Roots from the YARD

More Medley

2012-01-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice little medley from the Clarendonians (well, Peter & Ernest - seems like Freddie couldn't make it) - a guided tour of some of their biggest hits. There are a couple of tunes in there that I can't quite put my finger on, so it'd be nice to get a list of all seven. This record came out on 'Green Door' in the UK, but I've always preferred the artwork of this Jamaican release.

So here it is, 'Seven In One (Medley)'. I hope you enjoy.

El Manisero

2011-12-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

I usually try to avoid posting stuff that's been reissued, but today's an exception. I've recorded this single off a 13-year old cassette tape, and it's by one of my favourite bands. It's 'Peanut Vendor' by the Light Of Saba: if you don't know them already PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go and pay their pension by buying one of their reissues on Honest John's record label - all are excellent, so whichever one you get you will not regret it.

'Peanut Vendor' is a very well-known song: it was the first million-selling record of Cuban music, and has had over 160 versions - not all of them good (the English lyrics are famously shit). The Light Of Saba version is one of my favourites (the other one is by the Alegre All-Stars), and the other side, 'Wisdom' is one of Michael Ras Star's best songs (second perhaps, to 'Jah Man Of Calvary'). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. Here's the very first recording of 'El Manisero':

Gunman Connection

2011-12-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here's some early tracks by dancehall genius Little John. He got his stage name from the fact that he was just 9 when he cut his first record, a great version of 'Give Me The Right' called '51 Storm'. He would've been about 12 or 13 when he recorded this one, and his voice already sounds a lot bigger than his age.

Here he teams up with fellow prodigy Billy Boyo for what I think is one of the best 'connection' songs, and does a solo version on the flip. If you can't quite place the rhythm, it's the In Crowd's 'Milk & Honey' (Dennis Brown also did a version). So, 'Bushmaster Connection' - I hope you enjoy it.

Here's the original:

A bit of a mystery

2011-12-03T15:19:00.001-08:00

Something a little different this week, some UK digital roots. When I picked up this 10" white label from Daddy Kool's at the start of the nineties, they couldn't remember what it was called or who it was by. Someone later called me it was 'Authorised Rock' by Keety Roots so I just went with that.

I'm still not sure who it's by, what it's called, or if it even has a name. If you google 'Keety Roots Authorised Rock' the only results you'll find all show the same 10" single with my handwriting on it. I'm pretty sure there's not too many copies around, but that's about it.

Golden Seal

2011-11-25T13:55:00.001-08:00

I'm in two minds about this one - sometimes I reckon it's a bit of a potboiler, other times I think it's just beautiful. It has a lush, multilayered, ethereal sound anchored in a heavy bassline.

I think the problem's that though the sound is very nice, there's no light and shade: it starts, it continues and then it fades out without any real changes. Strange, though it feels there's more going on in the dub. Anyway here it is: Pablo's 'Golden Seal'.

Daydreaming

2011-11-20T11:23:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I listened to today's record, and I'm very glad I just stumbled across the recording I made before selling it a few years back. It's 'Daydreaming Of Africa' by L. (Lloyd?) Jones, a lovely 1978 roots tune on the Xamayca label. It's one of those songs I can never get tired of hearing, a wistful, breezy vocal with really good lyrics and a surprisingly heavy dub.

While the a-side is really the one for me, a lot of people also go wild for the flip - 'Some African', credited to 'Maxie', who as far as I can tell was Channel One recording engineer Lancelot 'Maxie' McKenzie. It features a raw, keening vocal over a heavy rhythm which segues into 'Declaration Of Rights' for an absolutely stellar dub mix.

Every Knee Shall Bow

2011-11-13T08:41:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts recently - I've done my back in so I'm trying to cut down on the sitting-down time. Anyway, here's a self-produced tune by Johnny Clarke 'Every Knee Shall Bow', that also features U-Roy and a dark, spacious Tubbys dub.

Clarke's vocal is cool and intense, U-Roy is riding high on a string of hits for Prince Tony - tuff riddim, big tune!

Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalamistic

2011-10-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Matador productions from the end of the seventies are a bit of a rarity - Lloyd Daley was pretty much out of the producing game by 1976. He put out the odd tune after that, of varying quality but usually interesting. Today's recording, 'Susan' by Freddie McKay is one of these.

It's a magnificent song, with a strong steppers rhythm and a mighty horns section paired with a nice wah-wah guitar line. Freddie McKay hits his usual sweet spot: smooth, powerful and passionate - I think he had one of the best voices in reggae.

Hell & Sorrow

2011-10-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

After singing, 'Black Cinderella' and 'Keep The Pressure Down' for producer Jimmy Radway, Errol Dunkley fell out with him. As a result a couple of songs that had been intended for him were given to other singers instead. Leroy Smart got 'Mother Lisa', Hortense Ellis got 'Hell & Sorrow'.

