Alton Ellis ‎– Rise And Fall / Earl Sixteen – Make Up Your Mind (1979)

“Taken from the recently reissued ‘Many Moods Of Alton Ellis’ album and produced by Earl ‘Heptone’ Morgan this is roots flavoured Alton with some great Heptones harmonies on a cut to Earl 16’s ‘The World Has Just Begun’. Second side features Earl himself on a treatment of the wicked rhythm used for Junior Delgado’s ‘Don’t Study Wrong’.”
Dub Vendor
Podomatic (Video)
YouTube: Alton Ellis ‎– Rise And Fall, Earl Sixteen – Make Up Your Mind

Alton Ellis – Mad Mad (1967)

“With an exuberant blast of brass, ‘Mad Mad’ surged into the sound systems in 1967 to eventually become one of Studio One’s most beloved riddims. Intricately arranged by Jackie Mittoo, the song was not one of the label’s typically lavish rocksteady fare. For starters, the melody line was slighter and far less lush than usual, while the chorus didn’t actually jog with the verses. However, Mittoo made it work regardless, building the arrangement around a compulsive rhythm, jangling cowbell and the song’s signature brass line, all offset only by Mittoo’s own sparkling piano…and Alton Ellis’s soulful vocals abetted by the warm harmonies, of course. … It was a particular favorite of Junjo Lawes, who scored big with the song’s most popular version, Michigan & Smiley’s ‘Diseases’, and continues to be versioned to this day.”
allmusic
YouTube: Mad Mad / Diseases (Alton Ellis, Michigan & Smiley)

Alton Ellis – Black Man’s Pride (1972)

“Now here was a song to be proud of, one of those timeless Studio One classics, that bar the give away reggae arrangement and production could have dated from any era, and whose rhythm could easily be revived today. Alton Ellis doesn’t so much offer up lyrics as a few powerful reiterated catch phrases – ‘Blackman’s pride,’ ‘Blackman’s right,’ ‘we need our freedom so set us free,’ ‘gotta be free’ – but oh he delivers them, every word he utters reverberates with emotion. Behind him, the studio band have found their groove, and led by the pumping bass-line trot it proudly round the room. It’s a fabulous backing, loosely based on The Heptones’ classic ‘Baby’, and the arrangement blends a funky feel, lashings of R&B laced picked guitar, a hint of wah-wah rock around the keyboards, and splashes of brass for emphasis. There’s a jammy flavor to it all, and one feels the band could spin it on for hours to their everyone in earshot’s delight. Reggae at its bluesy, rocky best, a top notch single from 1972.”
allmusic

YouTube: Black Mans Pride

Alton Ellis – Sunday Coming (1970)

“Alton Ellis is one of the best Jamaican vocalists to have emerged during the ska and rocksteady periods in the ’60s. His singing prowess remained intact through the reggae, dancehall, and ragga years as well, proving that his uniquely soulful delivery and impeccable phrasing could transcend reggae’s many changes. Recording with his preferred producer Clement Dodd, Ellis cut Sunday Coming around 1969-1970 at Dodd’s legendary Brentford Road studio. Most likely backed by the producer’s Sound Dimension band (featuring the great Jackie Mittoo as arranger and organist), Ellis offers up a typical set of originals and choice covers from the day’s charts. …”
allmusic

“Sunday Coming is an 1970 album by Jamaican rocksteady singer Alton Ellis. It was produced by Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd and recorded at his Brentford Road studio. The album was originally released on Dodd’s Coxsone label and subsequently reissued on CD in 1995 on Heartbeat Records.”
Wikipedia

YouTube: Sunday Coming, It’s True, These Eyes

Alton Elllis – Cry Tough (1993)

“Cry Tough is a 1993 collection of Alton Ellis recordings from the rocksteady era of 1966-1968. It was released in 1993 by Heartbeat Records, and features the pick of Ellis’ work for Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, plus some tracks produced by Sonia Pottinger. The album contains most of Ellis’ original Mr. Soul of Jamaica album, and contains the same tracks as the 1973 Greatest Hits compilation on Count Shelly Records, plus eight additional tracks. Several of the tracks are alternate takes of some of his biggest hits from the era. The backing band is the Treasure Isle studio band of the time, Tommy McCook and the Supersonics.”
Wikipedia

“Although Alton Ellis was never to receive the international recognition of such contemporaries as Desmond Dekker or Delroy Wilson, the singer was at least their equal. Launching his career as the duo of Alton & Eddie (Parkins) at the dawn of the ska age, Ellis’ career has continued unabated since, both as partner with other singers (including his equally talented sister Hortense Ellis) and as a solo artist. Although he recorded for a multitude of producers, some of his most glittering work during the rocksteady/early reggae eras was cut with Duke Reid, and it is from Reid’s Treasure Isle chest that this compilation is drawn. There were scores of classics to choose from, and Cry Tough contains many of the best, a sumptuous entrance to the singer’s world. …”
allmusic

YouTube: Cry Tough Extended, All My Tears Come Rolling, Willow Tree, I Can’t Stop Now, Remember That Sunday, Chatty chatty, Ain’t That Loving You.

Ranking Trevor – Savana- La- Mar Special (1978)

YouTube: Savana- La- Mar Special

Lloyd Daley’s Matador Productions, 1968-1972

“Like many of reggae’s best producers, Lloyd Daley remains virtually unknown outside of Jamaica, though his name and that of his Matador label will evoke smiles of recognition among hardcore reggae fans. Heartbeat was the first American label to release a compilation of classic Matador sides, and the result is spectacular. There are many predictable gems from famous artists — notably U Roy, who toasts in classic fashion on ‘Sound of the Wise,’ and Alton Ellis, whose ‘Back to Africa’ is one of the truly archetypal repatriation anthems — but even more impressive are the stellar contributions from the relative unknowns. Perhaps the best track on the album is the deeply moving ‘Cholera’ by the Jesters, a beautiful and melancholy depiction of the horror of contagious disease in a tropical climate; on the lighter side are equally fine songs by obscure harmony groups like the Creators (‘Bad Name’) and the Caribbeans (‘Let Me Walk By’), and the exquisite ‘Repatriation’ by Audley Rollins.”
allmusic (Video)
“Lloyd Daley also known as Matador (born 12 July 1939, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican electronic technician, sound system pioneer and reggae producer. Daley worked as a linotype apprentice for short time, while attending Kingston Technical High School, where he graduated in electronics. He built his first amplifier to boost the signal strength of his army surplus walkie-talkie, and he converted this amplifier into a sound system amplifier, and in 1956 started his ‘Lloyd’s the Matador’ sound system at Victoria Avenue, one of the first sound systems in Jamaica, named after bullfighters.”
Wikipedia

YouTube: Bongo Nyah – Little Roy, LLOYD CHARMERS – ZYLON, Death A Come – Lloyd Robinson, Let Me Walk By – The Caribbeans, AUDLEY ROLLINS – Repatriation, Dennis Brown – Things In Life, Owe Me No Pay Me – The Ethiopians, Back To Africa- Alton Ellis, The Viceroys – Take your hand from my neck, THE SCORCHERS – Ugly man, Deliver Us – Blake Boy

Alton Ellis – Hey World / Harder And Harder (1971)

BAMBOO. Produced By Junior Lincoln 1971….A-SIDE: Hey World, B-SIDE:Harder Harder.
YouTube: Hey World, Harder & Harder