This is a difficult one because ska has come to mean so many different things
to different people. You could call Operation Ivy or the Toasters ska as well
as The Specials, Madness, and the English Beat, however the real deal is the
old sixties Jamaican sound. Here is somewhat of a history as I understand it.
The Skatalites claim to have invented the ska sound which was the first to use
the offbeat guitar we have come to recognize in reggae. The ska sound is a bit
faster and jazzier than the reggae sound and is much more dependent on the
American R&B style of the fifties and early sixties. In the later fifties
Jamaican djs began travelling to New Orleans to buy American R&B to play at
their sound system dances; some of these djs included the famous Coxsone,
Prince Buster, Duke Reid etc. The trick was to find a record that no one had
or was able to find and to play it to attract people away from the other sound
systems. Soon these djs began to record their own tracks to insure that they
would be the only ones with a particular record. They would record the track
and then produce a single copy of it at which point the dj would play the
record to death until a demand arose for it. Then the record was released
commercially to maximize sales.
As far as the sound of ska itself, it can best be described as an amalgamation
of a Caribean beat with American R&B underpinnings. Anyone who has ever seen
the Skatalites live realizes that the ska sound is very similar to jazz in that
it is a single steady rhythm with lots of instrumental explorations going on.
After a number of instrumental releases the djs began producing vocal tracks by
artists that would later become reggae greats such as Bob Marley, Desmond
Dekkar, the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff etc. The vocal ska records are much more
blatantly American influenced with lots of "do-wops" in the backround and "my
baby left me" sort of subjects.
After a few years from the influence of American soul the ska sound began to
slow down and focus more on individual singers; this sound was called
rocksteady. The rocksteady songs are more socially conscious and the
influences of rastafarianism began to creep in. Eventually, the sound slowed
even further and became reggae by the early seventies.
Some records to check out:
The Wailers--There was a really cheap but poor quality comp out a bit ago
called "Early Music" which had all the most important tracks of the ska days of
the Wailers. However, a better buy is the Heartbeat label two cd release with
all of the early Wailers tracks.
Many Comps--"Club Ska 67," "Intensified" vols. 1 & 2, "Dancecrasher: Ska to
Rocksteady," and many compilations on the Heartbeat and Trojan labels. Also, a
couple of years ago Heartbeat released an excellent comp of Duke Reid's ska and
rocksteady stuff.
I know this is brief but I hope it helps.
Keith