Years later, Dunkley finally cut his version of 'Hell & Sorrow' for Trevor Bow of the Sons Of Jah. While it doesn't have the impact of Ellis' raw and intense vocal, it's still very nice. The other side is a lovers rock style version of Roger Miller's 'Little Green Apples'. It's a song that's been done over more times than I have fingers and toes - soul fans will probably remember O.C. Smith's cut (although the Temptations did it too) and reggae fans will probably know Dennis Brown's version.

Here's Smith on tv:

Riding West

2011-10-12T15:36:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to the Voice of Reason whose comment on 'Piccadilly Hop' suggested today's post. When you've got a hell of a lot of records and not a lot of free time, you can go for years without listening to some of them - even ones you really like. When someone reminds you of a long-forgotten gem and you pull it out of the record box, it can be like hearing it for the very first time.

Tommy McCook's 1978 cut of 'Riding West' is a bit like that. I picked this up in the flea market in Trowbridge some time towards the end of the eighties, quite liked it, stuck it in the banana box with all the other twelves and forgot about for a decade. I rediscovered it towards the end of the nineties after hearing Billy Hope's original, and really, really liked it. Tommy McCook is great when he goes with the more free-flowing improvisational stuff. A lot of his R&B, ska and even rocksteady recordings are really satisfying in that way, but for some reason you hear a lot less of it on his reggae sides. Anyway, I'd not listened to it in 6 or 7 years before tonight, and am feeling quite happy.

By the way, the dub is excellent: this is my favourite Bunny Lee / Tubbys dub bar none. It's deep and mellow, with echoing saxophone and a bit of reverb on the kick drum - perfect late-night listening.

Buster Meets The Revolutionaries

2011-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here's another great instrumental, 'Idi Amin' by the Prince Buster All Stars. There was a copy on ebay not that long ago that went for $312 - incredibly, gramme for gramme that's still cheaper than crack. Anyway, it's a dark, jumpy horns instrumental recorded at Channel One with a really good dub on the flip. My favourite part's the piano, but that's just me.

This is massive. Hope you enjoy.

Hop, Skip & Jump

2011-10-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a record that never fails to fill my heart with joy. It's the magnificent 'Piccadilly Hop' by Chalawa.

Frog Leap

2011-10-08T04:42:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my favourite instrumentals, 'Frog Leap' by Mudies All-Stars and an uncredited Ernest Ranglin. My copy's a bit rough, so I apologise in advance. I hope you'll agree that the quality of he music more than makes up for it.

The other side is called 'Dark Shadows' and it's a lovely mellow guitar instrumental on the same rhythm that Jo Jo Bennett used for 'Velvet Mood' (I don't know what the original is).

Update: thanks to the Voice of Reason I now do. Enjoy:

Collie Mountain

2011-09-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today's post is a bit of a mixed bag: 'Is Life' by B.B. Seaton, 'Mount Zion' by Vinnie Taylor & the Revealers, 'Collie Mountain' by Bright Wynter, and Trevor Byfield's 'Burning Bush'.

Of the four, it's probably 'Is Life' that I like best. It was the first song I ever heard by B.B. Seaton, and I still rate it one of his best. The vocal is cool and soulful, and the dub is perfection on a plate.

'Burning Bush' is a massive steppers tune with conscious, intelligent lyrics, rock-hard rhythm and an excellent dub. It's every bit as beautiful as 'Is Life' and a lot more highly-regarded by collectors.

The other two are both good, but not quite in the same league. 'Mount Zion' is a nice uplifting tune produced by Jack Ruby, and 'Collie Mountain' is the next cut to 'Words Of Fire'.

Nice 12

2011-09-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

'Rebel Disco' is one of my favourite 12" singles from Studio 1 (The other one is 'Tenor On Call'). It's a heavy horns and organ instrumental that just doesn't let up from start to finish. The other side is a sweet vocal by Ken Parker with a really nice extended dub (it has a proper stereo mix).

Under heavy manners and discipline!

2011-09-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

The Mighty Travellers (aka The Black Aces) released a few singles and an LP in the mid-seventies and then disappeared forever. Most of their stuff has been reissued by Pressure Sounds and is well worth checking out, especially the two 7" singles, 'South Africa' and 'Close The Gate Dread'.

My favourite recording of theirs is the 7" release of 'Black Black Mind'. The vocal is the sort of mellow roots that I really like, with conscious, intelligent lyrics and beautiful harmonies soaring across a heavy bassline. The Tubby's dub on the b-side takes it to another level entirely - the echo on the vocals still sends shivers down my spine - and to my mind it's one of the very best that I've heard from him.

For some reason, the dub never made it on to any of the reissues.

By the way, I'm hoping someone can remind me what the rhythm is.

Thanks VoR - the only line I could remember was 'I know I'll be blue'!

Roll the thunder!

2011-09-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

I've always been a fan of Big Youth, even the singing (he may not've been that tuneful but he had a bucket of soul) so the part of my record rack marked 'Negusa Nagast' has always been pretty well stocked. Most of his old recordings have been reissued now, and if you haven't already contributed to his pension pot then buy some! Seriously, you won't regret it.

