All tracks recorded in Jamaica before 1962 (and Rico's departure for England). It is possible that some recording sessions included Don Drummond and Rico Rodriguez on trombone (cf. photo on the Heartbeat CD Ska Bonanza ).
All four tracks rec. ca. 1959, first used as dubplates and later released as 7"-sides, partly with blank labels; re-released in 1994: It's Shuffle 'n Ska Time with Lloyd "The Matador" Daley (CD: Jamaican Gold /NL)
Re-issue of unspecified tracks featuring Rico may be found on
All tracks recorded in 1961.
Most of the tracks have been re-released on: Harry Mudie: Remembering Count Ossie: A Rasta Reggae Legend (CD), 1996
Rico Rodriguez came to the UK at the end of 1961. He settled in London and started recording under his own name and as a session player.
released on 7"-side: Starline DA 3155-2 /Ja; released as: Laurel Aitken The Blue Beats: "Brother David" b/w "Back To New Orleans" (7": Blue Beat BB 84 /UK); re-issued on: Laurel Aitken: The Legendary Godfather Of Ska Vol. 4: Rise And Fall (CD: Grover, 2001)
After two years of low productivity caused by the demand to earn money, Rico again was frequently in the studio mainly working with Prince Buster and Siggy Jackson
Soloist on:
Rico Rodriguez' first engagement after several years in Jamaica for Swiss reggae band:
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
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