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An internationally renowned and award
winning recording artiste, songwriter and producer, this Forty
year veteran of Jamaican popular music continues to entertain
audiences around the world today without missing a beat.
Born in Kingston’s Trenchtown
district, Hopeton Lewis grew up in the Parish of Westmoreland
where he started his musical career singing in church concerts.
He returned to Kingston as a teen and he formed his first group
named The Regals. He recorded his first record Shammy Back
at Studio One the very same night that another young and
up-coming singer named Bob Marley recorded Lonesome Feeling
and Joe Higg recorded There’s A Reward. Ironically,
the Mighty Vikings Band backed all three artists and all went on
to become key players in the evolution of Jamaican popular
music.
Mr. Lewis left Studio One shortly
after and signed with Federal Record Company where he recorded a
string of hits on the Merritone Label.
One night in 1966 while in the studio,
Mr. Lewis had difficulties following the band’s upbeat ska tempo
and requested that they “slow it down a bit”. The new beat
caught everyone’s attention and one of the musicians remarked
how the beat was “rocking steady”. The name stuck and the rock
steady era was born. From this session, Mr. Lewis recorded
Take It Easy, Music Got Soul and Sounds
and Pressure.
10,000 copies of Take It Easy
were sold and within a few weeks it climbed to the top of the hit parade,
followed by Sounds and Pressure at number two, Music
Got Soul at number five and A Deh Pon Dem in eleventh
place. Most of these hits can be heard on the first Hopeton
Lewis album under the appropriate title Take It Easy.
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