This record, 'Big Youth Skank' is an instrumental cut on the same rhythm as 'Hit The Road Jack', 'African Daughters' and 'Hell Is For Heroes'. The a-side is great, opening with the sound of a gong followed by roaring thunder, squeaky horns and chopping guitar all thrown together in a seriously raw mix. The other side ('Merry-Go-Round') is OK but not really that inspiring.

The Mighty Ruddy T

2011-08-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ruddy Thomas is a name I usually associate with lovers tunes: he did a nice version of 'Every Day Is A Holiday' for Joe Gibbs, for example, and 'Time To Leave Daddy' is simply magnificent. It's not so often that you hear him singing a serious roots tune, but far stranger things have happened.

'Go Home Son' is one of his best: it's the original vocal to Dillinger's 'Five Man Army' and although it has a more commercial sound it definitely holds its own against the other cuts. There's another vocal by Echo Minott: he versions 'Woman In Love' by Barbra Streisand, which I've always enjoyed in spite of myself!

All the clips of the Barbra Streisand version in youtube are restricted use, so I can't embed them. This one is Bronislaw Komarowski, the late speaker of the Polish parliament.

Ride On!

2011-08-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dr Alimantado is one of my favourite deejays, and this is one of his very best records. It's called 'Ride On': if you think you know it from his 'Best Dressed Chicken' LP, think again. This is a different version and it wipes the floor with the other one.

The dub is superb as well.

Let The People Go

2011-08-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

OK posts on consecutive days - yes, I'm a bit bored. Here's a seriously arse-kicking roots tune from Milton Henry, aka Ras Midas: 'Let The People Go'. It's quite a good follow up to 'Economical Crisis' - just listen to the lyrics - I would've liked to have posted Junior Delahaye's 'Working Hard For The Rent Man' too but it's just been reissued.

Incidentally, I've always wondered what the connection to the Universal Life Church was.

Lucky 3

2011-08-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Let's make it 3 for tonight with a record that recently went for silly money on ebay (I wasn't the lucky seller). We already had 'Son Of A Slave' by Michael Anthony and you've probably heard (or heard of) the monumental 'Living In Sorrows' - this one, 'Sinner Man' is less well-known. My copy's got another vocal on the flip which I really like, 'No Trouble Rasta'. You sometimes see copies that have a dub instead, but I don't see how it could improve.

There's more nice roots tunes to come over the next few days (or weeks), including stuff by Ras Midas, Dudley Evans, Alric Forbes, Ruddy Thomas, the Tonals and King Miguel. Anyway, hope you've liked tonight's picks.

Sweet Reggae Music!

2011-08-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we've never posted about Johnny Clarke before. Here's a record that I've always liked more for the b-side than for the vocal - 'Sweet Reggae Music'. Don't get me wrong the vocal's not bad: you can never go wrong with Mr Clarke's singing, but I reckon his lyrics can be a bit hit and miss. The dub reminds me a bit of the b-side to 'Glory Glory' by Beshara; heavy bass, soaring horns and hand drum set off the surprisingly delicate guitar. It has a true stereo mix as well - quite unusual in Jamaican music.

Economical Crisis

2011-08-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, when started preparing this post a couple of weeks ago I'd been woken at 2am by some people breaking into the jeweller's down the road, someone had tried to burn down the Poundland on the corner (talk about setting your sights low!), and you couldn't sleep through all the sirens and shouting.

It's a great tune by Michael Prophet - 'Economical Crisis Deh Pon Top', and the lyrics really sum up the times we're living through. I've had this for many years and never really listened to it properly before last month.

Pounding Dub!

2011-08-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

Here's an nice tune - it's 'Ethiopia' by Carol Cole and I'm sure that most of you know it already. Apart from being a thunderous classic of raw uptempo roots, it's interesting for another reason. This dates from 1980 and it's produced by Isha (Pauline) Morrison, Lee Perry's wife at the time. It seems she didn't actually record it at the Black Ark, but laid down the rhythm at Channel One (it's the same one she used for Winston Watson's song 'Dispensation') and got it voiced at King Tubby's.

The only other tunes I've got on this yellow Orchid label are both produced by Pauline Morrison as well: 'Dispensation' and Lacksley Castell's 'What A Great Day It Will Be'. 'Dispensation' sounds like a Jammy's mix, and 'What a Great Day' definitely is. I reckon that all three may only be connected to the Black Ark by marriage, but my God! What tunes!

Let The Wicked Repent

2011-08-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a self-produced tune by Max Romeo from the early seventies - it's the next cut to 'Let The Power Fall On I' and it came out on his 'Prophet label. It's very, very rare - in fact, my copy's the only one I've ever seen, but it's not the sort of thing that goes for big money. I sold it about 10 years ago, and spotted it on sale again for a couple of euros on the Graal Records website last week.

