Rocksteady, Ska

[reggae_ragga]

I got a question
Barrington Lewellyn - No Sad Songs
Totts & The Maytals - Pressure Drop
Carltone & Shoes - Love Is All

those songs have similar rhythms
is that rocksteady or ska?


and songs like simmer down by wailers or reggae wiggle by gorge, what style would that be? ska?

[reggae_ragga]

I really need to know

[reggae_ragga]

the first 3 come in like it was from "harder they come" era the other 2 I really have no clue must have been 50s or 40s

[reggae_ragga]

pressure drop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eATaV2umnEs

carlton & shoes
http://www.zshare.net/audio/78386140a9368f1b/

sad songs:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/783861612f4bdeda/



wiggle:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/7838620950cfac1f/

[AnorakTrev]

Definitely NOT Rocksteady or Ska ! I would class these as early reggae imo .

[reggae_ragga]

oh, it didn't have a name back then huh? what about blue beat was that reggae or r&b?

[reggae_ragga]

and what exactly makes rocksteady?

[AnorakTrev]

I suppose you could , for want of a better phrase , class early reggae as " skinhead reggae " or fast reggae . A lot of this style of reggae was exported to the UK to cater for the UK dancehalls of `69/`70 where it went down a storm with the youth of the day , before it got sullied by the fascist element who turned the skinhead fashion into a violent movement !!

Rocksteady came about after ska , due to a heatwave and people getting too hot in the dance . A classic Rocksteady album would have to be " Take It Easy " by Hopeton Lewis . Check it out if you can , this is THE definitive Rocksteady sound (tu)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQmENXQcU8E

Bluebeat was mainly Prince Buster recordings that came out on the " Blue Beat " record label , from I guess about `60 on to `69 , starting off with Duke Reid recordings which were , as you say , r&b , shuffle and ska style . Prince Buster is a style of his own , encompassing late ska through rocksteady into an early form of reggae .

[reggae_ragga]

thanks alot for this information.

[davek]

and what exactly makes rocksteady?

Rocksteady almost always has the lead guitar and bass playing the same line in unison.

Keep in mind that when ska moved to rock-steady, it was a gradual transition, so you have some records that have elements of both. Same with the transition from rocksteady to reggae. It wasn't as if they changed styles overnight.