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Merritone

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1960s Jamaican label founded in 1966 by Ken Khouri within the [l=Federal Records (3)] roster, seeing rocksteady as a departure from the ska phase, yet paying tribute to the Mighty Merritone sound system (run by the Blake brothers, Monte,Trevor, [url=https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/4042547-Tyrone-Blake]Tyrone[/url], & [url=https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/503334-Winston-Blake]Winston[/url]) of the previous decade. A lot of recording from 1966 to 1968 are prod & arranged by [a2050828] and [a420174] Heralding the new era with Hopeton Lewis' Take It Easy, Merritone was a successful and influential [yet short-lived] label thanks to the talents of some of the island's best engineers and session musicians [Louis Davidson, Ernest Ranglin, Lynn Taitt and Sam Mitchell in charge] in the hi-tech facilities of Federal Recording Studios. In the early '70s company operations appear to have undergone a move to the U.S.A. with the creation of [l=Merritone Ltd.], Jamaican labels [l=A Big Recording] and [l=Merri Disc] and publishing company [l=Merritone Music] (also appearing as Merritone More Music, Merritone Music Corp. or Merritone Music, N.Y.), while the label [l=Merritone (2)] resurfaced with a new design often featuring the slogan 'Merritone Motivated'.