Forward with love!

2011-07-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

I've got a real treat today, a mid-seventies Upsetter production: you may already know it, but if you don't now's the time.

It's a Canadian press of 'Shining Light' by the Mystic Eyes; if the rhythm sounds familiar, try 'Everywhere I go somebody sees me me, I can't hide'. I really like the horns on this song and wish that I could find a dub. It's also great that the vocal and arrangements are so completely different to the original.

The b-side is the dub to a different Mystic Eyes tune: 'I'm Feeling Happy' which came out on the 56 Hope Road label. It's an Upsetter production ('Shining Light' isn't) and it is one of the best dubs that ever came out of the Black Ark.

Mystic Eyes are always worth looking out for: they didn't record much but songs like 'Forward With The Orthodox' and 'Perilous Time' make them an essential part of any serious roots collection. Their lead singer, Anthony Johnson also recorded some great tunes on his own - 'Gunshot' is the best-known.

The Man That Cometh

2011-07-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today's post features 3 great tunes from the start of the seventies. The first is 'Death In The Arena' by Rupie Martin, a nice organ-led instrumental with jangling guitars and shouting. I've been told it's actually the Hippy Boys as produced by Rupie Martin, and that seems kind of plausible.

To be honest, I don't listen to the instrumental side very much, because on the flip you have 'Julia Ceaser' by the Man That Cometh: Charley Ace's first ever recording! As soon as you hear him shout "I said unto my countrymen, we are here not to praise Caesar but to bury him" you know you're on to a winner. The lyrics are smart, righteous and beautifully delivered: definitely a cut above most of the competition.

Next up there's my favourite single by the African Brothers - too bad my copy's in shocking poor condition (sorry about the sound quality). It's 'No Cup No Brock' on the Money Disc label. The vocals and the guitar are great and go together really well. You can download the vocal (with much better sound) from Amazon or Itunes, or pick it up on a couple of different Studio 1 compilations; the version is only on the single. I'd love to hear from anyone who has a better copy that they feel like sharing (you never know, it might happen) - if I ever saw it for sale I wouldn't be able to afford it.

Finally we have a fantastic double-header from the Clandisc stable: 'Foolish Fool' by Cynthia Richards and 'I For I' by King Stitt. 'Foolish Fool' was Richards' second recording (after a tune she did for Coxsone that sank without a trace) and is the one that she's really remembered for. It's a version of a song by Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne's sister) that came out earlier the same year, and is actually the stronger of the two. The guitar lick at the start gives the tune the sort of instant impact that the soul version lacked - that same lick is hidden halfway though the original, and is played by the horn section.

The other side is King Stitt's scorching version of Monty Morris' 'Say What You're Saying' which leaves the original standing. For my money it's one of his very best recordings, and a perfect example of the way a really good toaster can just set a song on fire.

Here are the original versions of the last two songs, hope you enjoy.

Far away, fa-ar away

2011-07-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

I posted an obscure LP a while back, 'Calling 1000 Dreadlocks'. One of the comments was from the guy who played melodica on it, and he mentioned that he also played on today's record during the same session. What we got today is one of my very favourite lovers tunes - 'Telephone Line' by Tony J. The melodica is actually one of the reasons I like this tune so much; you don't often hear it used as part of the rhythm section but it just works (sort of like the accordion that you often hear in cumbias). The vocals are great and the ringing phone caps it off without sounding too gimmicky. Unlike a lot of lovers rock from later years, this has a quite a raw mix - and to my mind it's the perfect Summer tune.

Woof!

2011-06-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-06-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

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:

2011-05-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

Today's record is 'It's Allright', a lovely uplifting vocal by a little-known singer called Kwame Heshimu. In case anyone's wondering, Kwame is the name given in Ghana to boys born on a Saturday, and Heshimu means respect in Kiswahili, so there's a bit of both East and West Africa in this guy's name.

I found this potted biography on the website of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he's now a visiting professor:

Kwame Heshimu grew in the shadow of the Blue Mountain. Son of a Cuban expatriate, and a mother, descendant of Jamaican maroons, he spent his childhood in one of the most inaccessible communities on the island. His grandfather, a saxophonist with dance bandleader Ray Coburn, frequently accompanied Rastafarian drummers. Kwame not only became enthralled with the music, but with the Rastafarian vocabulary, or Iyaric, an intentionally created dialect of English, reflecting their desire to take forward language and confront Babylon system. His romance with word, sound, and power had begun.

Apart from this, he recorded another 7", the awesome 'Beast Of Burden', a 12" version of 'It's Allright' and an LP called 'Follow I': all of them worth tracking down. As always, hope you enjoy.

Super dub

2011-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

'Love Jah Jah Children' is a Big Youth's deejay cut to 'Going The Wrong Way' by Al Campbell. It's very good, but the dub on the b-side is even better. In fact, it's one of the two or three best dubs to come out on any of Phil Pratt's labels. I really like the way Big Youth's vocal punches in and out of the mix - it gives it a rough, raw sound that it wouldn't have otherwise.

