Sources differ on his age, or the actual date of his birth; there are also variations of the spelling of his name. But one thing constant notion is that even if he did not single-handedly invent the rocksteady beat, Lynn Taitt is the most influential architect of the genre often identified as the golden era of Jamaican music. What remains unchallenged is that the name Lynn Taitt is synonymous with rocksteady music, the precursor to reggae that was most popular between the mid-to-late-1960s.

Attesting to this is no lesser authority than bandleader/trombonist/music teacher extraordinaire, Carlos Malcolm. “Although he played on many Skatalites’ recordings during the ska era, in my estimation, Lynn Taitt ushered in the rocksteady era. Taitt was the father of the ‘guitar licks’ in the rocksteady guitar accompaniment: the bullet-like ‘ping’ glissando and the doubling of the bassline on guitar all came from Taitt. Although not a trained musician, he had a keen ear and an inventive mind and was a good arranger,” the founder/leader of the Carlos Malcolm and the Afro Jamaican Rhythms told Yesterday’s Notes.

Added he: “Lynn Taitt was an intelligent, unobtrusive rhythm guitarist. He had musical discipline which aided and abetted towards the success of a (musical) piece. He probably acquired this trait from playing steel pans in large steel bands in Trinidad. Byron Lee brought Lynn to Jamaica for a gig and Lynn stayed on and formed his own band called the Comets. But his efficient guitar was always for hire.”

The successor to ska, the rocksteady beat branded the dance craze of that generation captured by Alton Ellis’ classic of the same name. Hence the singer’s singer who died a year ago was dubbed the King of Rocksteady.

Notwithstanding, there was a slew of other eminent vocalists with whom he shared the domain. These include Ken “Mr Rocksteady” Boothe, Hopeton Lewis, John Holt and the Paragons, B B Seaton and the Gaylads, Bob Andy, Delroy Wilson, Leroy Sibbles and the Heptones, Roy Shirley, Slim Smith, Pat Kelly, the Techniques, the Melodians and Phyllis Dillon. The list is endless.

One of the several factors that have contributed to the evolution of rocksteady into reggae at the dawn of the 1970s was the emigration to Canada by some of rocksteady’s architects, mainly Lynn Taitt and Jackie Mittoo. Other developments include the upgrading of Jamaican recording studio technology, during which time there was a transformation of the bass pattern.

The guitar virtuoso, born Nerlynn Taitt in Trinidad between 1934 to 1940, died last Wednesday in Montreal, Canada (not Toronto, as was reported in Friday’s Observer) after a long battle with cancer.

The rocksteady rhythm is his legacy.