Alton Ellis: The Godfather of Reggae

Alton Ellis was a Jamaican singer-songwriter who was one of the innovators of rocksteady. His emotive, soulful vocal style was a major influence on the development of reggae.

Alton Ellis’s life and career

Alton Ellis was a Jamaican singer-songwriter who is considered one of the pioneers of reggae music. He began his career in the early 1950s and released his first hit song, “Rock Steady”, in 1966. Ellis had a long and successful career, releasing several hit songs and albums. He was inducted into the Jamaica Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

Early life

Alton Ellis was born on September 5, 1938, in Trenchtown, located in the parish of Saint Andrew, Jamaica. His parents were both musicians; his mother sang gospel music in her local church, while his father was a guitarist who played mento music with friends for special occasions. When Ellis was seven years old, his parents divorced and he stayed with his mother. As a youth he listened to American rhythm and blues artists such as Muddy Waters and Louis Jordan. Jamaican artists such as Laurel Aitken and The Skatalites also had an influence on him. He received his first guitar when he was thirteen years old and taught himself how to play it. He soon began performing with friends at local dancehalls.

Career

Alton Ellis’s career in the music industry spanned over 50 years. He began his career as a member of the R&B group, The Paragons, before embarking on a solo career in the 1960s. His solo career was marked by a series of hits including “I’m Still in Love with You”, “Rock Steady”, “I Can’t Stand It”, and “Ain’t That Loving You”. In the 1970s, he joined forces with reggae singer Steve Armytage to form the duo Alton & Eddy, which saw success with the release of their self-titled album. In the 1980s, Ellis returned to his solo career and released a number of successful albums including Puttin’ Up Resistence (1988) and Reggae Max (1991). He continued to tour and perform throughout the 1990s and 2000s until his retirement in 2008.

Ellis’s impact on reggae music

Alton Ellis was a Jamaican musician who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of rocksteady and reggae. His music was very influential in the development of these genres.

His style

Alton Ellis’s style was unique in that he combined the smooth, melodic style of American R&B with the hard-edged, politicized lyrics of Jamaican reggae. His lyrics were often love songs, but they also contained messages of social and political import. He is credited with helping to bring reggae to a wider audience, and his influence can be heard in the music of subsequent generations of Jamaican artists.

His influence

Alton Ellis’s influence on reggae music cannot be understated. His passionate, soulful style helped to shape the sound of the genre and his recordings are still hugely popular today. He was one of the first Jamaican singers to find success in the UK charts and his music has been hugely influential in both Jamaica and the UK.

Ellis’s later years

In the 1970s, Alton Ellis was diagnosed with cancer. He continued to record and perform sporadically throughout the decade, but his health begun to deteriorate. In the late 1990s, Ellis’s cancer returned and he was forced to retire from music. He died on October 10, 2008, at the age of 74.

His illness

In 2009, it was announced that Ellis had been diagnosed with cancer. He died on October 10, 2008, at his home in London, England, at the age of 68.

His death

Alton Ellis died of cancer on October 10, 2008, at the age of 70. He had been suffering from the disease for some time, but continued to perform and record until shortly before his death. His final album, I’m Still in Love With You, was released posthumously in 2009.