1968
ISRAELITES * DESMOND DEKKER AND THE ACES * BEVERLY'S * JA
Israelites was another massive hit in England for Desmond Dekker and was played on mainstream radio (a comparative rarity for music of West Indian origin) which helped make him something of a household name. This is the slightly different original Jamaican version, that has a more 'open' (less production) sound. The word Israelites designates the descendants of the Patriarch Jacob, or Israel. It corresponds to the Hebrew appellation "children of Israel", a name by which -- together with the simple form "Israel" -- the chosen people usually called themselves in Old-Testament times. The Israelites belong to the group of ancient peoples who are designated under the general name of Semites, and whose countries extended from the Mediterranean Sea to the other side of the Euphrates and Tigris, and from the mountains of Armenia to the southern coast of Arabia.
