WHAT DID THE BOVINE SKA AND ROCKSTEADY DO LAST WEEK?

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 9/10/2014: Remembering Hopeton Lewis

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We were very saddened to hear about the passing of legendary vocalist, Hopeton Lewis, on September 4th.  Hopeton had passed away at his home in Brooklyn last Thursday after a long battle with kidney disease.  Hopeton was a guest on the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady back in 2006, a very sweet and reverent man, who had been almost exclusively performing non-secular music for the last thirty years.  When we spoke back then he still had great affection for his earliest cuts for Merritone, Treasure Isle and Dynamic.  There are his landmark tracks such as his first hit, 1966’s “Take It Easy,”  which many people consider the very first rocksteady tune ever recorded, and the track he would record the same year, “Cool Collie,” the very first Jamaican record to openly speak about the positive effect of marijuana.

Hopeton Lewis was born in Kingston and raised in Burnt Savannah, Westmoreland. At the age of 6, he began signing for the Burnt Savannah Holiness Church, which was his starting point for his passion for music. As a young boy, he returned to Kingston to live with his grandparents. At the age of 15, his grandparents passed away, and Hopeton was left on his own to survive in Kingston. As a young man, he quickly entered the music industry in order to fulfill his love for singing and also to try to earn a living.   He began his recording career as a member of the vocal group, The Regals, by cutting a side at Coxsone’s Wincox label.  Not much came of it, so he took his smooth voice and began a solo career at Merritone where he scored a hit with the aforementioned “Take It Easy.” which stayed at the top of the charts for weeks and sold over 10,000 copies!

Take It Easy

Hopeton Lewis’ “Take It Easy” LP on Merritone

After leaving Merritone in 1967, Hopeton had brief stops at “JJ’s” and “Fab” before finding more success with Duke Reid at his Treasure Isle label.   Besides singing backup for many of the Duke’s established artists, his turn at lead vocals there would result in a Festival Song Competition winner with “Boom Shaka-Laka.”  He would move to Byron Lee’s Dynamic label and the hits kept on coming as “Grooving Out On Life,” the title track from his full length LP released in 1973 became a signature song for Hopeton.

On the September 10th edition of the Bovine Ska, we took you on a musical trip through Hopeton’s career and tried to help you get a better picture of his progression as one of the most talented vocalists in Jamaican music history.

Listen to the full spotlight and the show via the WMBR archives here:  LISTEN NOW

This link will be active until 9/23/2014. Enjoy!

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 9/3/2014: The West Indians

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We had a lot of fun putting together with last week’s Bovine Ska and Rocksteady because we were armed at the beginning with a great 7″ from Lloyd Charmers on the Green Door label from 1973 entitled, “Save the People.” We followed up that track with another seven tasty early reggae recordings from 1969-1975, including great ones from from the magnificent Scotty and the triumphant King Stitt.

For the spotlight of the September 20th edition of the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady, we featured the rocksteady and reggae recordings from the beautiful trio known as The West Indians.

Strange Whispering on the Camel label - 1969

Strange Whispering on the Camel label – 1969

The West Indians were Leslie Burke, Hector Brooks, and Eric Donaldson. Not too much is known about Leslie Burke or Hector Brooks, but we do know a bit about Eric Donaldson. Born in 1947 in St. Catherine, Eric Donaldson originally recorded for Coxone, but, as with many other artists, Coxone decided not to release any of his recordings. After this first stint at a solo career, he joined Burke and Brooks to record as The West Indians. During their career together, The West Indians scored a minor hit in 1968 with, “Right On Time.”

Then, in 1971 Eric Donaldson released, “Cherry Oh Baby,” which won the festival song competition that year, launching his solo career. Consequently, The West Indians would exist as a vocal group for another year until 1972, when they parted ways. The West Indians best recordings happened with JJ Johnson and Lee Scratch Perry, and the spotlight began with two of their rocksteady tracks released on President in 1967.

Listen to the full spotlight and the show via the WMBR archives here: LISTEN NOW

This link will be active until 9/16/2014. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 8/27/14: Spotlight on the SEP Label

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This August 27th, 2014 edition of the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady radio show on WMBR featured a two hour retrospective on Lindon Pottinger’s SEP Label, so you know what that means…Yes, two hours of classic skaand rocksteady produced by Pottinger from 1963 to 1967.

