Noel Ellis

about

Born in 1958 in Kingston, Jamaica, Noel Ellis spent his early childhood in that city's infamous Trenchtown district. The son of reggae-soul singer Alton Ellis, the younger Ellis turned out to have a pretty good voice of his own, and even recorded an unreleased song, "It Has Been a Long Time," backed by the Gladiators, at Channel One while he was still a teenager. Alton left Jamaica and relocated to Toronto, and Noel eventually joined his father there, but soon after Noel's arrival, Alton moved on to England, where he had a significant fan base, and Noel stayed on in Toronto with his aunt and uncle, attending Castle Frank High School. Luckily, Toronto had a lively West Indian population and several record shops that catered to the émigré market, so Ellis was able to keep up on the latest 45s from Jamaica. Toronto developed its own nascent reggae scene by the mid-'70s, much of it based around Jerry Brown's Summer Records. Recognizing Ellis' talent, Brown released Noel's "Reach My Destiny" as one side of a split disco 45 in 1978. The song didn't generate much interest, but 1979's "Rocking Universally," recorded at Summer with help from Jackie Mittoo, did, even charting in Europe as a 12" single. Four years later, in 1983, Summer released a full-length album by Ellis, simply called Noel Ellis, which featured "Rocking Universally" and five other solid roots reggae tracks in extended versions. The album didn't achieve any commercial success at the time, but has since become somew

top songs

albums

Noel Ellis

Iroko Showcase, Vol. 1: Zion (Noel Ellis Meets Lone Ark)

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Summer Records Anthology: 1974 - 1988

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Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-1974

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Summer Records Anthology (1974-1988)

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Summer Records Anthology 1974-1988

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Jamaica To Toronto: Soul, Funk & Reggae 1967-1974

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Tangle

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Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk and Reggae 1967-1974

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Jamaica To Toronto

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Everyday

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Flash Strap Presents: Dub Hot Dubs 2 (Krazy Kommand Kar)

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