Safe Travel

 The Caltone collective of producers, musicians and artists was instrumental in creating some of the most beautiful, but less well known, rock steady music ever made. The rock steady explosion of 1966 provided the first truly seamless Jamaican music and its influence has subsequently proved to be timeless. Its rhythms, bass lines and melodies have been returned to and recycled during each successive phase in reggae’s development. At a time when the rest of the musical world was moving towards overblown and overlong concept albums with an extended cast list Jamaica’s musical fraternity were busy stripping their music down to the bare necessities with half a dozen players saying all that had to be said in two and a half minutes on a seven inch single release.

Phil Pratt was born and brought up in Kingston 14 and he first sang in a vocal group with his schoolmates Ken Boothe and Headly Foulding performing at charities and school concerts but they never made any recordings. In 1966 he produced and sang his first record 'Sweet Song For My Baby'. Ken Boothe had already begun to make a name in the music business and knew the influential characters on the scene so he introduced Phil to the great Roy Shirley who took him to Bunny Lee who, in turn, introduced Phil to Ken Lack. Ken had started the Caltone label using the connections he had built up while working with The Skatalites where he surrounded himself with some of the outstanding musicians and singers of both his own and the younger generation becoming a kind of father figure and mentor to his protégés. His faith in Phil led him to make the unprecedented move of giving him his own label, Jon Tom, to release his own productions.

Caltone’s musical arranger, Lyn Taitt, was a pivotal figure and as Derrick Morgan recalled: “Lyn Taitt. He’s the man who changed Jamaican music right round from ska to rock steady.” In rock steady the bass no longer gave equal emphasis to every beat but instead played a repeated pattern that syncopated the rhythm and the rhythmic focus shifted to the bass and the drums where it has remained ever since. The rock steady period lasted for less than two years yet the extent to which it influenced the sound of reggae music is enormous and recognition for its elegant excellence is finally being somewhat belatedly bestowed. The old argument about a ‘collectors’ record being considered good because it is rare rather than because it is actually good can be safely disregarded when it comes to releases on the Jon Tom label. 

Safe Travel – Phil Pratt / No One To Give Me Love – Larry Marshall & Alvin Leslie / I Used To Be A Fool – Milton Boothe / Sweet Song For My Baby – Phil Pratt & Ken Boothe / Black Man’s COuntry – Horace “Andy” Hinds / Time Is Getting Harder – Peter Austin / Reach Out – Phil Pratt / What Kind of Man – The Cool Cats / Little Things – Hemsley Morris & Phil Pratt / Bigger Things – Tommy McCook / Money Girl – Larry Marshall / You Left The Water Running – Ken Boothe / Book of Books – Charlie Ace / Dirty Dozen – Vincent “Don D Junior” Gordon / Love Is Strange – Hemsley Morris / The One I Love – Ken Boothe / Bye Bye Bye – Clarendonians / Caltone Special – Tommy McCook / Suicide (Hang My Head & Cry) – Alva Lewis / Your Love – Peter Austin / I’m Restless – The Thrillers / Baby Baby – Clarendonians / Victory – Phil Pratt All Stars