Derrick Morgan - Lifetime Achievement Award 2004 ReggaeSoca Music Awards

During the Fifties the Jamaican record industry had been born. At the beginning of the decade one Stanley Motta had recorded examples of the Jamaican calypso form known as mento. Soon after, with the transformation of black rhythm and blues into white rock & roll becoming almost complete, Jamaican producers and artist created their own copies of R&B. This newly created copy of R&B, acquired its own distinct sound that would make it unique to Jamaica.  The new sound became the essential ingredient in developing the musical form, later became known as Ska. The first form of Ska was launched in 1959 with the creation of Derrick Morgan's "Lover Boy".

Jamaica had borne its new musical form. However, the foundation of Jamaican music did not solidify without one main influence and kernel, Derrick Morgan, Derrick Morgan is one of the best known Jamaican artists coming from the History of Ska,  Rocksteady and Reggae.

Derrick was born March I 940, in the district of Stewarton in the Parish of Clarendon. Before migrating to Kingston to reside with his mother, Mable Gayle, Derrick spent three years in the countryside.

Derrick heard of an acclaimed sound systems operator Duke Reid, who was looking for artists to record on his Treasure Isle label. Derrick wrote and performed two songs, 'Lover Boy' (a.k.a. 'S, Corner Rock') and 'Oh My,' which Duke Reid decided to record. The songs played on the radio and became popular with the listening audiences. Derrick auditioned for another producer, L. S. 'Little Wonder' Smith. The song auditioned and recorded was 'Fat Man,' which became an immediate hit on the island. From then on there was no looking back for Derrick. Many producers sought after Derrick, eager to cash in on the singer's popularity. Derrick recorded a few more songs with Smith before recording for the legendary Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd. Hits continued to follow Derrick such as 'Leave Earth' and 'Wee Wigger Shuffle'.

In 1966, Derrick created the first Rock Steady form of Jamaican music, "Tougher Than Tough." The song was recorded at Dynamic Studios in a session containing members as: Lynn Taitt (guitar), Bryan Atkinson (bass), Joe Isaacs (drums) and Gladstone Anderson (piano). Within this song, Derrick acts the part of the fearsome Judge Dread, handing out sentences to the rude boys, played by Desmond and George Dekker.   With the creativity of Derrick Morgan and the ingenuity of Lynn Taitt, Jamaican music took on a new form. Lynn Taitt, originally from Trinidad, along with his band called The Jets, introduced a new guitar style, that when he strummed the strings, he also picked a bass line that he gave to the bass player,  Atkin,  Atkin now applied a pattern with the bass line, instead of playing a straight string bass line, as in Ska.  This style and pattern eventually slowed the fast tempo of Ska. Consequently, people danced differently to the new form. The people would now rock to the bass line; thus, the name of the Music was changed from Ska to Rocksteady.   Derrick Morgan's "Tougher Than Tough" was the first song to be recorded with the new Rocksteady rhythm, and so it was established that the first Rocksteady song was created by Derrick Morgan.  Therefore, Rocksteady evolved from Lynn Taitt's attempt to play Ska, but his Trinidadian calypso influence accidentally contributed to the formation of Ska.

Listen to Derrick Morgan's encore from Reggae SumFest '95