The Heptones

The Heptones rank among the standout rocksteady vocal ensembles that managed a smooth passage into the reggae years. Fronting the outfit was Leroy Sibbles, an accomplished vocalist who doubled as a skilled composer, arranger, and session bassist at the storied Studio One facility.

Kingston gave rise to the group in 1965, when Sibbles joined forces with Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan. They began under the name Hep Ones, yet listeners favored the single-word version, prompting the adjustment. Their earliest release appeared that year on Ken Lack’s Caltone label: an unusual ska take on “The William Tell Overture” called “Gun Men Coming to Town.”

Momentum built in 1966 after they secured a foothold at Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s Studio One, the era’s leading hit-making concern. Dodd schooled them in harmonic singing and nurtured Sibbles as a songwriter, encouraging the sly, sardonic tone that colored his accounts of failed romance. Later that year the trio scored its breakthrough with “Fattie Fattie,” a risqué celebration of larger women that Jamaican broadcasters banned even as it sold briskly.

For the next five years they cut extensive material for Dodd, among them their debut album On Top in 1970. As successes accumulated, Sibbles joined the studio’s songwriting and arranging staff, supplied bass for the house band on countless sides, and served as assistant producer and talent scout. By 1971, however, Rastafarian themes had surfaced in his work and he had grown weary of Dodd’s restrictive system, resulting in a contentious departure.

In the ensuing period the Heptones sampled the rosters of Jamaica’s foremost producers, recording for Joe Gibbs, Harry J, Augustus Pablo, Rupie Edwards, and others. A brief stay in Canada in 1973 preceded their return to Jamaica. A 1975 deal with Island yielded the 1976 album Night Food, helmed by Lee “Scratch” Perry and built largely from fresh versions of earlier Studio One tracks.

Party Time followed in 1977 along similar lines, adding a striking reading of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” The set became the group’s strongest international seller, while 1978’s Better Days lagged commercially and soon prompted Sibbles to launch a solo career.

Naggo Morris took his place, and the revised lineup delivered the 1979 album Good Life under Joseph Hoo Kim’s supervision. Recording and touring continued through the 1980s without matching prior success, as Glen Adams and Joseph Forester moved through the ranks. The original trio of Sibbles, Llewellyn, and Morgan reconvened in 1995 for Pressure!, produced by Tappa Zukie.