Ska, rocksteady, reggae: Explain me the difference

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0802138284/qid=1125074657/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-8740077-6014445?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

No, ska bled into rocksteady (and some might argue even into early reggae) and rocksteady bled into reggae (and reggae bled into dancehall, etc. . .) And a lot of the producers, players and singers overlapped heavily.

10am>7pm>3am

3 drinks>1 joint>can't remember

run>walk>lay down

apartment>tent>cave

I have no problem with it being a continuum, I'm just not sure why there is even a word for "rocksteady." I'm not being contentious, just looking for an explanation. What are its "distinct musical qualities"?

I thought people only used this word for a year or two before the term reggae was coined. I think of rocksteady as including more covers of US soul tunes than reggae.

Rocksteady really is distinctive, to these ears. It's much, much, much slower than ska, and detectably slower than "reggay" (sic,) as it was once (first? by the Maytals?) called. It also tended to include piano and sweeter harmonies, a lot of the time.

Jhoshea entirely OTM upthread.

ROCKSTEADY

Here's my take:

ska -> generally instrumental - even vocal tunes tended to have extended solos and whatnot, very herky-jerky, quick tempo, with melodic parts played usually by horn(s) (often with a jazzy/r&b feel) and the most distinctive element being the off-kilter guitar used for rhythm. Typical lyrical concerns include Biblical tales (without Rasta markers), folk wisdom, "rude boys" and 60's spy themes.

rocksteady -> reacted against ska in a number of ways. The instrumentals largely disappeared, the horns were gone too. "Melody" was created through the interplay of guitar and bass and piano. Vocals not only became more common than in ska but vocals were often group vocals influenced by soul greats such as the Impressions. Most of all, lyrics became almost entirely oriented with love, longing and romance. Rocksteady, so the story goes, became necessary in the summer of '67 when the heat became too much for dancers in an extraordinarily toasty JA summer - but I think the reality is more that ska became "old hat" and folks just wanted something new.

reggae -> could thus be described as the counter-reaction to rocksteady. Lyrical themes reverted to Biblical ones (though now more overtly "Rasta"), folk wisdom and "rude boys" (now righteous Rastas oppressed by Babylon) - plus the commentary on news events and popular culture (like movies) that disappeared during the rocksteady era. The high emphasis on melody in rocksteady was reduced, the off-kilter guitar "skank" from ska returned with more subtlety. As ska slowed into rocksteady, reggae sped up a little at first then slowed down even more. In my opinion there's a sharp divide between the early reggae of Bob Andy's "Too Experienced" and your average 1978 Marley tune that's even greater than the earlier divides, but that's just me.

As for Jamaican soul - I think it's fair to say that many reggae artists cut a "soul" tune now and then that doesn't fit into this scheme at all - much in the same way that an American rock or soul artist must occasionally cut a "reggae" tune. It works both ways obviously.

And in the same way that punk rock didn't kill off prog rock, these genres all had their time in the sun but continued on (in some cases until today). Ska is pretty dead as a Jamaican musical form, but there's still a lot of what would be called "rocksteady" (as in the UK genre "lover's rock) and "roots" reggae hasn't advanced much since the mid-70s. Dub's largely dead as a musical form in JA and dancehall evolves nearly daily.

I agree. A militant steppers cut --- still filed under reggae--- from the late 70s sounds further apart from an early, say, Delroy Wilson reggae tune than that reggae tune does from a typical rocksteady song. Partly due to advances in recording technology yes, but still...

like when all the punks were flipping out in the summer of 77

or when grand wiz theodore's mom was yellin at him and he started scratching

or when that drummer from the oneders started playing tha song real fast and that thing you do became a huge hit!!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1403964246/ref=pd_sim_b_2/102-4425237-2076931?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

x post

This could apply to so many threads.

Duke Reid's Treasure Chest
Tougher Than Tough: The Story of Jamaican Music
Rudies All 'Round
The Harder They Come
Rockin' Steady, The Best of Desmond Dekker (though that new Trojan two-disc looks even better)
Club Ska '67

The Rulers' "Copacetic" = late ska, 1966
The Ruler's "Don't Be a Rude Boy" = early rock steady, 1966 (definitely slower and more relaxed)

Desmond Dekker's "Wise Man" = late ska, 1966
Desmond Dekker's "007 (Shanty Town) = defining rock steady, 1967
Desmond Dekker's "Unity" = borderline reggae with rock steady guitar, 1967
Desmond Dekker's "Israelites" = defining reggae, 1968

Toots and the Maytals jumped right from their own unique version of ska ("Bam Bam") to defining reggae ("54 46"), and I've heard Toots say he missed rock steady during his brief stint in prison.

Which explains why the beat really is the defining element, because there were plenty of bedrock rock steady song with horns ("Ba Ba Boom") or no vocals at all ("Soul Style").

"Wages of Love" = straight soul, 1965
"Who Feels It Knows It" = late ska, 1966
"Bend Down Low" = late ska, 1966
"Thank You Lord" (original) = rock steady, 1967
"Pound Get a Blow" = rock steady, 1967
"Hammer" = early reggae, 1968
"Soul Rebel" = early reggae, 1968

Alex, have you been to Wisdom? my friend lives around the corner and i was interested in checking it out. the guy behind the counter was surprisingly nice for what i've heard those places are like. i was considering picking up a mixtape or something but in the end, i really just didn't feel like it. he told me that the biggest tune in Jamaica lately has been that Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley song.

Yeah I got the new World Jam aka "Welcome to Jamrock" Riddim album for $5 at Amoeba on Friday. It's pretty good. I'll send you a track or two.