Alton Nehemia Ellis was born on September 1st, 1940 in Kingston's Trench Town district. He was also known as the "Godfather of Rocksteady" as he was the major innovator of the rocksteady style.He came from a musical inclined family, and started to sing and play piano at an early age. He was self taught on the Piano, apparently after breaking into a local youth center to practice by night!
He first sought fame though as a dancer, and competed on Vere Johns' Opportunity Hour. After winning a couple of competitions, he switched to singing, starting his career in 1959 as part of the duo Alton & Eddy. The duo's first hit "Muriel" was recorded for Clement 'Coxsone' Dodds Studio One label during the ska craze. Not long after cutting the follow-up "My Heaven" Perkins decided to leave Jamaica to try a solo career in the United States, leaving Ellis as a solo act. It's here that Ellis made his lasting mark on Jamaican music as the definitive singer of the rocksteady era of the mid to late 60s. He recorded some of the styles signature tunes for Duke Reids Treasure Isle label. His sweet, smooth and deeply emotive style was equally at home on Jamaican originals or reggae-fied covers of American R&B hits. Rocksteady was also becoming associated with the violent rude boy subculture in Jamaican dancehalls. Many artists made records referring to the rude boys, including Ellis, but his records were consistently anti-rudie, and included "Don't Trouble People", "Dance Crasher", and "Cry Tough". This was in contrast to artists such as Bob Marley, who Ellis blamed for glorifying the rudies.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ellis recorded for some of Jamaica's top producers, having two huge Rastafarian-tinged hits with Lloyd Daley in "Deliver Us" and "Back to Africa", and recording for the likes of Bunny Lee, Keith Hudson, and Herman Chin Loy. With all these hits though, as is so often the case with the Jamaican music business, Ellis believed he was not receiving proper financial compensation for his services. He grew Disillusioned with this and he spent some time in the US and Canada before finally relocating to England in 1972, having toured the there in the 1960s with Studio One band the Soul Vendors. In England Ellis established his own Alltone label, which he devoted to both new recordings and compilations of his early classics, and he also opened a record shop in South London, of the same name. The international popularity of Bob Marley and the rise of roots reggae meant that Ellis' considerable legacy was soon overshadowed, but over time he has remained fondly remembered as a pioneer of Jamaican music.
Despite this Ellis continued to record and perform regularly, into the early 1980s. Indeed He made triumphant returns to Jamaica with well-received sets at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival in both 1983 and 1985 and recorded a new single "Man From Studio One" for Dodd. The 80's also brought about recordings for up and coming new producers including Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Sugar Minott, and King Jammy. The "Mad Mad" riddim, first recorded by Ellis in 1967 has been recycled in more than one hundred other songs. The instantly recognizable three-note descending horn line was reinterpreted by Henry "Junjo" Lawes and eventually became known widely as the "Diseases" reggae riddim. "Diseases" is notably utilized in Yellowman's hit song ""Zungguzungguguzungguzeng", which has in turn has been sampled and reinterpreted by a long list of popular hip hop artists including KRS One, Blackstar plus the late Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur. This constant reinterpretation and referencing has made Ellis a major but little-known influence in the course of dancehall, reggae and hip hop.
In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame, but in December 2007, he was admitted to hospital in London for treatment of cancer of the lymph glands. He returned to live performance after receiving chemotherapy, before collapsing during a show in London in August of this year (2008). This time there was no return for Ellis and sadly he passed away on 10th October at Hammersmith Hospital, West London. He leaves behind not only a great legacy of his own music, but also after fathering twenty children the singers Noel Ellis and Christopher Ellis as well.
