Alton Ellis
Play Radio
Listen to Alton Ellis Radio,
featuring artists like Ken Boothe, Phyllis Dillon, Derrick Morgan, Delroy Wilson and more…
1,111,295 plays (106,507 listeners)
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
Top Albums
-
Cry Tough
Alton Ellis
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Soul Groover
Alton Ellis Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $7.99
- 7digital $11.99
- iTunes $11.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $25.89
- eBay Search
-
Mr. Soul of Jamaica
Alton Ellis Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $8.99
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Sunday Coming
Alton Ellis Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Shoutbox
-
TheOnlyRoc The Sam Cooke of rock steady. [2]
-
Yassernho Baby I love you
-
mancheckers
Percy sledge, warm & tender love.
-
dgmibarra i lalalala love you!!!
-
otsukaretimu The Sam Cooke of rock steady.
-
Massachusets запись тоже ок, ненада здесь отэтовот
-
kwokwokwo Звук гавно-запись старая,но сама музыка прекрасна)))
-
andyochoa
Videos
-
Play
I'm Still In Love With You…
-
Play
Puping In - Alton Ellis
-
Play
I don't know why
-
Play
BACK TO AFRICA
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
kimdecruz
Top Listener
-
wazgha
Top Listener
-
headinjuury
Top Listener
-
alubnin
Top Listener
More Information
- Links
- Labels
