People suffered, experienced, wrote while others danced for their expression. Afterwards our stuff became a little bit faster, then by virtue of interpretation and necessity we soon had our indigenous stuff. And while the US Black wailed and sang his way out of his terrible situation, likewise the Jamaican, because he was also finding himself. Asked about the early days, Winston Blake replied, “From the beginning, it was US music. Before the Merritone record label began in 1966, the Merritone sound system spent years making a name for itself.

After the passing of their father, brothers Trevor, Winston, Tyrone and Monty dropped Mighty from the name. The name originated with Val Blake, who founded the Mighty Merritone sound system in Morant Bay in the early 1950’s and died in 1955. For a label with such big hits, little is known about the Merritone name and how it was rented for its use as a record label. The music produced and arranged by Sam Mitchell, Keith Scott and Lyn Taitt for Federal Records Merritone label is venerated as among the best in Jamaican Rock Steady recordings. It’s deplorable that they, as well as Keith Scott, Sam Mitchell and the surviving artists and musicians, had no involvement in the reissues from Dub Store of Tokyo, Japan. Taitt and Lewis have both died since this project began in 2009. There’s a more complete listing at the end of this article, but couldn’t have done it without major cooperation from Lynn Taitt, Hopeton Lewis, and Keith Scott. If you can provide information about questions in this text and artist whereabouts, please contact me, Thanks and respect to the many who’ve assisted so far.

However, questions remain unanswered and I’ve been unable to reach all the artists I’ve sought. There’s still unreleased recordings, AKA outtakes, but the majority of the label’s output has been reissued. It took a while to hear all the music and to interview singers, players and producers. This appreciation of Jamaica’s Merritone label was a long time coming and it’s not done yet.

Jump for days by mighty vikings lp