J'can Popular Music:  The Early 1960s

By Winston Barnes

Jamaica’s first internationally recognized Pop Music expression emerged from a mixture of previously recognized influences. The music came from ghetto areas of western Kingston which was inhabited by folk from the rural areas of Jamaica trying to make it in the big town.

Hence the influence of Mento and Kumina. But, equally important, religious realities began to seep into the Pop Music of the day. "Time To Pray" was a song out of the very early sixties and it should be remembered that the Maytals began recording as a gospel group. The origin and appeal therefore, of the music of the Ska era was initially a ghetto reality. Soon however, the sound was picked up by uptown bands who attempted to make it respectable by softening the bass line and taking off the edge of the Ska riff.

Byron Lee and the Draganaires, an aggregation which recently celebrated twenty years in the business, emerged at this time along with groups like the Granville Willaims Orchestra, Carlos Malcolm and the Afro-Jamaican rhythms. Although the music which was now being created was rather prettified the original flavour remained in no small way through the efforts of a group called Skatalites. This group reputedly the finest group of Jamaican musicians at the time. The major guiding light being the extremely creative if Eccentric Don Drummond, a tronbonist who was leader of groups as far back as the late 1930’s. Whereas the few performers who made international impact were not directly associated with the Skatalites, this group of top notch musicians maintained prominence for years. Many hit songs which made the newly emerging record charts of the two radio stations in the country had the Skatalites as a group or strongly represented as studio session men. From the Maytals through Dotty and Bunny to Delroy Wilson, worked with the Skatalites on records or live.

But as has been suggested elsewhere, a grouping of such outstanding artists is bound to run into problems. Late 1963 Don Drummond ended up in the asylum with the new year bringing more problems. The final result was a split from which two groups emerged. Tommy McCook the saxophonist formed the Supersonics and went to the Duke Reid stable while Coxsone kept Roland Alphanso and his group the Soul Brothers.

Making Noises Abroad

While these developments tended to directly affect the local developments, a few performers were making noises abroad, as far as London and even in the tough North American market. Millie Small’s prettied up Ska version of "My Boy Lollipop" was the most notable success of this period and continues to be aired in North America as an oldie.

Others took off for London and recording contracts. The names include Wilfred Jackie Edwards, Derrick Morgan, Owen Gray and the legendary Laurel Aitken. Ska became known as blue beat in Europe. The influence of rhythm and blues remained as integral part of the Jamaican performer’s resource material. Out of this period came the Maytals and classics like "Pain In My Belly" and "Dog War" with all the folk and religious influences referred to earlier. This was also the days of groups like Drifters and the Impressions in the rhythm and blues arena. Hence the sound of the Wailers on records like "It Hurts To Be Alone" and the Skatalites sounds on recording like "Simmer Down".

Live performances also played a part in the promotion of the music. The Glass Bucket Club and Sombrero uptown hosted Byron Lee and the Dragonaires and Carlos Malcolm abd his Afro-Jamaican rhythms while the Skatalites were a fixture at the Bournemouth Club in east Kingston. Christmas morning concerts starred in the thirties, continued with stage show featuring the more popular bands backing chart-topping singers both on Christmas morning and Boxing Day morning.

One of the influences Jamaican music has left very strongly for much longer than some of us would care to admit is the whole Rasta experience. One single example should suffice. This is the teaming up of Count Ossie and his Drummers with the Folkes Brothers for the all time classic "Oh Carolina."

But Count Ossie and his Drummers go back to the late 1950s. Recording from that period bear the legend ‘Count Ossie and the Wareikers, the name of one of Count Ossie’s early groupings. The early 1960’s therefore, was the period where Jamaican music, while still under the influence of foreign music makers, began to find validity in the Jamaican experience still borrowing from folk entities and also making inroads via Jamaican communities abroad. The stand out instrumental group of the era was the Skatalites while vocal groupings like the Maytals and the Wailers emerged as both hitmakers and live concert perfomers.

Coxsone (C.S. Dodd) and Duke Reid remained the top Jamaican producers. This was therefore the period when Jamaican Pop Music began to make an impact a new music which brought together very creative musicians and singers which was causing the world outside the Jamaicans shores to stop and give a listen. The early sixties was the Ska era and Ska was becoming the sound of Jamaican popular music.