Duke Reid’s Rock Steady

After making his name as Jamaicas top sound system operator in the fifties, the transition to leading producer seemed a natural progression for the larger than life Arthur Duke Reid.

And as ska gave way to the more soulful sounds of rock steady, Reid came into his own, producing innumerable hits from his small Treasure Isle studio, situated above his liquor store in Bond Street, Kingston.

The Duke remained at the forefront of the Jamaican music scene up until the early seventies, when his life was tragically cut short when he succumbed to the effects of cancer.

Duke Reids Rock Steady was first issued by Island Records in the summer of 1967 to coincide with the launch of their new Trojan label, with the LP the first long-playing collection ever to bear the now famous name.

Simultaneously issued in Jamaica as Rock Steady Beat, the album highlighted the best of Reids output from the previous six months and proved so popular that pressings quickly sold out on both sides of the Atlantic.

Now, almost 50 years since its reelase, this seminal album finally receives its long overdue re-release, the original twelve tracks bolstered by 40 odd Duke Reid-produced gems from the golden age of Jamaican music.