The Skatalites: Independence Ska and The Far East SoundOriginal Ska Sounds From The Skatalites 1963 - 65

• The Skatalites – Guns Of Navarone
• The Skatalites – Christine Keeler
• The Skatalites – El Pussy Cat Ska
• Dizzy Johnny and The Studio One Orchestra – Sudden Destruction
• Roland Alphonso – Scambalena
• The Wailers – Tell Them Lord
• Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Russian Ska Fever
• Roland Alphonso and The Skatalites – Independent Anniversary Ska (I Should Have Known Better)
• Bongoman Byfield and The Skatalites – Marcus Garvey
• Don Drummond and Roland Alphonso – Heaven and Earth
• Bongoman Byfield and The Skatalites – Jack Ruby Is Bound To Die
• Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Further East (aka Trolley Song)
• The Skatalites – Beardsman Ska
• Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Surplus
• The Skatalites – Fidel Castro
• Tommy McCook and The Skatalites – Suavito
• Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Coolie Boy
• Tommy McCook – Adam's Apple (Don't Bother Me No More)
• Tommy McCook and The Skatalites – Full Dread
• The Skatalites – King Solomon

• 1. The Skatalites – Guns Of Navarone
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• 2. The Skatalites – Christine Keeler
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• 3. The Skatalites – El Pussy Cat Ska
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• 4. Dizzy Johnny and The Studio One Orchestra – Sudden Destruction
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• 5. Roland Alphonso – Scambalena
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• 6. The Wailers – Tell Them Lord
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• 7. Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Russian Ska Fever
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• 8. Roland Alphonso and The Skatalites – Independent Anniversary Ska (I Should Have Known Better)
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• 9. Bongoman Byfield and The Skatalites – Marcus Garvey
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• 10. Don Drummond and Roland Alphonso – Heaven and Earth
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• 11. Bongoman Byfield and The Skatalites – Jack Ruby Is Bound To Die
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• 12. Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Further East (aka Trolley Song)
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• 13. The Skatalites – Beardsman Ska
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• 14. Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Surplus
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• 15. The Skatalites – Fidel Castro
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• 16. Tommy McCook and The Skatalites – Suavito
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• 17. Don Drummond and The Skatalites – Coolie Boy
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• 18. Tommy McCook – Adam's Apple (Don't Bother Me No More)
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• 19. Tommy McCook and The Skatalites – Full Dread
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• 20. The Skatalites – King Solomon
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Fantastic new collection of rare and classic killer ska from the legendary Skatalites, one of the most important groups in the history of Reggae.

This album was first released only as a limited-edition  collectors 7-inch box set (now deleted) and is now available for the first time as a double LP edition (+ Download Code), CD and digital release - complete with 10 extra bonus tracks and new extensive sleeve notes!

The Skatalites brought the sound of Jamaica to the world. At the start of the 1960s, in the space of just a couple of years Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Ernest Ranglin, Johnny ‘Dizzy’ Moore, Lloyd Knibbs, Lloyd Brevett and others defined the exciting beat of ‘Ska’ as the sound of newly independent Jamaica.

As the house band at Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s newly launched Studio One Records at 13 Brentford Road, the group comprising the finest jazz musicians on the island played on literally 1000s of recordings – Bob Marley and The Wailers, Toots and The Maytals, Delroy Wilson, Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis and many, many more.

During their existence (1963-65) The Skatalites also recorded 100s of their own songs, released either under their own name, or The Studio One Orchestra, or that of band members Drummond, McCook etc. This is the first collection on Soul Jazz Records to bring you some of their finest material – from classics such as ‘Guns of Navarone’, ‘El Pussy Cat Ska’, ‘Christine Keeler’ through to some serious rarities such as Dizzy Johnny and The Studio One Orchestra’s ‘Sudden Destruction’ and Don Drummond’s ‘Coolie Boy’.

The Skatalites’ ska sound brought together aspects of jazz, latin, rhythm and blues, proto-Rastafarianism (tracks such as ‘Full Dread’, ‘Beardsman Ska’) and more. The intensity and energy of their sound was matched by the experimentation of the troubled genius of Don Drummond whose ‘far east’ modal trombone sound added a complex melancholy to the music of the Skatalites (the group split-up after Drummond was charged with murdering his wife, dancer Margarita Mahfood).