World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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The Heptones

Band. Rocksteady, reggae

Active
1965-present

The Heptones were, the Rough Guide says, Coxsone Dodd's "mainstay" among harmony groups in the rocksteady and early reggae years, and their lead singer was also the man playing bass on a large share of Studio One's catalog.

Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan had formed a duo by 1964. Leroy Sibbles was in a rival group and joined them after the two sets met in a street-corner contest; the accounts differ on the year. The name came from a Heptones Tonic bottle Morgan saw lying in a pile of rubbish. Sibbles, whose main influence was Curtis Mayfield, said he was "mainly responsible for creating the harmonies," hearing "all the different parts in my head when I was just writing a song." They recorded first for Ken Lack's Caltone label in 1966, releasing "Gun Men Coming to Town," a ska reworking of the "William Tell Overture," then moved to Studio One, where "Fattie Fattie" gave them a hit and a reputation for indecency in about equal measure.

The Studio One run included "Baby," "Ting a Ling," "Get in the Groove," "I Hold the Handle," and "Pretty Looks Isn't All," and the group also sang backing harmonies behind much of the label's other output. Sibbles took up the bass at Jackie Mittoo's urging, arranged, and auditioned singers; the riddims he played there have been versioned continuously for sixty years. Sibbles left Studio One in 1971 over recognition as much as money, the usual reasons for leaving Studio One.

They recorded a remake of "Hypocrite" for Joe Gibbs and then cut "Book of Rules" for Harry J in 1973, one of the few of their records with Llewellyn rather than Sibbles on lead, its lyric adapted from an American poem, R. L. Sharpe's "A Bag of Tools." Harry J also produced the album Cool Rasta for Trojan. Island released Night Food in 1976, produced by Danny Holloway, and the following year Lee Perry recorded them at the Black Ark for Party Time.

Sibbles left the group in 1978 for a solo career, based in Canada. Naggo Morris replaced him for Better Days (1978). The original three reunited for "Pressure" in 1995, produced by Tapper Zukie. Llewellyn departed in Kingston in November 2011 at sixty-three; Morgan has continued to work with Robert Dacres and Carlton Scarlett.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Bradley calls Sibbles "probably the most important man in rocksteady/reggae," lead singer and songwriter of the Heptones and, from the mid-1960s, Studio One's bass player, arranger, and talent scout. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 215. The Rough Guide calls the Heptones Dodd's "mainstay" among harmony groups. Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 70.
  2. Bradley calls Sibbles the group's lead singer and songwriter "from 1962," and Sibbles told him the group came "into music in 1962 or '63, just after independence." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 215-16. Wikipedia, citing Colin Larkin, says the three came together in 1965. "The Heptones," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heptones. Katz says Llewellyn and Morgan "had formed a harmony duo" by 1964, that the group was "officially founded in 1965" after they met Sibbles in Newland Town, and that Glen Adams was briefly a member when it was a quintet: David Katz, "Barry Llewellyn Obituary," Guardian, December 2, 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/02/barry-llewellyn. Katz's obituary of Adams calls him a co-founder: David Katz, "Glen Adams Obituary," Guardian, January 6, 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/06/glen-adams-obituary.
  3. Wikipedia attributes the story to Dave Thompson's Reggae & Caribbean Music. "The Heptones."
  4. "The Heptones," interview, Rebel Base, April 27, 2007, https://rebelbase.be/interviews/detail/the-heptones---depot-042007.
  5. The Rough Guide says the Heptones cut their first two 45s for Ken Lack's Caltone label, and describes "Gunmen Coming To Town" as "a rudeboy record with a difference" that "took its melody from Rossini's 'William Tell Overture.'" Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 80.
  6. Sibbles told Bradley he wrote "Fattie Fattie" after seeing a short, heavyset woman, that the radio banned it as "too rude," and that it played "for nearly a year" in jukeboxes and dances and "did so much to put [Studio One] on the map." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 216-17. Katz says Duke Reid and Leslie Kong had turned them down and that they signed a five-year contract with Studio One, which "Fattie Fattie" opened in 1967: Katz, "Barry Llewellyn Obituary."
  7. The Rough Guide singles out the basslines of "Heptones Gonna Fight," "I Hold the Handle," and "Pretty Looks Isn't All." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 73. Wikipedia lists "Get In The Groove" and "Ting a Ling" among the Studio One hits. "The Heptones."
  8. The Rough Guide says Sibbles learned bass "under the tutelage of" Jackie Mittoo, first playing in Mittoo's jazz trio in early 1967, and that his basslines and songs "are still being versioned today." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 68, 73. Sibbles told Bradley he played on Dennis Brown's first hit, "Satta Massa Gana," and Burning Spear's first album. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 215, 217.
  9. Bradley says Sibbles quit Coxsone in 1971 and that "it was lack of recognition as much as lack of payment that led to the resentful parting." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 215. Katz has the whole group leaving Studio One in 1971 "following disputes over payment": Katz, "Barry Llewellyn Obituary."
  10. Wikipedia says "Book of Rules" (1973) was based on R. L. Sharpe's "A Bag of Tools," with Llewellyn singing lead and co-writing. "The Heptones." Katz says "Book of Rules" led to a contract with Island and a European tour with Toots and the Maytals: Katz, "Barry Llewellyn Obituary."
  11. The Rough Guide lists their Harry J and Jaywax 45s "Book Of Rules," "Country Boy," and "Mama Say." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 150.
  12. The Night Food sleeve credits Danny Holloway as producer and says the album was recorded at Harry J's studio. The Heptones, Night Food, Island, Discogs, accessed October 1, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/5150087. Bradley says the group "cut the Party Time LP with Perry at the Ark," including "Mr President" and "Sufferahs' Time," and calls it "among the best work the group ever did." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 364. The Rough Guide is cooler, saying "the variable quality of the rhythms prevents this from being the tour de force that might have been expected." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 177.
  13. Bradley notes that Sibbles "decamped to Canada." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 498. Wikipedia dates his departure from the group to 1978 and says he had also spent time in Canada from 1973. "The Heptones." Katz says Sibbles first moved to Canada in 1974, returned in 1976, and "made a decisive exit from the group" the year after Party Time: Katz, "Barry Llewellyn Obituary."
  14. Katz gives his dates as December 24, 1947, to November 23, 2011, aged sixty-three: Katz, "Barry Llewellyn Obituary."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map