Roots Archives Forum

Hey Folks!
I have been asked to do a rocksteady-selection in between the brakes of a ska/reggae concert. Diggin in my crates i realized, that my entire rocksteady-stuff on vinyl is on studio 1.
Nothing wrong with that, but since there have been other labels as well , i was wondering what your top ten non-studio1-rocksteady lp (albums & samplers) might be..
Please feel free to recommend also must-have 7" which have not been released on lp as well.
Bless, nilo

some of my fave rocksteady are on these mostly compilation albums:
put on your best dress- sonia pottingers rocksteady 67-68
gems from treasure isle- duke reid productions
red bumb ball, rare and unreleased rocksteady 66-68 various
dance all night- various
its rockin time- duke reids rocksteady 67-68
ba ba boom- duke reid
jumping with mr lee 67-68- bunny lee
the techniques- classics
u roy- version galore
paragons- my best girl wears my crown 66-68

and a real little gem i played nearly to death when it came out is bitty macleans on bond street, modern vocals over classic treasure isle riddims.

ital kemar

Some killer tunes on these compilations:

Here Comes The Duke (Treasure Isle)
Hottest Hits (volumes 1 to 3) (Treasure Isle)
Duke Reid Golden Hits (Treasure Isle)
Soul Ska - Byron Lee All Stars

Slightly later - but you should get away with some of the earlier stuff on Trojans 'Rebel Music' compilation.

Basically for non studio one rocksteady, Duke Reid/Treasure Isle should be your main port of call!

MightyZ

TREASURE ISLE!!!!!

yeah Treasure Isle all the way.
Here Comes the Duke, Soul of Jamaica, any Paragons comp.
The Treasure Isle Dubs - outstanding, essential.

OK, I'll put a bit more effort into this (all CD comps - so I hope it is still relevant/helpful):

Joe Gibbs 'Get on Up'

Treasure Isle 'Soul of Jamaica/Here Comes the Duke'

Paragons greatest hits (!?) don't have the CD close by to tell you what label but a great collection. 'Riding High on a Windy Day' what a classic.

Oh yes, one of my favourites - Keith and Tex 'Stop That Train' and it's on vinyl. Derrick Harriott label. Shouldn't be too hard to find. This is some of the best Rock Steady you will ever hear - IMHO!

Tommy McCook and the Supersonics 'Down on Bond Street'

John Holt 'Tonight at Treasure Isle' great collection.

That seems to be all I can come up with.

Bunny Lee produced some Rock Steady but I don't seem to have any at all. how did that happen?

Hope this helps. I think Rock Steady is in some ways way more important in relation to what came after than Ska - particularly the electric bass which was a revolution. No other people besides Jamaicans (with the exception of some soul and funk people) took to the electric bass so enthusiastically and pushed it to the front of the mix. Revolutionary - still mind bendingly progressive.

Hope you find some good tunes to soothe the savage crowd

" Bobby Aitken Presents Rocksteady-Original and Red Hot .1966/67. " Avaliable on vinyl on NextStep.

Try tracking this one down ! It`s cheap and readily avaliable.( Try SystemRecords ? ).Some excellent Val Bennett instrumentals.Worth it just for Ken Parker`s " The Search Is Over "

All the tracks are cut from Bobby Aitken`s master tapes.

Very,very early Rocksteady.Rough and ready, absolutely essential,IMHO.

More CD comps. :

Socking Good Time - V.A. - Trojan
Jamaican RockSteady Party - V.A. - CastlePulse
Caltone Special - V.A. - Attack

Check out Dub Vendor in the Deals section,the Caltone Special up for grabs @ £5.00,plus more rocksteady stuff !!All the stuff above can be got for a song if you do your homework,Amazon etc. etc.

Vinyl :

Feel Like Jumping - V.A. - Receiver Records. Slightly harder to find,check out ebay.( This is taken from 45`s,so quality not 100%,as is Caltone Special )

And as mentioned above,the Treasure Isle stuff is great.

@ leggo this was the thread I was thinking about. And a noble endeavour for sure.
@=Nilo82= keep the rock steady pumping and making your dance cool
+Nilo82+ = ++++++
!!!

Thank you all for your help, it's very much appreciated!
My first thoughts were on treasure island material as well but i didn't have an overview at all. I'll check out your recommendations, i'm it's plenty of good stuff.

@ACEtone: i didn't get the last line of your post but i promise to keep the rock steady pumping and make the dance cool
Bless, Nilo