“Ska Is Here To Stay” by Karl Bryan from 1963

SEP Label

Years before entering the music industry, Sonia Durrant and Lindon Pottinger had experience with accounting.  After their marriage, the two began to open businesses together in Jamaica, ranging from a bicycle store to a shop that sold Sonia’s homemade patties.  However, their business focus shifted in 1961 when Lindon began producing records, and as his career progressed, he eventually established Golden Arrow, Gaydisc, and the label that is the focus of our spotlight tonight, SEP, the record label bearing Sonia’s initials. Upon the creation of the record labels, Lindon also opened a recording studio in the Pottinger home. This would be the first recording studio to be opened and owned by an Afro-Jamaican. The records from the Pottinger’s labels sold at the Tip Top record shop on Orange Street, which increased their presence on the growing music center in Kingston.

This show focuses just on the SEP releases, featuring tracks from all SEP artists including Roy and Millie, Lord Tanamo, and Winston Samuels.

Here is a link to hear this radio show from the WMBR Archive.  The link to this show will be active until September 10th, 2014.  LISTEN NOW

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 8/20/2014: Ken Parker Spotlight

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On the August 20th edition of the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady, we started off the show with two sets of ska, which included the track, “Can the Poor Survive” from the Four Aces, a single never before played on the BSR. After the mento set of the week, we were delighted to present an interview with Ken Parker to commence the spotlight on the great vocalist.

Ken Parker

Though Ken Parker eventually had a fantastic set of tracks as a soloist, he began his music career as a backup vocalist. When he left Westmoreland Parish and arrived in Kingston, Ken matched up with two men named Bill and Gil to back up vocalists at Studio One as the backing group, The Blues Blenders. During this time period, they would audition for other labels and would cut a few tracks for Coxone’s competitor, King Edwards.

When the Blues Blenders eventually got the chance to audition as a spotlight vocal group, Bill and Gil did not show up for the audition, and Ken went for the audition as a solo artist. After a successful try out, he would stay at Coxone as a soloist for Studio One, where Coxone would give him Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, and Jim Reeves records in order for Ken to pick the singer’s style that most appealed to him, and the influence of these artists can definitely be heard throughout his recordings. In addition, Ken credits Coxone Dodd as the man who taught him how to sing in the reggae style as compared to a gospel ballad style, which was the way that Ken was most familiar with.

The Ken Parker spotlight includes his recordings with the Blues Blenders and his solo tracks for producers Coxone Dodd, Duke Reid, Bunny Lee, Joe Gibbs, and Lloyd Charmers. It includes Ken Parker’s ska and reggae recordings and two of his most beautiful gospel tracks.

Here is the archive link for this special Ken Parker spotlight, which will be available via the WMBR website until 9/1/2014. LISTEN NOW

Our show can be heard live in the Boston area on 88.1FM, WMBR Cambridge from midnight to 2 am ET on Tuesday nights/Wednesday early mornings or anywhere online at WMBR.ORG.

Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 8/13/14: Norman T. Washington Spotlight

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On the August 13th edition of the Bovine Ska and Rocksteady, we started off the show with two sets of ska, a set of mento, and a set of early reggae to prepare us  for our spotlight of the week, the soul and reggae recordings of Norman T. Washington.

Norman T. Washington on the single cover of Tip Toe

Norman T. Washington on the single cover of Tip Toe

Norman T. Washington, like so many West Indian artists who went to England, would not bring Jamaican rhythms to his earliest recordings. In the case of Jimmy Cliff and Jackie Edwards, for example, both were packaged as soul and pop singers for Chris Blackwell. Like both of these artists, Norman T. Washington would also begin with soul tracks, first recording for Pama. He would then similarly record great reggae cuts later in his career. We started off the spotlight with 5 tracks of the soul kind for the mighty Pama imprint.

Here is the archive for the 8/13/14 show which will be up on the WMBR archive until 8/26/14.  LISTEN NOW

Our show can be heard live in the Boston area on 88.1FM, WMBR Cambridge or anywhere online at WMBR.ORG.