In their expanding coverage of the Jamaican music scene in Toronto, Light In The Attic has uncovered this lost album from Noel Ellis, the son of reggae legend Alton Ellis.
While the dancehall movement spread across Jamaica in the early 1980s, Jamaican immigrants abroad began issuing their own brand reggae abroad. The recent reissue of Noel Ellis' self-titled showcase from 1979 is a shining example. Recording in Toronto, both Ellis, son of legendary singer Alton, and producer Jerry Brown were longtime Jamaican-Canadians who had thoroughly absorbed American soul, funk, and R&B. Not much attention is paid to the Toronto reggae scene of the early 1980s, but it boasted some heavy hitting in-house talent and managed to produce a small share of classic material. Of particular note is the Summer Studio operated by former member of the Jamaicans, Jerry Brown, who recorded Ellis's debut.
On the dark, apocalyptic opener "To Hail Salassie," Ellis wails and moans behind a glorious bass-heavy mix?his fragile voice becoming a distant cry in a wilderness of machine-gun snare drums and endlessly echoing guitar scratches. Though not all is doom and gloom here. Willi Williams, another Jamaican resident of Toronto, joins Ellis on the upbeat "Rocking Universally," a remake of the Williams classic "Armagideon Time" (which had been a recent hit for the Clash). The song is fueled by the dreadest of backing track based on Jackie Mittoo's classic "No No No"?and it's no wonder, Mittoo was on hand for these recordings (as was Willi Williams and Johnny Osbourne), delivering organ and no doubt musical direction.
Preferring to ride the rhythms with a few underdeveloped lyrical ideas, Ellis experimented with a mixed bag of vocal styles, even employing a little Big Youth stylee now and then. Ellis' playful rap does teeter on the brink of dancehall, but his overall delivery oozes sincerity and soul, allowing his debut to stand out?long after the dust has settled. |