Woof!

John Holt did a lot of soul covers over the years, and one of his better ones is this one of the O'Jays' hit 'Brandy', a great song about love, loss and loneliness, even if it is about a runaway dog. It has the same country vibe here as it does in the original version and is very nice. The dub's OK rather than outstanding.

The only other O'Jays cover I can think of off the top of my head is 'Ship Ahoy' by the Cimarons - good song but not a patch on the original. Shame really, because they were a great group.

Here's the original, which I also really like:

Back-To-Back Classics!

I posted a Delroy Wilson tune called 'One One' a while back, really lovely roots and a great favourite of mine. Half of today's record is a beautiful, haunting flute cut to that same rhythm - 'Psycho Rhythmic' by Roland Alphonso. I meant to post it at the same time as 'One One' but it was sounding rough - now I've re-recorded it wet with a heavy needle and the difference is just amazing.

The other side of the record is another personal favourite, 'Selection Train' by the Selected Few. It's a lovely roots tune on an updated version of the 'Peenie Wallie' rhythm, and it spawned some great deejay cuts and a couple of cover versions by different vocalists.

Sorry about the lack of activity on the blog. When I haven't been tied up with family stuff I've been trying to rip some of my more fragile dubplates with varying degrees of success.

Here's Carey Johnson's version:

Here's Jackie Mittoo's original, hope you enjoy it: