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ALTON ELLIS
MANY MOODS OF ALTON ELLIS
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1972-1983 - Makasound
- studio - discs:1
Alton Ellis (1935 - 2008) was there since the beginning. He was a corner stone inside the History of the Jamaican Music. In 1956 (some sources say 1959 and 1961) Clement "Coxsone" Dodd cut his first commercially oriented session at Federal: Alton and his partner Eddy Perkins were there with Clue J's Blues Blasters backing them. The song was called "Muriel". The studio worked by one track only. No mixing, nothing. A microphone in the centre of the room. That is how they worked those day, a long long time ago. During the Rocksteady era Alton reached the deserved success with his anti-rudie songs. With his band the Flames (Alton, Winston Jarret and Eggar Gordon) he cut five classics for Duke Reid: "Don't Trouble People", "Dance Crasher", "Cry Tough" (featuring Lloyd Chambers), "Blessings Of Love" and "The Preacher". Soon after Alton turned to American Soul influenced sounds. In 1967 Alton was on tour in England with Ken Boothe and The Soul Vendors. He was back in 1970, and in 1975 he settled there. His anti-rudie anthems will surface again with "Big Bad Boy" for Keith Hudson. After Reid Alton cut some strong material for Dodd again. "African Descendants", "Set A Better Example" and "Blackish White" were all hits. In 1970 the strong "Sunday Coming" album was released. This is considered one of his best efforts. After the succesful decade of the 70's Alton career not not over at all. In the late 70's - early 80's he cut succesfully for Henry "Junjo" Lawes and later for King Jammy too. "Many Moods Of Alton Ellis" is a compilation originally released in 1980 by the Tele-Tech label. That release contained twelve tracks cut between 1978 and 1980. Ten tracks can be found in this re-issue from Makasound: "Black My Experience", "Rise And Fall", "Ain't No Music", "No Man Is Perfect", "Pure Sorrow", "Bless You", "Inside My Soul", "The Humble Will Stumble", "Mr. Skabina" and "The Children Are Crying". The original set also included the versions of two tracks. Those versions were "Rise Version" and "No Man Version". Both were omitted in the present re-issue, but seven bonus tracks were added. This is the list: "Black On Black", "I'll Take Your Hand", "Loving You", "If I Could Rule The World (Extended)", "It's Hard To Be A Lover (Extended)", "Stronger Cut (Version 1)" and "Stronger Cut (Version 2)". At the end the re-issue spreads from 1972 to 1983. The original set was produced by Earl Morgan, with Lee Perry, Prince Jammy and Scientist engineering. The players involved were: Sly Dunbar and Carlton "Santa" Davis (drums); Lloyd Parks, Leroy Sibbles and Boris Gardiner (bass); Bo Peep and Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont (rhythm guitar); Ranchie and Ricker Bacaka (lead guitar); Ansel Collins and Winston Wright (organ); Vin Gordon (trombone); Headley Benett (tenor sax); Bobby Ellis (trumpet); Alton Ellis, Sticky, Scully Simms (aka Skully, Mikey Spratt, Zoots Scully Simms, Scollie, Zoot Sims, Skitter) and Bongo Herman (percussions). The backing vocals were provided by The Heptones and Johnny Clarke. Shifting between American Soul and R&B on one side, and Roots on the other, Alton Ellis' music always shines.
yardie-reggae.com - 2007