"Sharing You" by Prince Buster, which is a cover of a soul singer Mitty Collier's original, and "Queen Majesty" by The Techniques, which is a cover of "Minstrel and Queen" by The Impressions. Jazz, Reggae. This can be heard throughout Jamaican recordings in subsequent years. By using LiveAbout, you accept our, Biography of Bob Marley, Iconic Reggae Star, Beyond Bob Marley: More Great Early Reggae CDs. This differs markedly from the drumming styles in R&B and rock and roll, which put the emphasis on the second and fourth beats. Alton Ellis is sometimes said to be the father of rocksteady for his hit "Rocksteady",[2] but other candidates for the first rocksteady single include "Take It Easy" by Hopeton Lewis, "Tougher Than Tough" by Derrick Morgan and "Hold Them" by Roy Shirley. With its relaxed beat and social-protest lyrics, the music served as a forerunner to reggae.

The Wailing Wailers were similarly a vocal harmony trio (modelled on The Impressions) who came from ska, through rocksteady and became a reggae band with just the one main vocalist. [3] The term rocksteady comes from a popular (slower) dance style mentioned in the Alton Ellis song 'Rocksteady' that matched the new sound. 089408358166. Also, in the middle to later part of the decade, as ska began to fade in popularity and the optimism that accompanied Independence in 1962 dwindled, young people from the Jamaican countryside were flooding into the urban ghettos of Kingston—in neighborhoods such as Riverton City, Greenwich Town and Trenchtown. The slower tempo and smaller band sizes in turn led to a much larger focus on the bass line in general, which eventually became one of the most recognizable characteristics of Jamaican music. The lyrics are more socially and politically conscious, and there is a greater focus on harmonies, particularly in trios like the Heptones, Gaylads, Dominoes, Aces, and Wailers. Whereas, in ska, the horn section had often spent much of the song playing the offbeats with the guitar and piano, in rocksteady they favored repeated rhythmic patterns or simply sitting out all together until the lead line. Other major figures include Alton Ellis and Ken Boothe. It is believed that the name for the entire genre was based on this song title. Rocksteady is really slow ska."[6]. These unruly youths became known as rude boys. Derrick Harriott reflectively noted, "Ask any Jamaican musician and they'll tell you the rocksteady days were the best days of Jamaican music."[7].
Other musicians who were crucial in creating rocksteady included keyboard player Jackie Mittoo, drummer Winston Grennan, bassist Jackie Jackson and saxophonist Tommy McCook. Rocksteady, even more so the early reggae that followed, was built around the "one drop" drum beat, characterized by a heavy accent on the third beat of every bar. Many bass lines originally created for rocksteady songs continue to be used in contemporary Jamaican music. Reviews. The guitar and piano players began to experiment with occasional accents around the basic offbeat pattern. Rocksteady was a style of popular music that developed out of ska in the 1960s. Rocksteady is a derivative of ska music, and thus has roots in both traditional Jamaican mento as well as American R&B and jazz. Many of them became delinquents who exuded a certain coolness and style. Rocksteady is genre of music that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. Rocksteady bands, such as Justin Hinds and the Dominoes, frequently performed without a horn section and with a strong electric bass line, paving the way for many reggae bands that did the same. There are rocksteady songs about religion and the Rastafari movement, though not to the same extent as in reggae.

Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966.