The development of the rock steady sound, late in 1966, enabled a new generation of young, dynamic music makers to make a mark upon Jamaica’s recording industry and of these, few proved more successful or influential than Clancy Eccles. In 1969 he scored his biggest hit, the rambunctious “Fattie Fattie”, which sold in huge amounts both at home and in the UK. The single’s popularity prompted Trojan Records to issue Eccles’s debut long-player, Freedom, which gathered the best of his self-produced recordings as a singer. Freedom’s sleeve photo is one of the classic reggae music images, with Clancy riding a motorcycle through a rugged terrain.

Freedom is what Clancy Eccles stands for. His iconic album cover is the image of freedom, showing a chilled hazy Eccles out in the open on his motorbike. You won’t feel much freer than when listening to Eccles’ rocksteady rhythms. However, Eccles wasn’t just emblematic of freedom in his own music, he also paved the way for greater independence for Jamaican musicians by starting his own record label, Clandisc Records. A legend in sound and vision. FFO: Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis, Derrick Morgan, Owen Gray.

By Martha