Byron Lee – Rock Steady
Byron Lee – Can You Hear Me?
Byron Lee – Soul Ska
After having two DJs who I respect tremendously, namely O-Dub & Music Man Miles, recently inquire about this record after playing it out on Sundays, I thought it would be a good choice for Dig Deep. Byron Lee was one of the great ambassadors of Carribbean music and his group was one of the first to popularize Ska, Rock Steady and Calypso sounds throughout the world. One of their prior records, Dance the Ska, is probably my all-time favorite Ska record. This one released in 1967 on B.R.A. records out of Miami, is a close second. As the title suggests, the sound of this record is more closely aligned with rock steady than ska, though a couple of tracks still have too much of an uptempo beat to be labeled rock steady to my ears, but who really cares about that anyway.
What makes this record especially nice is the inclusion of a whole lot of soul in these tracks, including 2 covers of Lee Dorsey / Allen Toussaint tracks, “Get Out My Life Woman,” and “Can You Hear Me?” There’s also the really dynamite Ska/Rock Steady/Soul sound of “Soul Ska,” the track that made both Miles and Oliver ask about this record. Additionally, they do a stuttering version of Desmond Dekker’s “007, Shanty Town” that might be as good as the original and there’s a very soulful instrumental “Musical Pressure.” Mighty Sparrow even shows up to do a couple of classic old-school calypso songs, “Obeah Wedding,” and “Papa Jack” (Incidentally, I have a copy of “Papa Jack” on 45 on the King record label, which leads me to believe that this record might have been issued on King as well…).
And then there’s the title track. Not to be confused with other versions of “Rock Steady,” (the Alton Ellis version comes to mind), this is a totally different track, and very tasty in its own right. For the life of me though, I can’t understand why they would market Rock Steady as “Oily, Oily and Sweet!” as they do on the front cover and in the lyrics. I’m sure there’s some veiled sexual reference there to lure tourists, but somehow that imagery just doesn’t fit to me, even when the back cover implies that the “oily-ness” is a requirement for dancing the rock steady…
…but nonetheless, it does make for a mighty fine track and a finer LP.
Cheers,
Michael