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IndexLast updated: 3. Dezember 1999
compiled by Mr. Braunov, Dec. 1999
Laurel Aitken, "The Godfather of Ska". Born in Cuba seventy years ago, he moved to Jamaica at age eleven, starting his career in music in his teens singing to tourists. He released several calypso singles on 78rpm speed records from the early fifties starting with Stanley Motta's label, Jamaica's first record label before there was even a pressing plant on the island, they had to send the master tapes to England where the records were manufactured, then sent back to Jamaica to be sold.
He adopted the U.S. R&B style in the mid-fifties that dominated the sound of Jamaica's pioneer soundsystems. He won important new talent competitions singing R&B ballads, but it was the downbeat boogie shuffle style that was to make him famous by the late fifties. He scored his first big hit in 1959 when the young Chris Blackwell debuted his production career with the recording of Island records' first release "Boogie In My Bones". It remained eleven weeks at number one on the Jamaican hit parade, a milestone by any day's standards.
Chris licensed this to the small Starlite label in England, where it was extremely popular with the budding West Indian immigrant community that found it hard to obtain popular new records from home. After a series of hits for Chris and various other producers, Laurel made his first visit to England in 1960 where he received a star's welcome, breaking box office records. "El Cubana", as he is sometimes known, was the first of many Jamaican artistes to have an impact on Britain, epitomizing and popularizing the new Jamaican Bluesbeat.
It was his tune "Boogie Rock" in 1960 that launched Bluebeat in England, the first label outside of Jamaica to solely release Jamaican music. He soon after emigrated to England, where he championed Jamaican music throughout the sixties, continually performing on stage and on record. In 1968 and 1969, while acknowledged as "the high priest of reggae," Laurel produced some of the finest "skinhead" reggae tunes of all time, establishing himself in the frontline of public appeal as "your boss skinhead, Mr. Cleanhead". Here he is paying tribute to his ska fans with a cover of what was originally a Chris Blackwell-Island Records '67 production of Sonny Burke's rudie anthem.
Backed by Steve Harris' London-based ska band Freetown, this wicked version features the legendary Jamaican King trombonist Rico Rodriguez. In true Laurel style, this Anglo-Jamaican ska rhythm has a typically late sixties skinhead reggae underlying bass-line complementing his unique voice. Today his international youth following is bigger than ever, the scale of his stardom matching his inimitable personality - no roster of current ska talent could be really complete without the "Fantastic Lorenzo". Calling all rude boys, the Godfather's in town, and when Laurel is around there's always 'nuff "Rudy Girl."
The album Ska Island has been produced by Gaz Mayall.
Copyright 1997, Island Trading Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Laurel
Aitken - Home
Laurel
Aitken - Disco
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Aitken - Biblio
Rico's
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