Born in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Alton Ellis was raised within a musical family and learned to play the piano at a young age. He attended Ebeneezer and Boys' Town schools, where he excelled in both music and sport. While at Boys' Town Ellis performed as a dancer (in a duo) in the first show that a school director called Mr Bailey had organized for Vere Johns who had been invited down to talent scout. He would later compete on Vere Johns' Opportunity Hour. After winning some competitions, he switched to singing, starting his career in 1959 as part of the duo Alton & Eddy with Eddy Parkins.
Ellis and Parkins recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, initially in the R&B style, having a hit in 1960 with "Muriel" (from Dodd's first commercially-oriented recording session at Federal studios), a song Ellis had written while working as a labourer on a building site. This initial success was followed by the release of "My Heaven", which like "Muriel" was a slow R&B ballad with the instrumental triplets and vocal harmonizing common to the ballads of that period. Further releases in the R&B style followed: "Lullabye Angel", "I Know It All", "I'm Never Gonna Cry" and "Yours". The duo also recorded R&B tracks for Vincent Chin's Randy's label including "Let Me Dream". The duo split after Parkins won a major talent contest and moved to the United States. Ellis remained in Kingston, working as a printer and after losing his job, he restarted his music career, initially forming a new duo with John Holt. When Holt joined The Paragons, Ellis formed a new group, The Flames. Ellis continued to work for Dodd and also recorded for his arch-rival, Duke Reid on his Treasure Isle label. At the start of his career Ellis recorded with his younger sister Hortense; early tracks with Hortense like "Don't Gamble With Love" (1965) were still in the R&B style.
By the mid-1960s, ska was moving on and the beat was slowing down to rocksteady and becoming associated with the violent rude boy subculture in Jamaican dancehalls. Many artists made records referring to the rude boys, including Ellis, although his records were consistently anti-rudie, including "Don't Trouble People", "Dance Crasher", and "Cry Tough". Releasing records under the name Alton Ellis and The Flames (the varying line-up of which included his brother Leslie Ellis, David "Baby G" Gordon and Winston Jarrett); the group had hits with "Girl I've Got a Date" and "Cry Tough". The release of "Rock Steady" (1967) backed by Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, the first song to refer to the name of the new genre, heralded the new direction Jamaican popular music was taking. Ellis continued to have hits for Treasure Isle; working with artists such as Lloyd Charmers, Phyllis Dillon and The Heptones. His Mr Soul of Jamaica album (with Tommy McCook and the Supersonics) is regarded as one of the definitive rocksteady albums.
Ellis toured the United Kingdom in the 1967 with Ken Boothe and Studio One session band the Soul Vendors and on his return to Jamaica he worked with Dodd, recording the tracks that would be released as his debut album Alton Ellis Sings Rock & Soul. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ellis recorded for some of Jamaica's top producers including Bunny Lee, Keith Hudson, and Herman Chin Loy. He also began to produce his own records, including "My Time Is The Right Time" (1968) and "The Message". He had two hits with Lloyd Daley in "Deliver Us" (1970) and "Back to Africa" (1971), both released in the UK on the Gas record label, a subsidiary of Pama Records.
Ellis regularly returned to England, working with several London-based producers and after spending a few years in Canada, from 1972 he based himself permanently in the UK. Ellis continued to record and perform regularly, recording in the early 1980s for emerging producers including Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Sugar Minott, and King Jammy. He also opened up the All-Tone record shop in South London, and started a record label of the same name.
Ellis continued to be active on the reggae scene until his health began to deteriorate. His latest works include performing all over Europe with a French backing-band called ASPO (About Some Precioux Oldies) at the beginning of the 21st century. Recorded in Bordeaux, France, Live with Aspo: Workin' on a Groovy Thing is the only live album Alton Ellis ever published (2001).
In 2004, Ellis was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in recognition of his achievements.
In December 2007, he was admitted to hospital in London for treatment of cancer of the lymph glands (Hodgkins disease), but he returned to live performance after receiving chemotherapy.
Ellis died of cancer on 10 October 2008 at Hammersmith Hospital, London. His death prompted a statement from Jamaica's Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia "Babsy" Grange, who said "even as we mourn the great Alton Ellis, we must give thanks for his monumental contribution to the development of Jamaica's popular music". A funeral service and celebration of his life was held on 3 November, attended by family, fans, music industry personnel and government ministers, with tribute performances from stars including Winston "Fix It" Francis, Tinga Stewart, George Nooks, Tony Gregory, Ken Boothe, Judy Mowatt and Carlene Davis.
In 2012 it was announced that the main hall of the new Trench Town Multi-Purpose Building would be named the Alton Ellis Auditorium in his honour.
He was the older brother of the late Hortense Ellis, and the father of more than twenty children including Noel Ellis and Christopher Ellis, who are both reggae singers. He was also the uncle of the Jamaican comedians Owen "Blakka" Ellis and Ian "Ity" Ellis.
