Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae

Muse Entertainment/HesseGreutert Film AG

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

07/23/2009 1:23pm

Rocksteady ruled Jamaica in the mid- to late '60s, bridging the gap between the more up-tempo ska and slower, more bass-heavy roots reggae. Rocksteady hasn't received as much attention as the other two genres, but this new Canadian/Swiss co-production should give it more of the exposure it deserves.

Many rocksteady artists continue to perform today, and they gathered for a reunion concert in Kingston, Jamaica last year. Film crews shot the show, but most of the documentary focuses on Tuff Gong Studios recording sessions of artists updating past hits and impromptu performances and interviews shot at locations around the island. Rare archival footage adds a valuable historical perspective.

Wilburn Theodore "Stranger" Cole, who had a string of ska and rocksteady hits, acts as the 98-minute film's narrator and reveals he received two ice cream cones as payment for his first performance.

Lack of money forced him to emigrate to England in 1971 and to Toronto two years later. He worked in factories making toy trucks for Tonka and tools for Snap-On and opened the city's first Caribbean record store in Toronto's Kensington Market in the late '70s before returning to Jamaica for good 10 years later.

The late Jackie Mittoo, acknowledged as perhaps Jamaica's finest keyboard player, also moved to Toronto. So did The Heptones' Leroy Sibbles, who's featured in the film, and these men helped create a vibrant (if little known) West Indian music scene in Ontario's capital.

Back in Jamaica, though, Swiss director Stascha Bader set up interviews with the likes of guitar great Ernest Ranglin, drummer Sly Dunbar, toaster U-Roy, singers Dawn Penn, Ken Boothe and Derrick Morgan and many others. Morgan provides an awkwardly amusing moment when, after revealing that he has 14 other kids aside from the two born to his wife, asks her if they're a happy couple.

Rita Marley takes viewers on a tour of Kingston's notorious Trenchtown slum and reminisces about the first time she had sex with her late husband, Bob Marley, in a tiny kitchen belonging to the best friend of the future reggae king.

Rita Marley later formed the I-Threes (who provided the beautiful backing vocals for Bob Marley And The Wailers) with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, who admits she was so nervous during her first recording sessions that she had to take tranquilizers to get through them.

While the interviews offer great insights to viewers already familiar with the subjects, the majority of people will care about the music the most. And they shouldn't be disappointed with such songs as "People Rocksteady," "Equal Rights," (both by Sibbles), "Rivers Of Babylon" (Hopeton Lewis), "Shanty Town (007)" (Boothe), "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" (Penn), "Tide Is High" (Griffiths), "Tougher Than Tough" (Morgan) and "Stop That Train" (U-Roy).

Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae opens at Toronto's Carlton Cinema and Vancouver's Granville Cinema on Friday, Ottawa's Mayfair Theatre on Aug. 21, and Victoria, B.C.'s Cinecenta on Sept. 18. A DVD release is planned.

The Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae soundtrack is available through Moll-Selekta and an album release party will be held at Toronto's Embassy Bar at 10 p.m. on Saturday night.

Here's the trailer for Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae: