Laurel Aitken
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"You want to see "Aunt Lucy" when she do the watusi."--"Reggae Popcorn" (1970) by Laurel Aitken |
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Lorenzo Aitken (April 22, 1927 – July 17, 2005), better known as Laurel Aitken, was a singer and one of the originators of Jamaican ska music.
Born in Cuba of mixed Cuban and Jamaican descent, Aitken and his family settled in Jamaica in 1938. After an early career working for the Jamaican Tourist Board singing calypso songs for visitors arriving at Kingston Harbour, he became a popular nightclub entertainer. His first recordings in the late 1950s were calypso tunes. Progressing to a pre-ska shuffle, Aitken's 1958 single "Little Sheila"/"Boogie in My Bones" was one of the first records produced by future Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. Other record labels that released Aitken's recordings include Blue Beat Records, Pama Records and Trojan Records.
Aitken moved to London, England in 1960 and recorded both in England and Jamaica throughout the 1960s. This cemented his position as one of ska's leading artists and earned him the nicknames The Godfather of Ska and Boss Skinhead. He gained a loyal following not only among the West Indian community, but also among mods, skinheads and other ska fans. He had massive hits in the United Kingdom and other countries in the 1950s through the 1970s. Aitken settled in Leicester with his wife in 1971. He performed occasional concerts almost until his death from a heart attack in 2005. After a long campaign, a blue plaque in his honour was put up at his Leicester home in 2007.
