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Delroy Wilson was one of Jamaica's most soulful vocalists, and over a 40-year career the singer unleashed a flood of hits and a multitude of masterpieces. Born on October 5, 1948, in the Kingston neighborhood of Trenchtown, Wilson's phenomenal talent would be his ticket out of the ghetto, and his discovery by producer Coxsone Dodd in 1962 would change the path of Jamaican music. His first recording for Dodd, "If I Had a Beautiful Baby" did little, but the producer stuck by his prodigy, and his follow-up "Spit in the Sky," was a sound system smash. That number was Dodd's personally composed smack at rival Prince Buster, while Lee Perry penned Wilson's "Joe Liges" as a sharp rebuke aimed at Buster's "Bad Minded People." "Joe Liges" garnered Wilson his first chart hit, and sparked Jamaican's continuing love affair with pint-sized singing stars.

The vinyl battle continued across a clutch of notable singles, including "Prince Pharaoh" and "I Shall Not Remove," the latter titling Wilson's 1966 debut album, while he also cut the proto-Rasta "Lion of Judah." Across the ska era, the teen sensation recorded a steady stream of popular numbers for Dodd, and even better material was to come once he hit puberty and his voice broke. Wilson's cover of the Tams' "Dancing Mood" arrived in 1966, helping to set the stage for the rocksteady era. The song was a smash, and remained a fan favorite, prompting the singer to recut the song several times in later years.

A deluge of classic hits followed over the next year. "Riding for a Fall," "Once Upon a Time," "Won't You Come Home," "Conquer Me," "True Believer," "I'm Not a King," and "Rain from the Sky" all flooded out of Studio One and onto the Jamaican chart, establishing Wilson as one of the label's biggest hitmakers. Many of these seminal rocksteady masterpieces were gathered up by Dodd for the 1969 set The Best of Delroy Wilson, better known as Original Twelve. Wilson's lesser hits were equally fabulous, and songs like "Run Run," "Ungrateful Baby," "It's Impossible," and "Mr. DJ" (aka "Feel the Spirit") are today considered classics.

By his late teens, the singer was delivering the kind of emotionally nuanced and soulful performances that would define his adult work. It was at this point, in 1967, that Wilson split from Dodd, and joined forces with producer Bunny Lee. It turned out to be only a brief flirtation, but did result in a clutch of notable recordings, including "This Old Heart of Mind," before the singer returned to Studio One.

However, the following year, Wilson again departed Dodd's stable, and launched the W&C label with fellow singer Wilburn Cole. The label was inaugurated with Wilson's solo "Once Upon a Time" and the duo's "I Want to Love You." Both were fabulous numbers, but they couldn't save W&C's fortunes, and like most Jamaican artist-owned labels, the venture failed. The Links label suffered the same fate. This was an even more extravagant venture, launched this same year by Wilson, Ken Boothe, the Gaylads and the Melodians. It too released only a small number of singles, including Wilson's fabulous "Give Love a Try," before folding.

Thus before the year was out, the entire Links crew had moved en masse to producer Sonia Pottinger's stable. There Wilson unleashed another stream of classic singles, including the major hit "Put Yourself in My Place." Even with this success, however, the singer remained restless, and briefly joined up with new producer Keith Hudson for a phenomenal recut of "Run Run," retitled "I'm Gonna Get You." Afterwards he rejoined many of his old Links compatriots at producer Leslie Kong's Beverley label. Among the superb songs Wilson cut there was "Show Me the Way" and the effervescent "Gave You My Love."

1970 saw the artist's first tour of the U.K., where he also recorded a number of songs for the Trojan label. Back in Jamaica, Wilson continued the studio rounds, working with a variety of producers, including his old mentor Coxsone Dodd, but most memorably with Bunny Lee. In 1971, Wilson and Lee unleashed "Better Must Come," a sufferer's song whose yearning for better days was used by the People's National Party as their campaign theme song. The number defined the times, and helped sweep the PNP to electoral victory, while also titling Wilson's next album. The singer followed up his smash with the equally memorable "Cool Operator."

Wilson continued cutting excellent sides for Lee, as well as numerous other producers. There were return engagements with Pottinger, Dodd, and Hudson; the latter's "Addis Abada" is of particular note. There were stints with Niney Holness, including the anthemic hit "Rascal Man" and superb "Half Way Up the Stairs"; fabulous recordings with Joe Gibbs including "Mash Up Illiteracy" and "Pretty Girl"; the astoundingly creative "Ain't That Peculiar" for Douglas Williams; "Have Some Mercy," a major hit cut for A. Folder; as well as equally excellent work with Gussie Clarke, Harry J Johnson, Phil Pratt, Vincent Chin, and others.

1976 brought another smash, a sublime cover of Bob Marley's "I'm Still Waiting," cut for Lloyd Charmers. A stellar new album Sarge, and the Tony Robinson produced Greatest Hits both arrived this same year. And the hits just kept coming. Among them was "All in This Together" and "Come in Heaven" for Gussie Clarke, and a stream of stellar singles for the likes of Jack Ruby and Bob Andy.

Still, Wilson's career was considerably slowed by the rise of the DJs in the early '80s. However, he bounced back with 1987's "Don't Put the Blame on Me," cut for King Jammy, and the equally successful Lee produced "Ease Up" the following year. Phil Pratt would oversee his 1986 album, Looking for Love, while Earl "Flabba" Holt produced the following year's Which Way Is Up. In 1994, Wilson's enduring legacy to Jamaican music was recognized by a special plaque awarded him by the Jamaican government and presented by Prime Minister Patterson. Although the singer continued recording sporadically during the early '90s, by then his health was failing. Tragically, Wilson died of cirrhosis of the liver on March 6, 1995. ~ Jo-Ann Greene

Born in 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica, Pat Kelly was one of the island's leading purveyors of the rocksteady genre. The Curtis Mayfield sound-alike took Slim Smith's place alongside Bruce Ruffin & Winston Riley in the Techniques around 1966. The group recorded some fine covers of soul music especially Impressions tunes. The new Technique lineup debuted with "You Don't Care" a remake of the Impressions' "You'll Want Me Back," which they later recorded under the correct title. "Minstrel & Queen," another Impressions oldie, followed, and the Techniques were rolling with chain of hits that included "My Girl" and "Love Is Not A Gamble."