2011-05-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my favourite old singles, 'Music Maker' by the Congoes. It's a great showcase for Cedric Myton's angelic falsetto and has a fatastic and dreamlike dub on the flip.

Hello again!

2011-05-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourite instrumentals - 'General Amin', a rough diamond from Joe White, easily as good as the better-known 'Kenyatta'.

I like deep, raw-sounding roots like this - I also like the jazzier side of reggae - so this presses all the right buttons. It's been a while since my last post, but I've got a lot of new stuff ready that I'll post over the next week or so.

Random Roots

2011-04-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 roots tunes selected pretty much at random: 'Mellow Up Yourself' by Bonnie (Bunny) Gayle, 'Land Of Our Birth' By George Whyte & the Black Liberators, and 'I Man A Grass Hopper' by Pablo Moses. They all came out in 1975, but that's a pretty tenuous connection and completely unintentional.

Bunny Gayle was one of the original members of the Viceroys, and may or may not have been the same person as Devon Irons. As a solo artist he recorded a version of 'Yah Ho' for Keith Hudson, plus two singles for Clive Hunt ("Mellow Up Yourself" and the excellent 'Lady Of The Night') and this song that I found on YouTube.

'Mellow Up Yourself' isn't his Gayle's vocal, but he does enough to make sure that the superb and very heavy rhythm track doesn't go to waste. I don't know what label this came out on in Jamaica, could it have been Jigsaw? Treble C is the English release.

George Whyte, who knows? 'Land Of Our Birth' is the only song of his I've ever heard - there is a deejay cut called 'Farmer In The Den' by Jah Lloyd (a lot better than the title suggests). Reggae's littered with artists who left no trace apart from one or two great songs - same as soul, 50's rock & roll and most of the other genres of music that I like. It means you just can't get bored of it because the thrill of discovery is never far away.

Pablo Moses should be familiar to all reggae fans, and 'I Man A Grasshopper' was his first big hit. I remember hearing 'Come Mek We Run' on the radio late at night when I was still at school - it was the first song I'd ever heard by Pablo Moses and it just blew me away. Looking back, I think a good part of what I liked about it was Geoffrey Chung's production and the backing band. This is a similar sort of extended jam, split over the two sides of the single. The vocal's better than 'Come Mek We Run' but I sort of miss the flute.

Back to my youth!

2011-04-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Lovers rock isn't the most highly-regarded form of reggae. When you hear people arguing the merits of different eras, it hardly ever gets a look-in and I think that's a bit unfair. Growing up in England in the eighties, artists like Kofi, John McClean and Sandra Cross provided the soundtrack to some pretty crucial moments in my life and still have a special place in my heart.

My first selection is 'If I Give My Heart To You' by John McLean. Mad Professor produced a ton of really good lovers tunes on his Ariwa label, and for me this is one of the songs of the decade. Honey-voiced John McLean had a few other hits like 'Truly Bowled Over', but never did anything else even half as good as this one. The horns section may've been replaced by a synth, the rhythm may be a drum machine but it hardly matters: the lyrics are smart, McLean sings with the sort of finesse that few singers can manage, and the mix is fantastic light-hearted and playful in the sort of way that you only really hear on Ariwa.

The b-side is 'Doppler Effect' by Professor Doppler (aka Mad Professor). Listen to the drum, bass and piano - it's the sort of rhythm that got done to death at the start of the nineties, but it's also an evolution of the stuff Mad Professor was putting out on his African Connection dub LPs.

The next record is Brown Sugar's magnificent 'Our Reggae Music'. For those of you unfamiliar with them, Brown Sugar were a trio consisting of Kofi, Caron Wheeler and Pauline? Catlin. Kofi of course went on to very successful solo career, and Wheeler is far better known for her work with Soul II Soul a decade later but this is where it all started. The vocals are as great as you'd expect, and John Kpiaye's guitar is a major bonus. Kpiaye's name crops up on so many great lovers tunes that I decided to do some digging, and after a just couple minutes found this biography! He's the man responsible for the reggae version of 'Swan Lake' and plays guitar on most of Linton Kwesi Johnson's LPs (think of that lovely hook on 'Reality Poem'). He put out an LP of his own a few years back that I really like and recommend - it may not be to everyone's taste but here's a sample:

Finally, here's one of the songs that all other lovers tunes are measured against - 'Ring My Bell' by Blood Sisters. For me this is better than Anita Ward's original disco version. It's not just that the vocal is absolutely flawless and the rhythm is superb - the dub is as good as you'll hear anywhere in reggae and both sides of the record are equally strong. I don't really know anything about Blood Sisters, they seem to have left no traces apart from one great record, a couple of good ones and a few photos on their MySpace page.

I'm going to sign off now with another video, a classic by someone called Melina Carrone, which came out on the back of Human Cargo's 'Carry Us Beyond'.

