Laurel Aitken the “Godfather of Ska" never truly left the building. Over twenty years after his death, a selection of his unfinished studio tapes have been brought back to life by Madrid outfit Mighty Megatones – and it’s uncanny, it sounds like lost-to-the-world recordings from the vault. On fresh tracks, that are so convincing they could have been laid down at any point in the last half-century, Laurel’s voice sits over brand-new studio backing from one of the most establishedska backing bands going - Alpheus, Roy Ellis, and Keith & Tex have already worked with them over the years. This isn’t about new skash-it about’s all classic ska/rocksteady with the right conscious roots feel and with an assured Laurel Aitken on top of his game .
Laurel Aitken was an incredibly prolific individual who was notching up recording sessions at the studio. From many of these, for various reasons never fully completed recordings were ultimately stored, not yet dusted down until now by Liquidator Music, a project for the legendary band from the Spanish capital. Led by the incomparable Rudy King, who wrote and arranged the missing music and who laid down some of the most convincing studio backing for Aitken over the years now make up some of, arguably his best works for his final output.
"Shoeshine Boy" and "Only A Smile" (a remake of The Paragons song) were previously released as singles and hold up perfectly, while "Judgement Pon Di Land" and "On The Plantation" go a little deeper and are weightier tracks. "Suddenly We Don't Talk Anymore" has that wonderful, storytelling nature so classic to Aitken's work, while "Love & Understanding" is straight to the heart, with "El Padrino Del Ska" and "El Cubano Rides A Horse" having their subtle nods to Aitken's Cuban heritage in place without ever feeling forced.
Every track on this album feels exactly right and as natural as it should be with nothing here being overdone or feeling contrived; the band simply locked into Aitken's original vocal and let the songs take on their own rhythm and feel. This is an album that you could easily hand to both a newcomer to Aitken and his back catalogue or a long-time fan looking for something fresh from the master himself; proper ska and early reggae from artists working with reverence and without fuss.
If there was something you were waiting for to add to the master's catalog...well, here it is.
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