NOEL Ellis, eldest son of reggae great Alton Ellis, is preparing to release a tribute album to his father.

Titled Almost Acappella, it will have 15 songs from Alton Ellis’s large catalogue. Noel Ellis, as well as close friends Leroy Brown and Billy Mystic, will record the songs which include Muriel, Rocksteady, Willow Tree, Lord Deliver Us, Live and Learn, and Cry Tough.

ELLIS… eldest son of reggae great Alton Ellis (PHOTO: MICHAEL GORDON)

Noel Ellis says the idea for a tribute album came from his cousins, comedian Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis and Aston Ellis.

Alton Ellis died in London on October 10, 2008. His heyday was in the 1960s when he had numerous ska and rocksteady hit songs such as I’m Still in Love With You, Dance Crasher, and Girl I’ve Got A Date.

Alton Ellis

For a while, he settled in Toronto, Canada, where Noel Ellis has lived for many years.

“It’s hard to get your break in Canada. There aren’t a lot of reggae-playing radio stations there, getting to voice in a studio is even more of a challenge,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

According to Ellis, it is different in Jamaica.

“When you are in Jamaica you can just walk into a studio. In Canada you need proper registration, must be signed up with royalty organisations or your songs won’t be played by the big radio stations,” he said.

Ellis came back to Jamaica in 2008 and appeared on the popular television comedy, The Ity and Fancy Cat Show.

“I don’t have any drama training but I can totally transform whenever I need to do something,” he said.

Noel Ellis made his music debut in 1979 with a self-titled album which was recorded in Toronto by Jerry Brown for Summer Records, often cited as Canada’s equivalent to producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Black Ark studio.