I'll Take You There - The Deltones

Listening to this fantastic cover of the Staple Singers' classic, it's easy to hear how the Stax group "borrowed" the opening riff from the reggae sounds that were no doubt making their way into America at the time. It's a nice way to wrap up reggae week on One More Down... I'll probably do another one soon, had too much fun this week!

Java - Augustus Pablo

The mid-70s saw the rise of dub and one the leading lights was Augustus Pablo. The music was slowed down and the bass was pushed to the foreground - with the melodica in his case!

Lively Up Yourself - Bob Marley

This is probably the only Bob Marley album you really need... Bob marley live was a phenomenal live performer (helped by a kick-ass backing group) where his natural charisma was allowed free rein. Youtube has loads of live clips of him, I've picked this one from Sunsplash in Jamaica, 1979.

Mr Brown - Bob Marley

You may have heard of this guy! His output on Island records was one of the leading factors in taking Reggae outside of the caribbean, but I love the stuff he recorded with Lee 'Scratch' Perry of which this is a great example.

I Don't Know How The Young Men Living - The Executor

I wanted to include some calypso this week as I love it's laid back accompaniment and social comment in the lyrics. I have a great album of calypso called Calypsos From Trinidad: Politics, Intrigue and Violence in the 1930's which I highly recommend, this is from that. Calypso, as well as being popular at carnival, was used to tell the news stories of the time in a way that the often illiterate working classes would understand - look at the song titles on that album to see the evidence: "Govenor's Resignation", "Treasury Scandal", "Shop Closing Ordinance"!

Rudy, A Message To You - Dandy Livingstone

You might recognise this - a song made famous by the Specials of course. This was made in the UK by Dandy Livingstone a singer who left Jamaica as a teenager in the late 50s. Trombone on this song is from the great Rico Rodriguez.

Are You There? - Dawn Penn

There weren't all that many successful female vocalists in West Indian music in the 1960s, however Dawn Penn is probably one of the best known. She worked with some legends including Coxsone Dodd, Prince Buster and Bunny Lee. After becoming semi-retired in 1970, she returned to music in the late 1980s. Following a performance at a Studio One anniversary concert, she re-recorded You Don't Love Me (No No No) which became a global smash hit.

Sufferer - The Kingstonians

Rocksteady was probably when the Windies started pushing the singers to the front of the songs. You can clearly hear the influence of the likes of Sam Cooke on this particular track as the sounds of black America in the late 1960s filtered into the mixing pot.

Take it Easy - Hopeton Lewis

I'm probably not the best person to differentiate between the different stylings of West Indian that all get lumped together under the catch-all title of reggae, but I'm learning... The next couple of songs I'll be featuring are from the Rocksteady period that came after Ska and before the likes of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff took Reggae to an audience outside of their homeland. Rocksteady covered a relatively short period of time in the second half of the 1960s, but produced some amazing music. This is generally reckoned to be one of the earliest songs in the style which was slower than Ska, but not as smooth as Reggae:

Skylarking - Horace Andy

One of the most versatile vocalists in West Indian music, Horace Andy has produced a remarkably consistant back catalogue. This is perhaps his best known song, and as can be seen from the video he's still going strong.

54-46 Was My Number - Toots and the Maytals

Some ska from one of my favourite bands. Saw them a couple of years ago at Lovebox, and they were the highlight of that particular festival with a remarkably energetic set. Believe me, it takes a lot to get me dancing!

Fisherman - The Congos

This is reggae week on OneMoreDown, and to kick us off, here's some classic roots reggae, with production from the legend that is Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Had Perry not had a row with Island, this would have been distributed by the label and would be far better known than it is now. The album this is from, Heart of the Congos, was reissued by Mick Hucknall's Blood and Fire label, surely the best contribution he's made to music!