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Description of Rock Steady

 
Rock Steady was the immediate successor of early Ska -- and the immediate predecessor of Reggae -- in Jamaica's pop scene. Rock Steady faded Ska's prominent jazzy horn line and brought the bassline forward. The rhythm guitar meanwhile played a steady off-beat -- the rhythm that was to become reggae. Rock Steady's gentler pace accented the tender emotions of its lyrics, and many of its anthems were love songs. The movement's name is attributed alternately to Reggae pioneer Alton Ellis's keyboard player Jackie Mittoo, and Gladstone "Gladdy" Lewis, pianist for singer Hopeton Lewis.
 

Top Rock Steady Tracks

 
Play Track Artist Price
1. Pressure Drop Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
2. 54-46 (That's My Number) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
3. Monkey Man Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
4. Take Me Home, Country Roads Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
5. Still Is Still Moving To Me - (featuring Willie Nelson) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
6. Funky Kingston Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
7. Electric Boogie Marcia Griffiths
$0.99
8. Sweet And Dandy Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
9. Pressure Drop - (featuring Eric Clapton) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
10. Let Your Love Flow - Original John Holt
$0.99
11. Pressure Drop Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
12. 54-46 Was My Number Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
13. 54-46 Was My Number Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
14. Country Road Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
15. Pressure Drop (Single Version) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
16. It's You (Ska Version) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
17. Funky Kingston Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
18. Never You Change (Ska Version) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
19. Reggae Got Soul Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
20. Pomp And Pride Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
21. Sweet And Dandy - (featuring Trey Anastasio) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
22. Pressure Drop Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
23. Rivers Of Babylon The Melodians
$0.99
24. Never Grow Old - (featuring Terry Hall/U-Roy/The Skatalites) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
25. Take A Trip - (featuring Bunny Wailer/Eric Clapton) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
26. 54-46 (That's My Number) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
27. Israelites Desmond Dekker
$0.99
28. 007 (Shanty Town) Desmond Dekker
$0.99
29. Louie Louie Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
30. Guns Of Navarone The Skatalites
$0.99
31. Sweet And Dandy Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
32. Love Gonna Walk Out On Me - (featuring Ben Harper) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
33. My Daily Food Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
34. Funky Kingston - (featuring Bootsy Collins/The Roots) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
35. If You Act This Way Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
36. Do The Reggay Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
37. Funky Kingston Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
38. True Love Is Hard To Find - (featuring Bonnie Raitt) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
39. Israelites Desmond Dekker
$0.99
40. Truly Marcia Griffiths
$0.99
41. Below The Bassline Ernest Ranglin
$0.99
42. Premature Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
43. Everybody Needs Lovin' Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
44. Careless Ethiopians - (featuring Keith Richards) Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
45. Clarence Thomas Hepcat
$1.29
46. Israelites Desmond Dekker
$0.99
47. Time Tough Toots and the Maytals
$0.99
48. Ease The Tension Byron Lee & The Dragonaires
$0.99
49. Dance Wid' Me Hepcat
$1.29
50. I'm Still Waiting The Wailers
$0.99
 

Rock Steady Key Albums

 
Best Of 1967-1969
$8.99
Everything I Own: The Best Of
$8.99
Monkey Man
$9.99
Soul Groover
$8.99
The Trojan Rocksteady Box Set
(Box Set) Tracks only
Tribute To Jackie Mittoo
$17.99

 

Filed Under

 
 

Rock Steady Key Artists

 
Alton Ellis

Rock Steady pioneer Alton
Ellis made American soul
music Jamaican. He's
changed with the times, still
recording to this day. Ellis...

Desmond Dekker

Best known for his
international hit "Israelites,"
Dekker's Ska oozed style
and grace and influenced
generations to come. Dek...

Jackie Mittoo

A child prodigy, Mittoo was
already playing in
professional bands by the
time he was a teenager.

Ken Boothe

Possibly the sweetest voice
in Rock Steady, Boothe
translated American Soul
music into Jamaican terms.

The Ethiopians

Rocks Steady heroes the
Ethiopians started
rabble-rousing in 1966,
marrying sweet harmonies
with sharp social criticism...

The Heptones

This pioneering vocal trio of
the late '60s and early '70s
rock steady movement later
successfully transitioned
into reggae. They first we...

The Melodians

If you don't know the
Melodians, you certainly
know one of their hits:
"Rivers of Babylon." They're
Rock Steady superstars.

Toots and the Maytals

For over three decades,
Toots Hibbert's exhortatory
vocals and evangelistic
stage delivery charged
Jamaican popular music...

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