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4. THE SIXTIES: FROM ROCKSTEADY TO REGGAE

Ska desperately needed to move on. By the summer of 1966 it had been around for more than half a decade, and
while the songs had grown in sophistication, the basic rhythm and arrangements hadn't. There was still the
defining off-beat emphasis over a walking bass pattern. The rock steady concept brought the new idea ska sought.

"The rhythm was experimented with," noted Barrow, "and it was slowed down because of what was happening with
the rude boys in the dancehalls. Roy Shirley says he made "Hold Them" in 1965. He could have done it as a slow
rhythm, but I don't think it was rock steady. Hopeton Lewis went in to do a ska tune, "Take It Easy," and he
couldn't manage it on the rhythm, so he said to play it slow. They played it half-speed, and when it was done,
someone said to him, 'That rock steady, man, that's rockin' steady'. And that's how the name came about. He
claims he was before Studio One, Beverley's, everyone with rock steady (the record was released on Federal)."

That's one version of the history, and perhaps more likely than some others. The advent of rock steady has
also been attributed to an extremely hot summer, which forced all the dancers to move more slowly - to rock,
instead of move wildly - and that was reflected in the new sides appearing. It's also been said the sound came
from musicians' dissatisfaction with the ska beat, and the search for something new. Whatever the true reason,
it was decidedly different from ska.

"It broke up the rhythm," explained Barrow. "It had the effect of making the bass play in clusters, a
pattern, rather than a continuous line. The drums and everything fell in with that. [Guitarist] Lynn Taitt
was the guy who orchestrated that. Not enough people mention him. He was one of the great unsung heroes of
Jamaican music, and he was a Trinidadian."

Inevitably, the new rhythm proved very popular ("Take It Easy" sold 10,000 copies in a single weekend) party
because it was new, and also because dancers didn't have to expend so much energy and could stay on the
floor longer.

Whereas Coxsone Dodd and his Studio One label had dominated ska, it now became Duke Reid's turn in the
pole position, as Treasure Isle quickly established itself as the home of the new sound. He took Alton Ellis
from Dodd, to add to his stable, which included The Paragons and Dobby Dobson, all backed by a new studio
band, The Supersonics, led by Tommy McCook. After the 1964 breakup of The Skatalites, McCook recalled,
"Coxsone formed the Soul Vendors, and I was asked to lead it. I said I didn't want to right then, I needed
some rest after being under pressure. About a couple of weeks later I did say okay, and renamed the band the
supersonics. All I had to do was play music and rehearse the band, unlike the Skatalites, where I'd had to do
everything. We had a steady weekly gig, they were playing salaries, and that made it easier. Then we became
a Treasure Isle recording group. A lot of the pressure was off me, and we were doing pretty good."

Among the vocal groups they backed for Reid were The Techniques, one of the best of the era. With hits like
"Queen Majesty" and "Love Is Not A Gamble" they were a major force, and a training ground for a number of
singers who'd progress to solo careers, like Slim Smith and Lloyd Parks, who worked with the core of
Winston Riley and Frederick Waite.

But the change hadn't edged Prince Buster out of the picture. Having scored hits himselfduring the time of
ska, as well as being one of its leading producers, he continued to release material, with "Judge Dread" in
particular becoming huge, its castigation of the Rude boy style triggering a number of like-minded songs from
other artists.

Although ska had flared briefly in England, the flame didn't take full hold until rock steady hit. After that
the music's profile rose sharply, thanks to two factors - the Trojan record label, which licensed a great deal
of Jamaican product, and an artist who enjoyed a string of hits. The budget-priced Trojan Tighten Up
compilations gave listeners volumes of Jamaican music, and were vital listening to anyone with any degree of
interest. Their sheer cheapness brought a lot of the curious on board, many of whom proceeded to catch the
bug, and explore the music more deeply. But the person who became the face of rock steady in the U.K. was
Desmond Dekker (born Desmond Dacres).

He'd been a part of Leslie Kong's Beverley stable since 1962, but it wasn't until 1967 that he scored his first
real hit with "007 (Shanty Town)," one of the many responses to "Judge Dread." In the U.K. the single
(issued by Trojan) went to #12, and began a string of hits for Dekker which would extend into 1969, by which
time Jamaica was already in thrall to reggae. His biggest song, "Israelites," reached #1 in Britain, Canada,
Sweden, West Germany, Holland, and South Africa, and gave Dekker his only U.S. chart exposure, climbing to #9.

The nascent skinhead movement, an outgrowth of the Mods, lapped up rock steady, as well as a singles from the
cusp as the genre grew into reggae, like The Pioneers' "Long Shot Kick The Bucket" and The Upsetter's "Return
of Django," to the extent that in England the music became known as skinhead reggae.

The prime time of the style was brief, at least in Jamaica, however. It ran from mid-1966 to the close of 1967
when, according to singer Morgan, "we didn't like the name rock steady, so I tried a different version of "Fat
Man" (one of his early hits). It changed the beat again, it used the organ to creep. Bunny Lee, the producer,
liked that. He created the sound with the organ and the rhythm guitar. It sounded like 'reggae, reggae' and
that name just took off. Bunny Lee started using the world and soon all the musicians were saying 'reggae,
reggae, reggae.'"

Again, it's up in the air as to who really invented reggae, although the first record to bear the name was
"Do The Reggae" (or "Reggay") by The Maytals in 1968. According to historian Barrow, it was producer
Clancy Eccles who coined the term, taking street slang for a loose woman - streggae - and changing it slightly.
The music itself was faster than rock steady, but tighter and more complex than ska, with obvious debts to both
styles, while going beyond them both.

And like any new music, it had its young guns, in this case producers Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and Bunny Lee,
and engineer Osborne 'King Tubby' Ruddock. Perry had worked for Coxsone Dodd, often surpervising the production
work, without receiving the glory and money which went along with that. Ruddock had worked for Duke Reid, and
also ran his own sound system, Home Town Hi-Fi. His background as an electrical engineer meant that his system
sported some unique, home made gadgets, echo in particular, that helped set it apart from others.