The prestige, pre-eminence and, perhaps more importantly, the permanent
influence of
Jamaica on popular music the world over has been unparalleled and
unprecedented
and whether it is ska, rock steady, roots, dub raga, dancehall or basement, all
music
originating from Jamaica has been termed reggae.
‘Do you know what reggae really is Reggae is the same as rock steady but
with the
organ shuffle. It's the shuffle that kinda carried up the rock steady.....if
you take out that
you get rock steady! The organ shuffle kind a make it sound a little
faster…the
shuffling…plenty people a talk but they don't know. Reggae is the organ
shuffle…’
Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee
The languid, laid back rock steady beat that reigned supreme in
Kingston's dance halls
for the previous two years started to speed up in the Autumn of 1968 as the
faster,
brasher reggae rhythms came to the fore. Many claimed to have originated the
new
beat…
‘All those singers used to like to listen to one another…anytime you'd
voice Slim Smith
or Delroy Wilson then you'd find Alton Ellis up at the studio listening to
them.....every
one of them was good in their own right’
Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee
The finer points of what is, and what is not, reggae are invariably lost on
all but serious
devotees of the music, however, pedantry should never stand in the way of
appreciation. We would respectfully advise you to simply listen
and enjoy…