From the pick of the past...

Here are a few more old favourites. Let's kick off with 'Blessed Are The Meek' by Cornell Campbell. It's a cover of an old Uniques tune and the words are taken from the Beatitude. This version is a bit slower and heavier, and the b-side has a version by Dr Alimantado over a superb effects-laden dub.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/kyazzmryh0m/Blessed Are The Meek.zip

Next up, one of my favourite Horace Andy tunes: 'Tag A Long'. Produced by Phil Pratt, and inspired by Gilbert & Sullivan, this has a nice vocal and an outstandingly mellow rhythm: a real gem.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/yzkiykcoenf/Tag A Long.zip

Finally, 'Oily Sound' by Lloyd Charmers, an superb novelty version of the Uniques' classic 'Watch This Sound' (which was in turn a cover of Buffalo Springfield's 'For What It's Worth'). Bubbling chalice sounds and spliff talk are laid over the original rhythm plus some great piano from Charmers - winning combination.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/1ygiyotn2xz/Oily Sound.zip

Anyway, hope you enjoy.


     

All Bases Covered

I've got 3 tunes today that cover pretty much all the bases.

First up, let's have 'Jah Guide' by Big Joe, monster deejay cut to Horace Andy's 'Problems'. Big Joe can be a bit of an acquired taste, but this is one of the very best Santic-produced deejay tunes and I would recommend it to anybody. It also has a seriously ruff and dirty dub - just compare this to the dub of 'Lover's Mood' and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tyumzlzmmyl/Jah Guide.zip

Next let's have an instrumental. I've seen a few (as in 2 or 3) copies of this over the (last 20) years and none of them have had a title. Produced by Vincent Chin on a label named for his wife, this has a quirky, jazzy feel and is pure quality all the way through. It's one of my favourite reggae instrumentals, sublime horns on the a-side and a version that concentrates more on the (very good) guitar and organ.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jzmjh3jhumm/Nameless.zip

Finally, Joe White's 'People Are Changing'. This is a fantastic song from a seriously undervalued singer. The b-side dub is also excellent; the effects are applied with a very light touch and really emphasize the elements of the song that kind of pass you by in the vocal mix.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/hc5o5zbytdg/People Are Changing.zip

So there you go - deejay, instrumental, vocal and dub: a complete 70's reggae experience.

Hope you enjoy.


     

Summer Selection

Thought I'd take a different turning off memory lane today. Don't know quite how to describe this one, but it's a mix for listening in hot weather and has a lot of tracks that are not-quite-Bristol.

http://www.divshare.com/download/7595445-0c5

Anyway, enjoy. Hope it's not too Starbucks.


     

Africa Showcase

Thought I'd post another compilation - this time I've done it showcase-style with each vocal followed by its dub so you can really get into the rhythm. Searching for label scans of these ones really made me wish I'd hung on to them for a few years longer - you wouldn't credit what some of them sell for now!

http://www.divshare.com/download/7580345-caa

All these records date from the end of the seventies to the start of the eighties which was an interesting time in Jamaican music, with rhythms and production styles in a flux. Although it was the age of the discomix I've tried to stick with 7" singles simply out of personal preference ('Don't Mash Up Creation' is the exception - way too good to leave out).

Sorry about the sound quality of 'Bottom Of The Well' by the way - it was a download, but again, way too good to leave out.

Anyway, hope you enjoy


     

DJ Jamboree

Hi!

Here's something that I've only listened to again as a result of contributing to this blog. It's a track by Trinity on his own Flag Man label called 'D.J. Jamboree'.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jyniwlilnul/DJ Jamboree.zip

Trinity produced a few tunes on Flag Man, and although this isn't the best of them (that would be 'Vampire') it's still a very respectable effort. The real highlight, though, is the stately Tubby's dub on the b-side. Spark up and put the dub on loud, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Heavy Roots

Hi All,

Here's a link to some 12" singles from around 1980 I picked up off various mailing lists at the end of the eighties. They're all good, and very heavy.

http://www.divshare.com/download/7529359-c3c

Hope you enjoy.

Rare As Hens' Teeth!

Hi,

Here's a record I got years ago from a mailing list run by a guy called Andrew Neale. Back in the days before Ebay, if you wanted rare reggae you got yourself onto a mailing list and every month or so an envelope containing a photocopied list of records for sale would land on your doormat. It was always first come first serve, so you had to get on the phone pretty much as soon as you'd finished reading through it, or you'd be left with just the stuff that no one else wanted.

Anyway, it took me ages to get the name and artist for this one, but I've recently (as in just this minute) found out that it's 'Soul Rebel Version 3' by Glen Adams & the Upsetters.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jfuyxhirmhy/Soul Rebel Version 3.zip

It's a really quirky instrumental cut, with horns and plinky piano - the sort of record that could only be made in Jamaica. I really like it, it's cheerful and laid-back and the rhythm as we all know is fantastic.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.