Legacy
The "Mad Mad" riddim (the track "Mad Mad" by Alton Ellis and the Sound Dimension band was released in 1968 on the Coxsone label) has been reused or sampled by many hip-hop, dancehall and reggae producers and artists. The recognizable three-note descending horn line was reinterpreted by Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and eventually became known as the "Diseases" reggae riddim. "Diseases" is notably utilized in Yellowman's hit song "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng", which has in turn has been sampled and reinterpreted by a long list of popular hip-hop artists, including KRS-One, The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Sublime, and Blackstar. This constant reinterpretation and referencing has made Ellis a major but little-known influence in the trajectory of dancehall, reggae and hip hop.
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Alton Ellis (1938-2008) was a musician best known as the innovator of rocksteady music. He began recording in the late 1950s and continued until his death in 2008, but he reached his period of greatest popularity in the late 1960s.
Ellis was born in Trenchtown, a poor area of Kingston, Jamaica, and learned to play the piano at a young age. In his teens, Alton and Eddie Perkins formed Alton & Eddie, and began recording for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, scoring a hit in 1958 with "Muriel".
Ellis launched his solo career after Perkins left for the United States around 1965. He moved to Treasure Isle and began recording with the back-up trio The Flames. His first hit for Treasure Isle was "Dance Crasher", a plea for peace, and he followed it up with "Get Ready - Rock Steady", perhaps the first rocksteady recording. The song was apparently recorded with keyboardist Jackie Mittoo playing the bass guitar part because the bassist did not show up; Mittoo could not keep up with the ska beat, and the tempo was slowed down to accommodate him. This allowed for a choppier rhythm that led Ellis to expand his vocal range.
Ellis' most well-known song is probably "Girl, I've Got A Date", or "I'm Still In Love With You", a song that has been versioned many times by artists such as Sean Paul, Althea & Donna (As 'Uptown Top Ranking').
In 2006, Ellis was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA), Hall Of Fame.
http://www.myspace.com/altonellisod
It's A Shame
Alton Ellis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you hurt me
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
You're like a child at play on a sunny day
But you play with love and then you throw it away
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you play with my emotions
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
Why do you use me try to confuse me
How can you stand to be so cruel
Why don't you free me from this prison
Where I serve my time as your fool
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you hurt me
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
I try to stay with you show you love so true
But you won't appreciate the love we try to make
Oh, it's-a got to be a shame
[repeat bridge]
Got to be a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
Ohhh, it's a shame (sha-ame), the way you hurt me
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
You've got my heart in chains and I must complain
I just can't be content oh, look at (unintelligible
These lyrics from Alton Ellis's hit song "It's a Shame" are about a woman who is playing games with her lover. The first verse talks about how it's a shame the way she messes around with her man, indicating that the woman is not faithful and is causing pain to her partner. The second verse goes on to say that the woman is like a child playing with love, and then throwing it away. The chorus repeats the sentiment that it's a shame the way she messes around with her man, and also mentions that she's playing with the singer's emotions. The bridge questions why she's being cruel and asks to be freed from the painful situation.
Overall, the song is about the frustration and hurt caused by a partner who is unfaithful and manipulative. The feeling of being trapped in a toxic relationship is conveyed through the lyrics, as the singer asks to be set free from the emotional prison he feels trapped in. It's a powerful commentary on the pain that can come from being with someone who doesn't value the love and dedication put into a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
It's unfortunate that you behave in a way that is unfaithful to your partner
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you hurt me
It's unfortunate that you cause me emotional pain
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
It's unfortunate that you have a lack of fidelity towards your partner
You're like a child at play on a sunny day
You behave carelessly and naively, like a child at play on a sunny day
But you play with love and then you throw it away
You treat love lightly, and discard it easily
It's a shame (sha-ame), the way you play with my emotions
It's unfortunate that you manipulate and mistreat my emotions
Why do you use me try to confuse me
Why do you manipulate and deceive me
How can you stand to be so cruel
How can you be so unfeeling and heartless
Why don't you free me from this prison
Why don't you release me from this situation that feels like a confinement
Where I serve my time as your fool
Where I am stuck in a situation that makes me look foolish
I try to stay with you show you love so true
I try to remain committed to you, demonstrating a genuine and sincere love
But you won't appreciate the love we try to make
But you don't recognize or value the love that we share
Got to be a shame (sha-ame), the way you mess around with your man
It's truly a shame that you have such a lack of fidelity towards your partner
Ohhh, it's a shame (sha-ame), the way you hurt me
It's sadly unfortunate that you cause me emotional pain
You've got my heart in chains and I must complain
You have me emotionally bound, and I must express dissatisfaction
I just can't be content oh, look at
I cannot remain happy or satisfied, see how
Contributed by James W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Prusky Prusky
Doubtlessly Heavy Weight Confession Of Alton Ellis...
Early 70s emotional tears squeezer .. Wat a chune Wat a chune!!!!!
Ezekiel Judah
The boss of reggae. God is blessed to hear this man sing.
PuppaKosmar
Wonderful cover of The Spinners by the late great Alton. Killer tune !
AcidPanda
classy tune
kelrocka
Good quality yuth
Ezekiel Judah
He puts Angel's to shame