The Itals
The Itals are a Jamaican reggae vocal group formed in 1976 by Alvin "Keith" Porter, Lloyd Ricketts, and Ronnie Davis ( a member of The Tennors), all of whom had previously also recorded as solo artists. All three had worked together in the late 1960s in The Westmorelites. The group recorded several albums through the late 1970s and 1980s, with Ronnie Davis going on to a successful solo career in 1997 as Ronnie Davis and Idren. The Itals' debut single, "In A Dis Ya Time", is regarded as the group's finest work, and topped the Jamaican chart. 1987's Rasta Philosophy was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Reggae Album. The line-up has changed over the years, with former solo artist David Isaacs joining in 1987 when Ricketts was sentenced to a prison term, preventing him from travelling to the United States. Davis left the group in 1994, and was replaced by Porter's daughter Kada. The Itals continued to tour in 2009 in support of the newly released "Let Them Talk". In 2011 original member Lloyd Ricketts was able to obtain a work permit and performed two shows with Keith and Ronnie before his death. Ronnie Davis stepped away from The Itals again in 2012 and reunited with the Rocksteady group The Tennors, but Keith continues to tour with two of his children, Darien Porter and Kada Porter, providing harmonies. Keith will be releasing "Mind Over Matter", the remastered compilation of 22 early Itals songs and a solo album of reggae covers of classic R&B songs, called "Let's Get it On" in July 2015.
Long before the Itals were a spark in their producer’s eye, Keith Porter recorded his first hit single, “Hitey Titey”, with the Westmorelites on the Studio One label in 1967. Around 1969, Keith became lead singer for a band named Soul Hermit, backed by Eugene Gray and Wignal Henry on guitars, and Reginald Seewell and Nash on base and drums. They played in numerous entertainment sectors of Jamaica until Owen Sinclair put together a new band in 1971. Called Future Generation, the band was composed of Dalton James and Roy Hilton on drums, Devon Henry on keyboards, Eugene Gray, guitar, Scott on sax, and Keith on vocals. They performed all over Jamaica for X amount of years, singing all styles of music, American R&B and love songs and native Jamaican songs.
Tiring of the club scene around 1975, Keith ran into Ronnie Davis on Orange Street in Kingston and asked him who was auditioning. Ronnie gave him a cassette with a rhythm he’d just had a hit on. “I was so happy with that rhythm I didn’t look any further,” says Keith. “In less than a week I had written Ina Disa Time and came back to Kingston to record it for Lloyd Campbell’s SpiderMan label. Lloyd felt it needed some harmonies with my lead, so Ronnie and I both added harmony parts. There was no intention of forming a group called the Itals; the record first came out as Keith Porter. After the song was on its way to becoming a hit in Jamaica, we all went out to do some promotion. Lloyd, Ronnie, myself and Brian Thomas of RJR were sitting out back in the cantina, when Brian said ‘why not call them the Itals’, because now there was more than one person singing. Everyone liked that name. It sounded good, so all of a sudden, Itals was a group. It was never intentional. I’ve always wondered if the name was the result of Brian noticing how strict I was about the food I ate, strictly Ital.”
Campbell quickly repressed the record as ‘the Itals’ to meet demand. Today the song remains the Itals' signature tune, and has been described by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones as “the perfect reggae track”. It is included on the Rolling Stones’ Artist Choice cd, released in 2003, available through Starbucks Coffee from Hear Music, a division of EMI, and in selected major chains.
The success of "Ina Disa Time" saw the group return to the studio with the addition of Lloyd Ricketts singing a third harmony part on a series of superb recordings for the SpiderMan label. Tunes like "Don't Wake The Lion," "Brutal," and "Temptation" followed on 7” release in Jamaica and New York in ’77 and ‘78, establishing the Itals among the best Jamaican singers and songwriters. The Itals were twice finalists in the Jamaica Festival Song Competition, and their 1981 tune, "Jamaican Style," earned them a place at Reggae Sunsplash that year. 1982 saw the release of the first Itals' album, "Brutal Out Deh" on Nighthawk Records. The Itals toured the US and Canada backed by the Roots Radics. Their second album, "Give Me Power," was released to critical acclaim and hit #1 on CMJ's Reggae Route chart. In 1985, Pollstar Magazine placed them in the top 100 artists of the year.
Their third album, "Early Recordings," gathers together all the Itals' early singles and several rare pre-Itals tracks for a collector's feast from Nighthawk. The Itals' fourth recording, "Rasta Philosophy," won a Grammy nomination for best reggae album in 1987, followed by "Cool And Dread." Next came the Rhythm Safari album “Easy to Catch”, followed by “Modern Age” on Ras Records, and continued touring throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. With the release of “Mi Livity,” in 2003, Mr. Porter steps a little further out front and demonstrates why good reggae music allows no labels or limitations.
Over the years, the Itals have performed countless shows worldwide. Although the background harmonies sometimes change, they always sound as sweet as ever, backing the original Itals lead vocalist, Keith Porter. Now, Let Dem Talk reunites the original Itals, Keith Porter, Ronnie Davis, David Isaac and later addition, Kada Porter, Keith's daughter.
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