Brigadier Jerry), although it's the original version that drips like sonic honey. Perhaps only rivalled by his younger sister Hortense's cover inna showcase style.
Released in the mid-60s and originally the B-Side of a tepid cover of "Whistle While You Work" by The Soul Vendors, "Africa" is one of the most anachronistic and vital recordings to have ever come from Brentford Road. The Gaylads were one of Jamaica's foremost rocksteady combos (see (22) for their key work), but "Africa" is a radical departure from their oeuvre. Proto-roots, Afro-centric, weepin'-and-a-wailin' akin to Scratch at his finest, Nyabinghi drumming (likely Count Ossie) - the whole track is remarkable and a clear indication of the influence of Rastafari starting to seep into the Jamaican music industry, even in the days when Rasta was seen by the general populous as outside civil society and as anti-commercial as Britney Spears having Napalm Death as her backing band. The fact that it's The Gaylads' best track considering the quality of their other work speaks volumes.
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