Pioneers of Jamaican rocksteady, The Heptones, will be performing at Olby’s Soul Café in Margate this month.
In the 60s the band were the foremost Jamaican vocal harmony trio and they consistently set the standards for others to aspire to.
Throughout the 60s and 70s, they notched up rock steady hit after hit. Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica.
The most influential and imitated Jamaican vocal trio ever began their working lives with Leroy Sibbles as a welder, Barry Llewellyn as a mechanic and Earl Morgan selling newspapers. Originally formed in the Kingston ghetto of Trenchtown around 1958 by Earl and Barry, the group became a trio in the early 60s.
In 1966, Sydney ‘Luddy’ Crooks of the Pioneers brought the group to the attention of Ken Lack the former road manager for the Skatalites, who also ran the Caltone label. The trio recorded four songs for Lack at Duke Reid‘s Treasure Isle studio and their first releaswas, the rude boy themed ‘Gunmen Coming To Town.’
The Heptones appear live at Olby’s Soul Cafe, backed by The Pressure Tennants, this Saturday as part of the celebration of Black History
The current Heptones are Earl Morgan, Robert Dacres and Carlton Scarlett.
The gig at Olby’s is on Saturday, October 22, doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm start. Joined by
Tickets £16
