Out of the many great vocal groups that came in the late 60 ies and all throughout the 70 ies iv'e always felt that "The Maytones" where among the best and most underated. They originates from the May Pen area in Clarendon and consisted of Vernon Buckley and Gladstone Grant.
They got their start recording a few cuts for "Studio One" that never got released and moved on to record for Alvin Ranglin and his GG Records. The hits kept on coming throughout the 70ies but compared to the output from many other groups "The Maytones" never did release that many albums.
Fans of Roots Reggae should not be fooled by their clean cut looks, many of their tracks are str8 Rasta dealing with Zion, repatriation etc.... "You dont haffi dread to be a rasta" In 1980 Vernon Buckley moved to Canada and "The Maytones" split. I have no idea what happened to Gladstone Grant but Vernon Buckley has kept on recording and releasing albums, although very irregularly.
There's 3 albums i know of; Raw, Rocky road and the latest, Words of wisdom who was just released on his label "Music Life". I just ordered the album and an review will follow, the samples iv'e heard sounds very positive. Time may have passed, Vernon may be getting older but his voice is still one of the best in Reggae music. You owe it to yourself to check "The Maytones" out, their music is too good to not be heard.
http://musiclifemovements.com/
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