Check out below footages of –Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae, a film documentary from 2009.
The flick is an incredible musical journey intoJamaica’s Golden Age that tells about the sweet blend of ska, soul and R’n’B and films the reunion, 40 years later, of the remaining great Rocksteady singers and musicians.
They are brought together to record an album of their greatest hits and perform live at a reunion concert in Kingston, Jamaica, and to tell their own stories.
Watch Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae Documentary – Official Trailer
Rocksteady was the musical movement on the Caribbean island from 1966-69.
By 1970, Rocksteady had transformed into Reggae, the popular musical style known and loved around the world today.
Few people know that it was Rocksteady that developed the rhythms, the heavy bass pulse, as well as the soulful vocals and socially conscious lyrics that gave Reggae its power.
In the movie the Rocksteady singers and musician tell their audience the story in their own words how was it in JamRock during the 60′ describing a decade of social, political and economical big changes in the island.
It was the year 1962, when Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain and a lot of music and recording studios where appearing all over in Kingston, that with a lot of optimism a great amount of songs where produced and also became international hits.
That was until the riots of 1968 when the ghetto youth in Jamaica took the street and started fighting against police for the control of the streets and so the Rocksteady artists stopped singing about love and romance and started singing about social issues and voicing the ghetto youth issues.
Some of the artists included in The Roots Of Reggae documentary are:
- Dawn Penn, whose Rocksteady song – You Dont Love Me Anymore, No No No, was re-recorded by many other artists
and became a world hit; - Wilburn Stranger Cole (Love Me This Evening), who lives now a new life in Canada;
- Marcia Griffiths, a Reggae legend who still tours the world;
- Ken Boothe, who performs in Reggae festivals worldwide (Shanty Town, 007);
- Derrick Morgan (Tougher than Tough), a famous Ska singer who also had numerous hits during the Rocksteady era;
- Leroy Sibbles (Equal Rights), who, as part of the Heptones, created many Rocksteady songs;
- U-Roy (Stop That Train), a toaster who influenced rap music in the U.S.;
- Judy Mowatt (Silent River Runs Deep), who, with Marcia Griffiths and Rita Marley, was part of the I-Threes, legendary backup singers for Bob Marley.
