Fantastic sounds from the rocksteady years in Jamaica – tracks that are a fair bit more rare and obscure than some of the bigger singles that circulated at the time – even though they feature a fair bit of the same artists and musicians! The work here all came from the studios of Federal Records – one of the first indies in Kingston, headed by the visionary Ken Khouri – who put things together and learned the process as he went – which often made for a very organic approach to the music! Khouri handled a lot of other Jamaican styles in the years before these sides – but he really seems to have hit his stride with rocksteady – coming up with a perfect balance between the new rhythms, the sharp instrumentation, and the soulful styles of the singers. Volume 3 goes up to 1968 and includes a killer version of Nancy Sinatra’s & Lee Hazlewood’s classic “Bang Bang” by Tomorrow’s Children, “We Gonna Free” by Ethiopians, “You Hurt My Soul” by Joe Higgs, “You Could Never Be True” by Henry Buckley, “Cool Collie” by Hopeton Lewis, “Why Am I Treated So Bad” by Lynn Taitt & The Jets, “I’m Coming Home” by Eddie Perkins, “Mr Hops” by The Renegades and lots more.