The Heptones

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The song - Trio The Heptones is a mid-1960s and early 1970s became known Jamaican reggae band. They belong to the leading rocksteady singing groups and were one of the few who successfully made the transition to the reggae era.

Career

Leroy Sibbles , Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan got together in Kingston in 1965 , initially called Hep Ones , later the band name The Heptones . At first they worked with producer Ken Lack, but in 1966 they switched to Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's legendary Studio One , the most important Jamaican music label of the Rocksteady era. Dodd helped the young musicians develop their vocals and provided guidance to the burgeoning songwriter Sibles. The Heptones had their first hit in the same year with the single Fattie Fattie , which was not allowed to be played on the radio, but still sold very well. It was the first song ever to be censored in Jamaica. The not fully mature text about chubby women brought the Heptones not only in their home success, he also became a chart success in the UK . Over the next five years, the Heptones produced large quantities of material with Dodd, including the first LP On Top in 1970 . The collaboration with Dodd intensified, Sibbles, the front man of the Heptones , became an employed songwriter, session bassist of the studio, assistant producer and talent scout for Dodd. Of course, he worked with a variety of other musicians on the label. Sibbles basslines can be found on recordings by Dennis Brown , the Abyssinians and Lee Perry from this period.

Around 1971 Sibbles left Studio One with the Heptones , which the frontman now felt he had outgrown and which he probably found limiting. The Heptones work in quick succession with various Jamaican producers, including Joe Gibbs, Harry J, Augustus Pablo , Rupie Edwards. From this time on, Sibble's texts showed a social awareness and references to the Rastafarian belief.

With Island Records in 1975 a contract with a larger label was signed again. Produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry, was made primarily with re-recorded, old Studio One Material Night Food , and was released in 1976. The follow-up album Party Time was released in 1977 in a similar style. a. with a cover version of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released . It became the Heptones' most successful album internationally . The next LP Better Days in 1978 was a failure and frontman Sibbles left the Heptones to pursue his solo career. The remaining Heptones Llewellyn and Morgan took Naggo Morris into the trio, in the following years the line-up changed further, Glen Adams, Joseph Forester, and others were temporarily involved. The Heptones made various appearances and recorded other records in the 1980s, but their success no longer reached the heights it had with Sibbles.

The original trio with Sibbles, Llewellyn and Morgan came back together in 1995, and the album Pressure was released, produced by Tappa Zukie ! . Sibbles and Llewellyn continued to perform as "The Heptones" into the 21st century. On November 23, 2011, Barry Llewellyn died in Kingston at the age of 64, after having performed in Germany only three months earlier.

Discography

  • Fattie Fattie (single, 1966)
  • On Top (1970)
  • The Heptones and Friends Volume 1 (1971)
  • The Heptones and Friends Volume 2 (1972)
  • Book of Rules (1973)
  • Cool Rasta (1976)
  • Night Food (1976)
  • Party Time (1977)
  • Good Life (1979)
  • Better Days (1981)
  • Swing Low (1985)
  • Changing Times (1986)
  • Pressure! (1995)
  • Deep in the Roots (2004)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allmusic biography, see under web links, accessed on August 18, 2008

Web links