Band Name: Laurel Aitken
Music Album: Rise & Fall - The Legendary Godfather Of Ska Volume 4 - Personal Selections 1960-1979
Album Release Date: November 2024
Music Genre: Reggae Ska Rocksteady
Record Label: Grover Records
Album Release Country: Germany
Music Record Type: 20 Tracks CD Reissue
Laurel Aitken (born April 22, 1927, Cuba - died July 17, 2005) was a Cuban-born Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of Jamaican ska music. He moved to Jamaica with his family in 1938. In the 1950's, he became one of Jamaica's first recording artists, standing on the edge between r'n'b, boogie and ska. In 1960, Aitken moved to the UK, where he recorded a number of hit records for Blue Beat label before returning to Jamaica in 1963. Shortly after he returned to England permanently and continued to play with various ska bands until his death.
| 1 | You Got Me Rockin' | 2:11 |
| 2 | Baby Baby | 3:33 |
| 3 | Back To New Orleans | 2:54 |
| 4 | Skinhead Train | 3:02 |
| 5 | Bug-A-Boo | 2:26 |
| 6 | Heile Heile (The Lion) | 2:40 |
| 7 | Boogie Rock | 2:32 |
| 8 | Rasta Man Power | 2:57 |
| 9 | Who's Taking You Home | 2:59 |
| 10 | Rise & Fall | 2:26 |
| 11 | It's Too Late | 3:05 |
| 12 | Shoo Bee Do | 2:43 |
| 13 | Bouncing Woman | 2:26 |
| 14 | Daniel Saw The Stone | 3:12 |
| 15 | Fire In My Fire | 2:33 |
| 16 | Gimme Back Mi Dollar | 2:51 |
| 17 | Brother David | 2:50 |
| 18 | Sweet Jamaica | 2:03 |
| 19 | Whole Lotta Rock | 2:19 |
| 20 | Jesse James | 2:35 |
Liner notes written in september 1989 (Judge Dread) and november 1989 (George Marshall).
"With only a few exceptions, notably the unreleased recordings, the original master tapes of most of the singles on this album have long since vanished. Selecting the best vinyl copies available, including a few from Laurel's personal collection, has still left the album some "pops" and "clicks" – probably because singles by Laurel Aitken have been played to near-death by all who own them."
Tracks originally released on/in:
1 DICE CC-1-B (1962)
2 D.I.P. DL-5055-A (1975)
3 BLUE BEAT BB-84-A (1962)
4 NU BEAT NB-047-A (1969)
5 RIO R-36-B (1964)
6 DOCTOR BIRD DB-1202-A (1969)
7 BLUE BEAT BB-1-A (1960)
8 previously unreleased (1979)
9 NU BEAT NB-054 (1971)
10 DOCTOR BIRD DB-1197-A (1969)
11 TROJAN TR-7826-A (1971)
12 NU BEAT NB-043-A (1969)
13 BLUE BEAT BB-52-A (1961)
14 BLUE BEAT BB-52-A (1963)
15 DOCTOR BIRD DB-1187-A (1969)
16 NU BEAT NB-046-B (1969)
17 BLUE BEAT BB-084-A (1962)
18 DICE CC-13-A (1963)
19 CARIBOU (196?)
20 NU BEAT NB-045-A (1969)
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