Search - Laurel Aitken :: Blue Beat Years

One of the best things about so many of the third wave ska bands and labels is that they happily acknowledge history rather than rewrite it. The old school still has a lot of validity for the new school. Which is why you get Moonska, home of a zillion bands, putting its muscle behind this. Aitken was one of the masters, up there with Derrick Morgan, a very young Bob Marley, Prince Buster, and so on. Given a chance to rerecord the hits of his Blue Beat years (the term refers to both a record label and British '60s ska), he did, and, frankly, were it not for the absence of snaps, crackles, and pops, you'd think these were the originals. At well over 60, Aitken still has an amazing voice, and his backing band, House of Rhythm, is crisp, clean, and perfectly authentic. To listen to this is to trace the early history of ska--the way it developed from American R&B and jazz--with more than a few boogie inflections ("Boogie With the Bartender," "Boogie in My Bones") caught on radio broadcasts from Florida and adapted to local use, with the accent, as it had been in mento, on the offbeat. Throw in a clutch of pop songs and you have ska--and Laurel Aitken--making hit after hit. So, not only great listening, but a history lesson, too. Gee, they should charge double. --Chris Nickson