Alton Nehemiah Ellis OD (1 September 1938 – 10 October 2008) was a Jamaican… Read Full Bio ↴Alton Nehemiah Ellis OD (1 September 1938 – 10 October 2008) was a Jamaican singer and songwriter. One of the innovators of rocksteady who was given the informal title "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2004, Alton Ellis was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in recognition of his achievements. In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.
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.
--------------------------------
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
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.
--------------------------------
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 Your Thing
Alton Ellis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's your thing, do what you wanna do
I can't tell you, who to sock it to
It's your thing, do what you wanna do
Don't let me tell you, who to sock your thing to
I'm not trying to run your life
I just want you do what's right
Oh, you need love the same as I do
Makes me no different who you give your thing to, oh
It's your thing, do what you wanna do, now
I can't tell you, who to sock it to
Sock it to your neighbor and you sock it to your mother
And you sock it to your brother and you sock it to your sister
And you keep on
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you, ow
Come on, sock it to you, sock it to you
And you keep on, ow
Little rock
Ow, your thing, do what you wanna do, now
I can't tell you, ha, who to sock it to
Sock it to your mother and you sock it to your neighbor
And you sock it to your sister and you sock it to your brother
And you keep on
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you, ow
And you keep on
Sock it to you, sock it to you, ay
And you keep on
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, ah
New wave
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, louder
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, and you, louder
Look here now, ow
I can't tell you, who to sock it to
It's your thing, do what you wanna do
Don't let me tell you, who to sock your thing to
I'm not trying to run your life
I just want you do what's right
Oh, you need love the same as I do
It's your thing, do what you wanna do, now
I can't tell you, who to sock it to
Sock it to your neighbor and you sock it to your mother
And you sock it to your brother and you sock it to your sister
And you keep on
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you, ow
Come on, sock it to you, sock it to you
And you keep on, ow
Little rock
Ow, your thing, do what you wanna do, now
I can't tell you, ha, who to sock it to
Sock it to your mother and you sock it to your neighbor
And you sock it to your sister and you sock it to your brother
And you keep on
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you
Sock it to you, sock it to you, ow
And you keep on
Sock it to you, sock it to you, ay
And you keep on
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, ah
New wave
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, louder
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, and you, louder
Look here now, ow
The song "It's Your Thing" by Alton Ellis talks about individual freedom and the right to make your own decisions, especially in regards to love and relationships. The lyrics convey a message about personal choice and express that no one has the power to control another person. The singer encourages listeners to do what makes them happy and not to be swayed by societal expectations or external pressures.
The repetition of the line "It's your thing, do what you wanna do" emphasizes the importance of individuality and encourages people to embrace and express themselves freely. Ellis asserts that he is not trying to dictate or judge anyone's life choices, but rather, he wants people to do what feels right for them. The phrase "sock it to" refers to having sex, which was a bold and daring subject matter for a song in that era. Overall, the song celebrates autonomy, self-expression, and respect for personal boundaries.
Line by Line Meaning
It's your thing, do what you wanna do
You have the freedom to express yourself the way you want.
I can't tell you, who to sock it to
It's not my place to dictate or control your actions.
Don't let me tell you, who to sock your thing to
You have autonomy over your own life and decisions.
I'm not trying to run your life
I don't want to interfere with your choices.
I just want you do what's right
I hope you make good decisions that are beneficial to you and those around you.
Oh, you need love the same as I do
We all have a human need for love and connection.
Makes me no different who you give your thing to, oh
Your romantic or sexual partner choice doesn't affect my opinion or feelings towards you.
And you sock it to your mother and you sock it to your neighbor
You can express yourself freely to anyone in your life.
And you sock it to your brother and you sock it to your sister
You can even express yourself to your family members.
Little rock
A transition to the next part of the song.
Come on, sock it to you, sock it to you
Encouragement to continue self-expression.
And you keep on, ow
A repetition of that encouragement.
And you keep on, sock it to you one time
Continued encouragement to express yourself.
New wave
A transition to the next part of the song.
And you keep on, sock it to you one time, louder
Continuing the encouragement to self-express, with greater emphasis and volume.
Look here now, ow
An attention-grabbing interjection.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@owstonlad3859
Very clear musically can't say same for lyrics.
@friscomoonstompers
In Alton Ellis we trust!!!
@LuigiTuneIn
Big groooove !!!
@lukassilva9279
TOP,
@joseuchoa4321
Vibe maravilhosa!
@tarcisiomnzs
Isso é uma mixtape?