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Nerlynn Taitt (22 June 1934 – 20 January 2010) was a born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, who later moved to Jamaica and became a pioneer of rocksteady music.
Taitt's contribution to Jamaican popular music includes his role as arranger and session leader for many of the recordings that he appeared on. He has been credited as having created the first rocksteady bassline, on the song "Take It Easy" by Hopeton Lewis. Various other Jamaican recordings have been cited as the "first" rocksteady release such as Alton Ellis & the Flames' "Girl I've Got a Date", and the Derrick Morgan rude boy anthem "Tougher Than Tough" with Lynn Taitt playing guitar on all three.
Taitt emigrated to Toronto, Canada in August 1968, to take up the position of arranger for the house band at the West Indian Federated Club.Katz, p. 46 Although he left Jamaica just before the rise of reggae, his playing was a strong influence on musicians such as Hux Brown who adapted Taitt's approach to the newer reggae style. Taitt's work can be heard on various 1960s recordings by Derrick Morgan, Desmond Dekker, Lee Perry, Ken Boothe, Bob Marley and Joe Higgs, among others. He recorded with Johnny Nash on some of the latter's international hits, including "Cupid" and "Hold Me Tight".
Taitt remained active as a musician in Montreal, having recorded with such acts as The Kingpins ("Let's Go To Work" CD 1999) as well as performing live with the Montreal Ska All Stars and at the Montreal International Jazz Festival with The Jets (2002) and the Fabulous LoLo sings Rocksteady (2006).
He was the subject of the 2006 documentary Lynn Taitt: Rocksteady, directed by Generoso Fierro,Dreilinger and another titled Ruff 'n' Tuff.
Taitt died on 20 January 2010 after a long battle with cancer.Walters His death was recorded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at the age of 75.
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