Kelly went solo in 1968, debuting with yet another Curtis Mayfield song, "Little Boy Blue." With the Techniques out of the picture, the Uniques handled the backing vocals on a series of tracks that included remakes of "Daddy's Home," "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "You Are Not Mine."

The solo experiment lasted less than a year before he reunited with the Techniques, coming out strong with a shimmering remake of the Temptations' "I Wish It Would Rain," and other rocksteady ditties accompanied by Hopeton Lewis on some, and Winston Riley on others. In 1969 he decided to go solo again and came out with a reggae version of James Carr's "Dark End of the Street," then "Since You're Gone," and others including "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye." Kelly bounced around from studio to studio recording some tracks for Bunny Lee and some for Lee Perry.

All of his recordings did well in Jamaica, the surrounding islands, and the United Kingdom, especially "How Long Will It Take." A trip to the U.K. via the strength of "How Long..." resulted in a deal with Pama Records and the LP, Pat Kelly Sings. Most of his releases came out on Pama's subsidiary, Gas Records. Back in Jamaica he continued recording and released the Cool Breezing (Soulful Love) album, a collaboration with Phil Pratt.

Kelly stayed viable until 1978. When reggae changed from romantic love songs to the more contemporary, explicit expressions of younger Jamaicans, Kelly's career lost its luster. His best offerings are now readily available via the Internet on various CDs featuring Kelly only, and on some various artists compilations. ~ Andrew Hamilton

Ken Boothe was one of the most popular and soulful singers of the rocksteady era, arguably second only to Alton Ellis. Where Ellis was silky smooth, Boothe's vocals were deeper and grittier, earning him a reputation as Jamaica's answer to Wilson Pickett. First rising to popularity as part of a ska duo with Stranger Cole, Boothe forged a solo career on Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label during rocksteady's prime, building a generous part of his repertoire on American soul covers. Even after the advent of Rastafarian roots reggae, he managed to score further hits with other producers, most notably the U.K. chart-topper "Everything I Own."

Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston, Jamaica, on March 22, 1948. His mother and older sister were both singers as well, and Boothe grew up listening mostly to American soul music. He started performing in his teenage years, forming the duo Stranger & Ken with his friend Winston "Stranger" Cole. They cut several singles for Duke Reid and Leslie Kong before hitting their stride on Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label with a string of ska hits over 1963-1965: "World's Fair," "Artibella," "Hush," "Thick in Your Love," "All Your Friends." Dodd encouraged Boothe to record as a solo artist, and he and Cole both embarked on solo careers.

Boothe's first solo single for Studio One was 1966's "You're No Good," and he notched his first solo hit that year with "The Train Is Coming," a soulful rocksteady track (with backing by the Wailers) that established him as one of the new style's hottest new stars. He quickly solidified that position with another smash, "Feel Good." Buoyed by his good looks and heartthrob appeal, Boothe tore off a long string of hits over the next few years: "I Don't Want to See You Cry," "Everybody Knows," "Just Another Girl," "Moving Away," "Come Tomorrow," "Mustang Sally," and "Puppet on a String" among them. Some were covers of American and British rock and soul tunes, and most were for Dodd, although Boothe did take brief sojourns to other producers: Sonia Pottinger (1968's "Say You"), Keith Hudson ("Old Fashioned Way"), and Phil Pratt ("I'm Not for Sale," "Can't Fight Me Down"). Also in 1968, Boothe issued the first of several albums for Studio One, Mr. Rock Steady, which gathered some of his previous hits.

In 1970, Boothe moved over to Leslie Kong's Beverley's imprint, where he cut several hits in "Freedom Street," "Why Baby Why," and "Now I Know." Following Kong's untimely death, Boothe recorded for several other producers in quick succession, landing the hit "Silver Words" for Winston "Niney" Holness. Boothe truly struck gold, however, when he teamed up with producer Lloyd Charmers on the U.K. Trojan label in 1971. The association started to bear fruit with two albums, 1973's Black Gold and Green and 1974's Let's Get It On (after the titular Marvin Gaye cover). Then, later in 1974, Charmers suggested that Boothe cover the Bread hit "Everything I Own." Released as a single, Boothe's version became a left-field pop smash in the U.K., going all the way to number one. His 1975 follow-up, "Crying Over You," nearly made the Top Ten, and the Everything I Own album also sold well.

Unfortunately, Boothe's success wasn't enough to keep Trojan from suspending operations due to financial difficulties. The resulting split with Charmers left him unable to consolidate his crossover success, and he recorded only sporadically over the next few years. When Trojan returned in 1978, Boothe and Charmers reunited for a few more recordings (including Blood Brothers and Who Gets Your Love), but couldn't match their earlier success, and again went their separate ways. Boothe returned to the studio from time to time during the '80s, releasing the occasional single and often re-recording his Studio One material. He had a few comeback hits over 1986-1987, including the Tapper Zukie-produced "Don't You Know." UB40 covered several of his songs on their Labour of Love albums, and in 1995, he teamed with crossover star Shaggy for a new version of "The Train Is Coming," which appeared on the soundtrack of Money Train. A double-disc overview of his Trojan years, Crying Over You, was released by the label in 2001. ~ Steve Huey