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The Skatalites

In Jamaica throughout the early half of the 1960's Ska prevailed and of all the groups to make their mark during this time, none proved more popular or influential than the legendary Skatalites.

Following their creation in the summer of ’64, this powerhouse instrumental combo, featuring the cream of...

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LYN TAITT

LYN TAITTGuitarist Nearlin ‘Lyn’ Taitt, the man widely attributed as the creator of Rock Steady, passed away on Wednesday 20th January, aged 75. The cause has yet to be confirmed. His passing is another profound blow to Jamaican music industry that has already lost many of its most influential figures, and comes soon after the tragic death of another great, Vivian ‘Yabby You’.

Born in 1934 in the San Fernando region of, Trinidad, Taitt’s interest in music was apparent at an early age, and while still a youth he helped form a neighbourhood steel drum band, before winning an island-wide competition as a soloist. During this period, his creative approach to music-making was illustrated in his creation of a new style that involved playing the instrument with three sticks, while his inquisitive mind enabled him to read and write music without any tution.

Taitt’s introduction to the guitar came soon after, the result of being asked by some neighbourhood friends to hide one stolen from a visiting sailor. Before long he had mastered the instrument to such an extent he was recruited into a local band, the Dutchy Brothers and after two years improving his style with the outfit, he formed his own group, the Nearlin Taitt Orchestra. In 1962, they group were invited to participate in the Jamaican Independence celebrations, subsequently undertaking a two-week tour of the island that while successful, led to little in the way of financial remuneration and while his disgruntled band members headed back to Trinidad, Taitt remained in Kinston, quickly becoming a member of local group, the Sheiks. Already an established live band, the Sheiks included such respected players as, Jackie Mittoo, Lester Sterling, Lloyd Knibb, Bobby Gaynair and Lloyd Spence and while a member of band, he gained an invaluable insight into the local music industry.

Later, Taitt, along with Lloyd Spence formed the Cavaliers, while soon after the guitarist attended his first recording sessions, playing in the new Ska style on a number of sides for King Edwards and Duke Reid. He quickly became a regular player for Reid’s recordings, while also regularly working with the Skatalites at Studio One. By the mid sixties, the Cavaliers had evolved into the Comets and Taitt had been widely acclaimed as one of the most talented musicians on the Kingston scene, his flat-bodied electric guitar providing a more dynamic edge than the previously favoured acoustic to the sound of Ska.

In 1966, Taitt created the style for which he is most widely associated. At a session backing Hopeton Lewis at Ken Khouri’s Federal Studios in Kingston, he instructed his fellow musicians to slow to the tempo to fit the mood of the singer’s composition, ‘Take It Easy’. In addition, he and bass player, Bryan Atkinson played in unison, thereby creating the template for the Rock Steady sound that went on to dominate the local music for the next two years.

Taitt remained a driving force throughout the Rock Steady era, his band, playing on innumerable hit recordings for a variety of producers with his band the Jets, the core of which included himself, Atkinson on bass, pianist Gladstone ‘Gladdy’ Anderson Joe Isaacs on drums. Aside from providing local hits for locals operators such as Duke Reid, Leslie Kong, Bunny Lee, Joe Gibbs, Richard Khouri and Sonia Pottinger, Taitt and the group also performed on international hits that included ‘0.0.7 (Shanty Town)’ by Desmond Dekker & the Aces, the Ethiopians’ ‘Train To Skaville’, ‘Cupid’ and ‘Hold Me Tight’ by US Soul singer, Johnny Nash. The latter, plus many of the Taitt’s best-known recordings from the Rock Steady period were included on the 2005 anthology, ‘Hold Me Tight’.

Late in 1968, whilst at the height of his popularity, Taitt travelled to Toronto in Canada to establish a band for the West Indian Federated Club. Although originally intended as a brief trip, he soon decided to remain in the country, earning his living playing throughout the province of Ontario. He later settled in Quebec, occasionally playing with the Skatalites following their relocation to New York area.

In recent years, he regularly performed with a Montreal-based group named La Gioventu, with whom he played a variety of styles and in the nineties finally returned to the recording studio to cut an album entitled ‘New Oldies’. In 2002, he also performed alongside a number of Jamaican greats in the ‘Legends of Ska’ reunion show in Toronto for the film, Rock Steady: The Roots Of Reggae’, that saw release last year.

Taitt’s legacy is profound and cannot be underestimated. His pioneering approach to music making transformed Jamaican music and over the years has influenced generations of musicians the world over. He was man truly worthy of the title, ‘Legend’.

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September 2010

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