Hope you enjoy!

It's a good little while now, me no fling down no legs

2011-03-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Winston Heywood, 'Bam-Sa-Bo', great tune: this is the original JA press on the Jaguar label, it was issued on Dynamic in the UK. I know absolutely nothing about the singer save that he produced a handful of superb singles at Black Ark, including 'Backbiting', 'Stop The War', and 'Long Long Time', as well as 'I'll Never Fall In Love' for Fud Christian. Bam-Sa-Bo has a good rhythm and nice lyrics; it's all about having fun.

There's a deejay cut on the same label by Dennis Alcapone, backed by Augustus Pablo's melodica version. Alcapone's version is quite listenable, but to be honest he's on autopilot and it's not his greatest performance. The b-side is also pretty nice, but it's one of those ones where Pablo follows the tune instead of leading it like he does when he's at his best. Both of these two versions make a really nice accompaniment to the vocal, but I don't think that either is really strong enough to stand on its own.

Here's a taste of Winston Heywood's later work:

Tear Drops

2011-03-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, the wife's away and I'm bored - so here's another post. 'Let Your Tear Drops Fall' was the first single I ever owned by Horace Andy. It's one of a series that he cut for producer Phil Pratt at the start of the seventies, including 'Get Wise', 'Tag Along', and the original versions of 'Youths Of Today' and 'Money Money' - all of them seriously good tunes, many of them collected on his LP 'Get Wise'. Here's a sample:

'Tear Drops' has more of a soulful vibe, and is one of very few tunes to use melodica in the rhythm section (the only other one I can think of off the top of my head is 'East Christmas Song'). Horace's voice has never sounded smoother and there's a lovely, delicate piano line. If you listen carefully you can even hear some clanking pots and a bit of studio chat towards the end.

The dub starts off very nicely with little drop-out soloing the backing vocals, but gets a bit samey after that. The melodica is one of the things I like best about the a-side, but on the dub it just overwhelms everything else and leaves you wishing for a bit less of it.

Anyway, to round things off, here's the original version of 'Money Money' together with it's deejay cut. I still have 'Evilous Things' somewhere and it has the wickedest dub (incidentally, does anyone have the original issue of 'Tell It Black' by Big Youth with the dub on the b-side? I've been looking for that for over 20 years).

Long time ...

2011-03-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm back. I've had flu, so's my daughter, so's my son - in sequence. You can imagine the fun I've been having this last month or so. Anyway, let's forget about that now and celebrate my return to good health with one of my favourite rhythms.

Sometime in the eighties I was sifting through the secondhand racks in Daddy Kool's when I came across an LP by Trinity called 'Full House'. You may remember it, a couple of excellent tracks, a fair bit of filler, and Trinity wearing dungarees and shades on the cover. Anyway, one of the best tracks on there was called 'Ring Craft', where he's going on about the Ring Craft Posse and his granny's bangles.

The rhythm track is a particularly tough version of 'Holy Mount Zion' by the Actions, which is today's tune (and if anyone knows whose version Trinity used please leave a comment). The Actions were an early incarnation of Well Pleased & Satisfied, who were responsible for some awesome roots tunes during the seventies and early eighties. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was blown away by 'Sweetie Come From America', and for years one of my most treasured singles was 'Living In The Slum' (the Total Sounds version with the dub). Anyway, for anyone out the who doesn't know them, here's a small selection of videos and a link to an excellent interview.

'Holy Mount Zion' on it's own is a great tune, but like I said it spawned a lot of versions. I've never been able to track down Well Pleased & Satisfied's recut, a 12" called 'Open The Gate Bobby Boah' featuring Jah Banna (by all accounts it's fantastic) but I do have two very good deejay cuts by Ken Quatty. 'Jah Lion' was the first one; it's a pretty serious tune.

All the copies I've heard have been a bit overloaded on the vocal - if you can hear some distortion, it's because the deejay was either a lot louder than expected, or just a little too close to the mic. That said, it's a fantastic version by a really good toaster. Ken Quatty didn't record much, but most of his singles are good.

If anything, the second version, 'Cripple Skank' is actually better than 'Jah Lion'. Here Ken Quatty toasts over a stabbing, in-your-face guitar solo and gives it a rawness and intensity that has rarely been matched. This is one of the best deejay tunes in my collection and it doesn't let up from start to finish.

The b-side is the same cut but without the deejay, and is pretty great in its own right. In case you're wondering, the Jerry All-Stars are named after Jerry Baxter of Well Pleased & Satisfied, nothing to do with Jah Jerry.

While you wait, here are a few more tunes to get you feeling Well Pleased & Satisfied. I don't have words to express just what a great group they were, so I'll have to let the music do the talking.

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Three Twelves

2011-02-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Today's post is three 12" singles from the end of the seventies: 'Slave Driver' by Dennis Brown, 'Mr Boss Man' by Linval Thompson and 'Live Together' by Dave Robinson. They're all superb records and get a lot of play around here.

