The Clarendonians were a ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

 and rocksteady

Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...

 vocal group from Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, active from the mid to late 1960s.

History

The Clarendonians were originally Fitzroy "Ernest" Wilson

Ernest Wilson (singer)

Ernest Wilson is a reggae singer who found fame as a member of The Clarendonians before working as a solo artist.-Biography:...

 and Peter Austin (who would also record as part of The Soul Lads), the duo coming together in 1963 in their native Clarendon

Clarendon Parish, Jamaica

Clarendon is a parish in Jamaica. It is located on the south of the island, roughly half-way between the island's eastern and western ends...

. The duo won several talent contests and came to the attention of Studio One boss and producer Clement Dodd, while they were still in their early teens. Dodd took the duo into the studio, and recorded a series of singles (including "Rudie Gone a Jail", "Sho Be Do Be", "Rudie Bam Bam", "You Can't Be Happy", and "Darling Forever" - all chart-toppers in Jamaica, and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down") that helped to define the 'rude boy' era of ska, alongside the other (initially less successful) young vocal group that Dodd was working with, The Wailers. Dodd expanded the group to a trio with the addition of a seven year old Freddie McGregor

Freddie McGregor

Freddie McGregor has been variously a singer, musician and producer. According to Allmusic he is one of reggae's most durable and soulful singers, with a steady career that started in the 1960s, when he was just seven years old.-Biography:In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to...

 (who had to stand on a crate to reach the microphone), although they would often still record as a duo, with McGregor and Wilson recording as Freddie & Fitzie, and McGregor and Austin recording as Freddie & Peter.

Ernest Wilson was the first member to establish himself as a solo artist, with singles such as "Storybook Children" and "If I Were a Carpenter", and briefly recorded under the name 'King Shark', and with The Techniques

The Techniques

The Techniques were a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group mainly active in the 1960s.-History:The group was formed by Winston Riley in 1962 while still at school, with the initial line-up also featuring Slim Smith, Franklyn White, and Frederick Waite...

. He continued to be sporadically successful through to the 1990s.

McGregor took some time to establish himself as a solo artist, working at Studio One as a session drummer and backing singer, but found success with "Bobby Bobylon", and since the late 1970s has been one of the biggest names in reggae.

Austin also embarked on a solo career, recording a brace of tunes for producer Phil Pratt

Phil Pratt

Phil Pratt, born George Phillips is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.Phil Pratt worked at Studio One for Coxsone Dodd as a box-loader during the rocksteady period when Lee Perry was operating there, before moving to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s...

, but failed to match the success of his colleagues.

Singles

• "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down"
• "Be Bop Boy"
• "Mey Bien" (1965)
• "Rudie Gone a Jail" (1966)
• "Rudie Bam Bam" (1966)
• "I'll Never Change" (1966)
• "Musical Train" (1966)
• "Try Me One More Time" (1966)
• "Tables Going Turn" (1967)
• "Shoo Be Doo Be" (1967)
• "You Can't Be Happy" (1967)
• "He Who Laughs Last" (1967)
• "Love Me With All Your Heart" (1967)
• "Baby Baby" (1968)
• "Take It Or Leave It" (1968)
• "Ten Guitars"
• "Baby Don't You Do It" (1969)
• "Lick It Back" (1969)

• "When I Am Gone" (1970)
• "Come Along" (1970)
• "Seven In One" (1971)
• "Bound in Chains" (1972)
• "This Is My Story" (1972)
• "Darling Forever" (1972)
• "Night Owl" (1972) (Lee & The Clarendonians)
• "Doing the Jerk"
• "Why You Did It"
• "Good Hearted Woman"
• "Do It Right"
• "Goodbye Forever"
• "How Long"
• "Hurt By Love"
• "I Can't Go On"
• "If Only I Knew"
• "Stand by Me"
• "Sunshine"

Albums

• The Best of The Clarendonians (1968) Studio One
• Can't Keep a Good Man Down (1992) King's Music
• Reggae Psalms (2001) Jamaican Vibes

External links

• The Clarendonians at algoriddim