Ken Lack
Encyclopedia
Ken Lack was a Jamaica
n ska
, rocksteady
and reggae
record producer active in the latter half of the 1960s, who also ran the Caltone and JonTom record labels.
, working alongside P.J. Patterson, and began releasing records in the mid 1960s including one of the last tunes recorded by the Skatalites, "Outer Space", and others by Ken Boothe
, The Clarendonians
, The Tartans
, The Heptones
, The Pioneers
, Roy Shirley
, and The Slickers
, as well as several instrumental singles featuring bands led by Tommy McCook
or Lynn Taitt
, and featuring soloists such as Johnny "Dizzy" Moore
and Vin Gordon
. Lack's JonTom record label was named after Johnny Moore and Tommy McCook.
Bunny Lee
worked for Lack in the early days of Caltone, and Lee's first production, "Listen to The Beat" by Lloyd Jackson and The Groovers was released on Lack's Caltone label in 1967. Max Romeo
also got his big break working for Lack as a record plugger, with Lack setting up an audition for Romeo's group The Emotions after overhearing him singing while at work, and going on to release a string of hit singles by the group.
Lack was the first producer to work with some of Jamaica's major stars including Hortense Ellis
("I Shall Sing" and "Brown Girl In The Ring"), The Heptones
(releasing their first two singles, "School Girls" and "Gunmen Coming to Town", the latter taking its melody from Rossini's William Tell Overture
), and The Uniques
with their debut single "The Journey".
Lack's career as a producer ended when he emigrated to the United States in the late 1960s.
He died on June 6, 2001 after a long illness related to heart problems.
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...
n 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...
, 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...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
record producer active in the latter half of the 1960s, who also ran the Caltone and JonTom record labels.
Career
Lack was for a short time the road manager for The SkatalitesThe Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
, working alongside P.J. Patterson, and began releasing records in the mid 1960s including one of the last tunes recorded by the Skatalites, "Outer Space", and others by Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe OD is a Jamaican recording artist.-Biography:Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school...
, The Clarendonians
The Clarendonians
The Clarendonians were a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Jamaica, active from the mid to late 1960s.-History:The Clarendonians were originally Fitzroy "Ernest" Wilson and Peter Austin , the duo coming together in 1963 in their native Clarendon...
, The Tartans
The Tartans
The Tartans were a rocksteady group who came together in 1967 in Kingston, Jamaica. The members were initially Prince Lincoln Thompson, Cedric Myton, Devon Russell and Lindberg Lewis....
, The Heptones
The Heptones
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady with their three-part harmonies.-History:Leroy Sibbles, Earl...
, The Pioneers
The Pioneers (band)
The Pioneers are a Jamaican reggae vocal trio, whose main period of success was in the 1960s. The trio has had different line-ups, and still occasionally performs.-Founding and early years: 1962-1967:...
, Roy Shirley
Roy Shirley
Roy Shirley also known as King Roy Shirley and The High Priest was a Jamaican singer whose career spanned the ska, rocksteady and reggae eras, and whose "Hold Them" is regarded by some as the first ever rocksteady song...
, and The Slickers
The Slickers
The Slickers were a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae group in the late 1960s and early 1970s.They are best known for the song, "Johnny Too Bad", which featured on the film soundtrack of The Harder They Come, and which was sung with additional lyrics by John Martyn on his Grace and Danger album.The...
, as well as several instrumental singles featuring bands led by Tommy McCook
Tommy McCook
Tommy McCook was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s.-Biography:McCook was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to Jamaica in...
or Lynn Taitt
Lynn Taitt
Lynn Taitt was a reggae guitarist born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, closely associated with Jamaican rocksteady music.-Biography:...
, and featuring soloists such as Johnny "Dizzy" Moore
Johnny Moore
Johnny Moore may refer to:*Johnny Moore , basketball player*Johnny Moore , American baseball player*Johnny Moore , American soul singer and songwriter, played with The Drifters...
and Vin Gordon
Vin Gordon
Vin Gordon is a Jamaican trombone player.-Biography:Gordon grew up in Jones Town, Kingston, Jamaica as one of eight children. He went to Kingston's catholic Alpha Boys School where he learned to play trombone and string bass. One of his tutors was Lennie Hibbert...
. Lack's JonTom record label was named after Johnny Moore and Tommy McCook.
Bunny Lee
Bunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
worked for Lack in the early days of Caltone, and Lee's first production, "Listen to The Beat" by Lloyd Jackson and The Groovers was released on Lack's Caltone label in 1967. Max Romeo
Max Romeo
Max Romeo is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless...
also got his big break working for Lack as a record plugger, with Lack setting up an audition for Romeo's group The Emotions after overhearing him singing while at work, and going on to release a string of hit singles by the group.
Lack was the first producer to work with some of Jamaica's major stars including Hortense Ellis
Hortense Ellis
Hortense Ellis was a reggae musician, and the younger sister of fellow artist, Alton Ellis.-Biography:Her father worked on the railways while her mother ran a fruit stall. She was 18 years old when she appeared on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, then Jamaica's foremost outlet for young...
("I Shall Sing" and "Brown Girl In The Ring"), The Heptones
The Heptones
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady with their three-part harmonies.-History:Leroy Sibbles, Earl...
(releasing their first two singles, "School Girls" and "Gunmen Coming to Town", the latter taking its melody from Rossini's William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...
), and The Uniques
The Uniques (Jamaican group)
The Uniques were a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal group, formed in 1966 and active with varying line-ups until the late 1970s.-History:...
with their debut single "The Journey".
Lack's career as a producer ended when he emigrated to the United States in the late 1960s.
He died on June 6, 2001 after a long illness related to heart problems.