'Slave Driver' is Dennis Brown's version of the Bob Marley song; Dennis' vocal soars above a dark and menacing rhythm before making way for Ranking Joe's militant toasting. If you like this, you should pick up a Pressure Sounds compilation called something like 'Zion High' which collects a load of Dennis Brown's productions of himself, Ranking Joe and the Black Uhuru. A lot of them came out as twelves on the D.E.B. label but there's a few there that I'd never even heard of. Getting back to 'Slave Driver', the icing on the cake is the brutal, pounding dub on the b-side; turn it up high and feel your ears bleed!

'Mr Boss Man' is probably my favourite record by Linval Thompson, and has been for a long time. I first discovered it when I was a teenager working as a kitchen porter. The chef, a vinegar-faced dutch gnome with a hat that almost doubled his height, was a bit of a bully and made my life a misery. I can still remember the sense of triumph I felt the first time he had to be restrained from punching me - I'd never realised the power of a simple phrase like 'F*ck you Rumplestiltskin'.

Anyway, the record has a good solid rhythm, and a good vocal from Linval followed by a dub. The b-side is the one I really like nowadays - Ranking Trevor on top form over a sparse, heavy rhythm that goes into very nice dub at the end.

Last up here's two more really, really fine tunes by Dave Robinson - I still can't figure out how this guy is so little-known. Although he's not credited, Ranking Dread's on there too. Apart from Robinson's plaintive vocals, what makes this record really special for me is the drumming and the horns. A lot of tunes, you can say 'It sounds just like this and this and this...', this ain't one of them.

Enjoy!

2011-02-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a very good Tommy Cowan-produced roots tune from 1979, 'Crisis' by Israel Vibration. As a bonus, it has Augustus Pablo on the flip.

Crisis

I don't know if anyone else out there feels the same, but after 15 minutes of solid roots I sometimes get cravings for a bit of slackness or maybe some lovers rock. With that in mind I was going to put in a video of 'Bathroom Sex' (General Echo) but while I was looking on YouTube I found this and it was too good not to use instead:

How good is that video?

More acetate: top-notch dubs

2011-02-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

I'd like to say a very overdue thankyou to the guy who made a donation just before Christmas - it's always nice to get messages of support and I really appreciate them. As it happens, there was quite a nice record on ebay that finished the next day, and I used the donation to buy it.

I A Suffer

It's a 12" dubplate from the start of the 80's; but before you get too excited, it's a pre-release rather than a special. That said, the music on it ('I A Suffer' and 'National Front' by Sufferer Sound) is top-notch, two dubbed-up instrumentals, and it has that lovely rich sound that you get from acetate when it's in good nick.

2011-01-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

Here's something I picked up years ago off Andrew Neale's mailing list - some of you who were around and buying records in the nineties might remember it. I've always liked the vocal, a you-done-me-wrong-but-I-still-love-you sort of thing with a jaunty organ line and some nice unpolished harmony vocals: I've always wondered who the two vocalists were.

Angel

The b-side is far better-known - it's King Tubby's groundbreaking organ-led dub of 'Beardman Ska' - it's credited to the Dynamites (essentially the same band as the Crystalites) and it's called 'Phantom'. Here's the original rhythm, enjoy:

Paid-up member of the deejay cult

2011-01-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

Some of you may've noticed that I've got a bit of a weakness for old deejay sides, and here's yet another to confirm the impression. It's one that it took me a while to find, but which didn't disappoint once I got it: 'Get In The Groove' by Dennis Alcapone & Dennis Brown.

Get In The Groove

It's a self-produced deejay cut to Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells' 1964 hit 'Once Upon A Time' - Alcapone also produced Dennis' vocal version on the Funny Disc label. The arrangements are almost identical to an earlier version by Delroy Wilson (same goes for Roman Stewart's version and Sidney Rogers'), the vocal is quite nice and the toasting works too. Here's the Motown original:

When you talk about Dennis Alcapone it's hard to avoid mentioning Carl Gayle's article, Dennis Alcapone and the Rise and Fall of the Deejay Cult. You'll find quite an interesting interview with Alcapone himself here.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. Sometime soon I'll post the only other Dennis Alcapone production that I know - an instrumental that's probably the best of the lot.

2011-01-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Here's another old favourite - I originally got this for the deejay side, I Roy's first recording, but ended up keeping it for Jo Jo Bennett's magnificent trumpet version on the b-side.

Hot Pop

Together with 'Camp David' and 'Leaving Rome', it's one of Bennett's best tunes. It's also worth looking out for 'Toronto Rock', his version of 'Slavery Days' and of course his LP 'Groovy Joe'.

2011-01-08T13:32:00.000-08:00

One One

I'm not sure why I bother posting pictures of all these blank labels - they're pretty much interchangeable after all. Anyway, here's a real gem from Studio 1: Delroy Wilson's version of 'One One', and on the other side 'Addis A Wa Wa' by the New Establishment.

