HEAR TODAY THE BEST SOUNDS OF JAMAICA'S LEGENDARY COXSONE.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Sweet summer sounds don't get any lovelier than Jamaica's earliest pop music.

The heavenly harmonies and rhythms that spawned such genres as ska, rock steady, reggae, roots and dancehall can be traced back to the '50s with the emergence of the singular producer that Bob Marley and everyone else called Coxsone.

In the latest installment of its delightful series celebrating 50 years of Jamaican music from pioneering reggae producer Clement ``Coxsone'' Dodd's Studio One label, Heartbeat Records once again digs up embryonic reggae bringing together Jamaican-accented gospel, r&b and blues with skanking backup from the jazz-trained Studio One session band.

Out now in the series are John Holt's ``I Can't Get You Off My Mind,'' a set of 18 gems from the Paragons' honey-throated singer; Delroy Wilson's ``The Best Of: Original Eighteen Deluxe Edition,'' by Jamaica's late soul singer-songwriter (called a ``cool operator'' by Joe Strummer in the Clash classic ``White Man in Hammersmith Palais''); and ``Version Dread,'' a compilation of 18 rare dub versions from the B-sides of original Studio One 7-inch singles, many making their first appearance on CD. All three are listed at $17.98.

Dodd died at age 72 in 2004, just days after the city of Kingston honored him by naming a street for his label, which was considered the Motown of Jamaica.

The wide-ranging Studio One reissue program is due to the efforts of Heartbeat's a&r director, Chris Wilson, who was reached at the label's Cambridge, Mass., headquarters.

Q: How did you get interested in reggae?

A: My father's Jamaican, my mother's from New Jersey, and I was brought up in Jamaica. I started listening to music, like everybody my age, in the late '50s. Back then and in the early '60s, the Jamaicans began to do recordings, and there was a guy who worked at the house that I used to see going out on the weekends all dressed up. One day, he brought back a stack of records. I listened to the music, and it was like, ``Wow!''

Q: The Jamaican record business wasn't terribly sophisticated then.

A: A lot of times, you'd get records with blank labels. They'd write the name of the song on it, but sometimes it might be the chorus of the song and not even the real title. It was very intriguing to figure out who was singing, what label it was on, and who was playing on it.

Q: What made Coxsone special?

A: Very high quality. When I was young and collecting reggae records, I'd want to hear them before I bought them. But Studio One stuff was of such high quality, I'd just buy them unheard. Coxsone started his label in 1954, and was almost the father of all Jamaican music. He produced early ska, rock steady, reggae, roots and dancehall records and influenced so many things that happened in Jamaica in politics, entertainment and philosophy.

Fred Shuster, [phone]

[e-mail]

Here is a sample of other new releases in stores this week:

``Back to Basics'' (RCA; $21.98) is Christina Aguilera's first album in four years -- and at 23 songs, it's a double feature.

The CD/DVD package ``Bonnie Raitt and Friends'' (Capitol; $24.98) includes cameos from Norah Jones, Ben Harper, Alison Krauss and more.

``Unappreciated'' (Capitol; $12.98) is the long-awaited debut from r&b girl group Cherish.

The Disney Channel hits pay dirt again with four New York teens singing their way to the top in ``The Cheetah Girls 2'' (Disney; $18.98).

Louisiana's rowdy country dude Trace Adkins also reveals his thoughtful side in ``Dangerous Man'' (Capitol; $18.98), which includes 12 new songs and a video remix of the ring-tone hit ``Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.''

ALSO IN STORES

``The Phoenix,'' Lyfe Jennings (Sony; $18.98)

``Snakes on a Plane,'' soundtrack (New Line; $16.98)

``The Congregation,'' Johnny Griffin (Blue Note; $11.98)

``Heart of Mine: Love Songs of Bob Dylan,'' Maria Muldaur (Telarc; $17.98)

``Seven Angels on a Bicycle,'' Carrie Rodriguez (Back Porch; $17.98)

``Crusaders 1,'' Crusaders (Blue Thumb; $14.98)

``Who Let the Cats Out?'' Mike Stern (Heads Up; $18.98)

``Monkees (Deluxe Edition),'' Monkees (Rhino; $24.98)

``The Cooker,'' Lee Morgan (Blue Note; $11.98)

``Air Stereo,'' Damnwells (Zoe; $14.98)

``Second Round's on Me,'' Obie Trice (Shady; $13.98)

``Live: The Concert Event,'' Yanni (Image; $18.98)

``Another Workout,'' Hank Mobley (Blue Note; $11.98)

``Ghetto Story,'' Cham (Atlantic; $15.98)

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Clement "Coxsone" Dodd)

(2) no caption ("The Cheetah Girls 2")