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Alton Ellis
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Kingston, Jamaica
Alton Ellis (1938-2008) was a musician best known as the innovator of rocksteady music. He began recording in the late 1950s and continued until his death in 2008, but he reached his period of greatest popularity in the late 1960s.
Ellis was born in Trenchtown, a poor area of Kingston, Jamaica, and learned to play the piano at a young age. In his teens, Alton and Eddie Perkins formed Alton & Eddie, and began recording for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, scoring a hit in 1958 with “Muriel”.
Ellis launched his solo career after Perkins left for the United States around 1965. He moved to Treasure Isle and began recording with the back-up trio The Flames. His first hit for Treasure Isle was “Dance Crasher”, a plea for peace, and he followed it up with “Get Ready - Rock Steady”, perhaps the first rocksteady recording. The song was apparently recorded with keyboardist Jackie Mittoo playing the bass guitar part because the bassist did not show up; Mittoo could not keep up with the ska beat, and the tempo was slowed down to accommodate him. This allowed for a choppier rhythm that led Ellis to expand his vocal range.
Ellis’ most well-known song is probably “Girl, I’ve Got A Date”, or “I’m Still In Love With You”, a song that has been versioned many times by artists such as Sean Paul, Althea & Donna (As ‘Uptown Top Ranking’).
In 2006, Ellis was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA), Hall Of Fame.
http://www.myspace.com/altonellisod
Ellis was born in Trenchtown, a poor area of Kingston, Jamaica, and learned to play the piano at a young age. In his teens, Alton and Eddie Perkins formed Alton & Eddie, and began recording for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, scoring a hit in 1958 with “Muriel”.
Ellis launched his solo career after Perkins left for the United States around 1965. He moved to Treasure Isle and began recording with the back-up trio The Flames. His first hit for Treasure Isle was “Dance Crasher”, a plea for peace, and he followed it up with “Get Ready - Rock Steady”, perhaps the first rocksteady recording. The song was apparently recorded with keyboardist Jackie Mittoo playing the bass guitar part because the bassist did not show up; Mittoo could not keep up with the ska beat, and the tempo was slowed down to accommodate him. This allowed for a choppier rhythm that led Ellis to expand his vocal range.
Ellis’ most well-known song is probably “Girl, I’ve Got A Date”, or “I’m Still In Love With You”, a song that has been versioned many times by artists such as Sean Paul, Althea & Donna (As ‘Uptown Top Ranking’).
In 2006, Ellis was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA), Hall Of Fame.
http://www.myspace.com/altonellisod
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Cry Tough
Alton Ellis
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Sunday Coming
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Soul Groover
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The Duke Reid Collection
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Top Tracks
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Rock Steady
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Rocksteady
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Ain't That Loving You
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It's A Shame
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| 5 |
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La La Means I Love You
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| 6 |
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Why Birds Follow Spring
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I'm Still in Love With You
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| 8 |
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Baby I Love You
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| 9 |
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Girl I've Got a Date
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| 10 |
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Breaking Up
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| 11 |
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Willow Tree
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| 12 |
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Can I Change My Mind
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| 13 |
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You Make Me So Very Happy
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| 14 |
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Sitting in the Park
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| 15 |
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Dance Crasher
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Shoutbox
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MakaSka wrote:
the best eva' Rocksteady's fada'
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lovingfun wrote:
best ever... R.I.P.
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gomezeroles wrote:
PoOoOooOr dios ese alton ellis es un verdadero maestro..
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New_Jack_City wrote:
you make me so happy !
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Ez-tracks wrote:
wow wow
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majself wrote:
Wow! Sunday Coming LP is great :D
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willfromabove19 wrote:
What a legend, r.i.p
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Frisco69 wrote:
The best singer in jamaica!
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shazam137 wrote:
Didn't know he lived in Northolt - would have beat a path to his door before too late - RIP maestro
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mayamayacat wrote:
Rest in peace. Godfather of rocksteady. 愛に溢れるステージをありがとう。
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obuchiken wrote:
alton past away?
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suganique wrote:
classic...
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semdeboche wrote:
rest in peace, mr alton!
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bootbhoy wrote:
RIP,Another legend gone,but the sounds will live forever.
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marcfantin wrote:
So good feeling great Marc
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dindaadvena wrote:
if loving you is wrong, i dont wanna be right.
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wholiwholi wrote:
R.I.P
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blackmanurich wrote:
I feel proud to being the last person to have worked with the reggae legend Alton, may his soul rest in piece.
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MALLIMO wrote:
Rest in peace.....
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pooncho___o wrote:
R.I.P "el abuelo del rocksteady" GRANDE!!!
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Recent Activity
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Kamakani added Alton Ellis to Kamakani’s library. 2 hours ago
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deep-redMohawk tagged Alton Ellis with trojan, ska, rocksteady and 5 other tags. yesterday evening
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BolinerG, noelsterling, Yoni_Mentero and 3 other people added Alton Ellis to their libraries. Tuesday evening
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shawnfaust tagged Alton Ellis with reggae and rocksteady. Monday morning
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fschwier, blackspeedster1, livingdeadboys and 12 other people added Alton Ellis to their libraries. Sunday afternoon
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SKINIKS69 connected Alton Ellis to the group Skinhead Dancefloor. Thursday evening
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NelsDread added Alton Ellis to NelsDread’s library. last week
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MichiWilde tagged Alton Ellis with reggae and rocksteady. last week
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RasRocke, chrispiss13, oneal1970 and 3 other people added Alton Ellis to their libraries. last week
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PabloRibas tagged Alton Ellis with ‘reggae’. last week
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Groups (33)
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Treasure Isle
31 members
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Studio One Lovers
94 members
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Old School Ska
52 members
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Jamaican Rocksteady
375 members
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rock steady
147 members
