The Pioneer Of Jamaican Music

The Pioneer Of Jamaican Music is a retrospective CD for singer/songwriter Laurel Aitken containing material from the 1950s and 1960s. The release of this CD in 1999 was an eye opener on the importance of Aitken for the popular Jamaican music.
 
"This album charts the extraordinary and pioneering role of legendary Jamaican music artist, Laurel Aitken. The journey takes us through the rural sounds of the Mento and Calypso styles, and feature long since deleted sides, such as 1957's "Ghana Independence /They Got It)" with some of the earliest recordings of Rasta hand drumming found to date, pre-date the Prince Buster froduced Folkes Brothers tune "Oh Carolina" by three years!" - from the sleeve notes
 
The record contains not less than six tracks with remarkable contributions by Rico Rodriguez.
 
==Original release==
CD: Reggae Retro RRTCD 02 /UK 
(c) 1999 This compilation: ACL 2000 Ltd./Reggae Retro
(p) 1999 This compilation: Sunbeam Music / Next Step Music
 
===Tracks ===
#Ghana Independence (They Got It) 3:08
#Mas Charlie (Prisoner Song) 2:43
#Nebuchadnezzar 2:24
#Baba Kill Me Gota 2:36
#Tribute to Collie Smith 3:37
#West Indian Cricket Test 3:29
#Aitken's Boogie 3:07
#Come Back Jeannie 2:16
#Mary Lee 2:22
#Yea Yea Baby 3:11 
#If It's Money You Need 2:16
#Low Down Dirty Girl 2:40
#Railroad Track 2:54
#Going Back To Kansas City 2:15
#Judgement Day 2:53
#Mash Potato Boogie 2:40 
#Bossa Nova Hop 2:46
#Zion 2:13
#Mary Don't You Weep 2:27
#Bachelor Life 1:48
#You Was Up 2:22
#We Shall Overcome 3:16
#Green Banana 2:33
#Looking for My Baby 2:42
#I Believe 2:51
===Credits===
*Laurel Aitken
*Rico Rodriguez (tb on "Yea Yea Baby", "Going Back To Kansas City", "Judgement Day", "Mash Potatoe Boogie", "Zion"
==Other releases==
In 2006/2007 the compilation was reissued as a 2 LP set.
==Reviews==
* by Andreas Müller in: riddim, No. 03/2007, p. 74