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Recently, I was thinking about the role and success of the singing of parts (harmony) in Jamaican recorded music. And I’m referring here to the serious genres ska, rocksteady and reggae (dancehall will rarely ever count in any serious music discussion initiated by me).
Between the early 1960s and now, we have had many ordinary and pathetic examples of harmony in our “background” singers, but, at the same time, also many outstanding ones. Before I cite my one example to start this discussion, I need to make my position clear with some definitions.
Male Harmony: A tight, well coordinated combination of tenor, baritone and sometimes bass behind the lead vocalist. Falsetto can also play a part.
Female Harmony: A tight, well coordinated combination of soprano, alto, and sometimes high soprano behind the lead vocalist. Falsetto can also play a part.
Now, after many, many weeks of researching and listening, here’s my example of one of the best examples of male harmony ever recorded in Jamaican music! This rocksteady gem was recorded by the Jamaicans (Tommy Cowan, Norris Weir and Martin Williams).
For those of us who are musicologists, the backing band was Tommy McCook and the Supersonics (I am sure that the lead guitarist was the greatest rocksteady guitarist in history, Lynn Taitt).
Now, here is one of the greatest examples of tight, well-coordinated, on-key harmony in Jamaican recorded music, “You’re Gonna Lose” by the Jamaicans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiA3MlgHtmc
I hope you enjoy it.
Between the early 1960s and now, we have had many ordinary and pathetic examples of harmony in our “background” singers, but, at the same time, also many outstanding ones. Before I cite my one example to start this discussion, I need to make my position clear with some definitions.
Male Harmony: A tight, well coordinated combination of tenor, baritone and sometimes bass behind the lead vocalist. Falsetto can also play a part.
Female Harmony: A tight, well coordinated combination of soprano, alto, and sometimes high soprano behind the lead vocalist. Falsetto can also play a part.
Now, after many, many weeks of researching and listening, here’s my example of one of the best examples of male harmony ever recorded in Jamaican music! This rocksteady gem was recorded by the Jamaicans (Tommy Cowan, Norris Weir and Martin Williams).
For those of us who are musicologists, the backing band was Tommy McCook and the Supersonics (I am sure that the lead guitarist was the greatest rocksteady guitarist in history, Lynn Taitt).
Now, here is one of the greatest examples of tight, well-coordinated, on-key harmony in Jamaican recorded music, “You’re Gonna Lose” by the Jamaicans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiA3MlgHtmc
I hope you enjoy it.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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