Sweet Talking

About

Kingston, Jamaica, in the mid-1960s was a bustling musical breeding ground, and while ska was still the dominant style, the Kingston kids began listening to (and copying) the sounds of American soul music, especially that of vocal-harmony groups such as the Impressions. These fledgling vocal groups would do battle on Kingston street corners, which is how Earl Morgan and Barrington Llewelyn, two old Trenchtown pals, met Leroy Sibbles. Recording for legendary producer Coxsone Dodd and his Studio One operation from 1966 through 1971, the harmonizing Heptones crafted some of the most memorable tracks of the rocksteady era. With its slowed-down tempos, beefed-up bass, and smoothed-out rhythms, rocksteady was the bridge between frenzied ska and unruffled, Rasta-influenced roots reggae. Love (and its many permutations) remains the overriding theme, and tracks like “Pretty Looks Isn’t All,” for example, clearly reveal the influence of American soul. “Only Sixteen” is a cover of the Sam Cooke staple, but more interesting are “One Love,” with its jazzy horn arrangement and heavy syncopation, and “Tripe Girl,” a slowly chugging, rather angry rebuke of a treacherous woman that presages the roots-reggae approach. Meanwhile, “Equal Rights,” “Let’s Try,” the traditional “Glory Land,” and a cover of the Temptations’ “Message from a Blackman” successfully incorporate social and spiritual issues into their stirring sound.

via Apple Music