The vocal side is one of the best roots tunes to come out of Studio 1 - it's got an interesting rhythm with nice guitar and organ chopping and bubbling under the vocals. Delroy is at his very best, raw and impassioned but still very cool. The flip is a seriously raw and tuff version of 'Skylarking' featuring Pablove Black's melodica - definitely not to be missed!

As always, I hope you enjoy this gem.

Another Blank

2011-01-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

On The Scene

Here's quite a rare Alcapone tune called 'On The Scene'. Apparently it came out on Prince Tony's High School International Label, though I've only ever seen it as a blank. I seem to remember a better version on the same label called 'Six Pack & Seven' or something like that - has anyone ever come across it? Wouldn't mind knowing what the vocal is either.

Ooh, Mr Bond!

2011-01-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping somebody can put a name to this tune - I've always loved it but never known what it was or who it was by.

007

I reckon it goes quite well with Lloyd the Matador's tribute to 'The Fugitive'.

Introducing Latty

2011-01-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's post (composed in a hurry to welcome the new year), here's something a bit more interesting. Latty Guzang is a little-recorded singer, melodica player and deejay, best known for the Mikey Dread produced 'Stage Show'. He knew Augustus Pablo from a young age, and got his first proper break in the music business when Pablo gave him a couple rhythms to deejay over.

Kentones Rock

The result was this record, 'Kentones Rock' / 'Can't Hide' on the Marauders label. It's a double header with deejay versions of 'Rockers Rock' and 'Say So'. It never got much promotion and never shifted many copies, which is a shame because Latty was a natural. Both songs have wicked spoken intros ("I'm single and disengaged, I'll tell you my phone number but I won't tell you my age"), and once the music gets going he rides the rhythm like a veteran - there's even a nice little drop-out halfway through 'Can't Hide' with the music sliding back in just a little too soon.

This is yet another of those records that leave you wondering what might've been, and wishing you could've had just a little bit more. Anyway, you can feast your ears on the original versions while you wait:

Hope you enjoy!

Satisfaction

2011-01-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. I'm afraid that I've not got anything particularly strong for the first post of 2011, but I hope you'll like it anyway.

Satisfaction

Here's John Holt's Channel one update of the lovers classic 'Satisfaction'. My copy's a bit rough on the vocal side, but that's OK: it's not the best vocal version of the tune; it's not even Holt's best vocal version (see below). The reason I keep this record is for the dub on the b-side which has sweet echoes and tuff drumming - definitely one to play loud.

This is Holt's first stab at the song:

There are so many versions, but Gregory's (credited to 'William Shakespear' on the original press) really stands out:

By the way, is there anyone out there who can help me out with keystone correction on a couple of label photos?

Another Patti Page Cover

2010-12-19T07:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Voice of Reason for the info on 'Changing Partners', I thought that if anyone knew it'd be him! His mention of Patti Page doing a version (which I didn't know about) brought to mind another record I have, a loose version of 'Tennessee Waltz'.

Here's her version of 'Changing Partners'.

Here's 'Tennessee Waltz'.

Here's 'Tenesee Scank' by Little Alphanso.

Tenesee Scank

It is, of course, rare as hen's teeth - I've never seen any other records on the Sine Wave label either. I suppose that not many people bought this back in the day, and I doubt that there's many people chasing it now, but I like it all the same. It's well-arranged and the organ line in particular is very nice. Little Alphanso, whoever he is, has a good voice too - I wonder if he ever recorded under a different name.

Can someone please tell me what this is?!

2010-12-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

It says 'Holt' on the label, and sounds like it might be a Bunny Lee Production.

Love

Wooo

2010-12-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Howling dogs, rattling chains and spooky moaning sounds - looks like I missed my chance for a topical Halloween post. I really like the dub, which has its own sound, like not much else. The vocal is, of course, a classic.

Vampire

Hope you enjoy.

Not a Shaka Killer!

2010-12-14T11:43:00.000-08:00

Here's one I've been meaning to post for ages, a lovely delicate vocal by Cornell Campbell backed by Winston Wright's haunting organ version.

My Darling

I've always wavered between really liking the vocal and not liking it. At the moment I'm really liking it. The b-side is quite simply the best organ instrumental I've ever owned - absolutely superb.

I'm very happy to finally get this onto the iPod, and I hope all of you enjoy it as much as I have.

No picture this time ...

2010-12-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Think of it like a Christmas present - I'd hate to ruin the surprise. If you really want a clue, think of what might connect Winston Jarrett and Jah Pops.

Mystery Tune 1

Mystery Tune 2

Big shout to Papa Dave of Reggae Explosion whose donation made this post possible. PS. Thought I'd try putting a password on this one. It's FilesTube

Hand To Mouth

2010-11-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a wicked tune from the start of the eighties: 'Hand To Mouth' by Jennifer Lara. It's quite hard to find on the original label, even the reissues are pretty scarce, but it's well worth hunting down.

Hand To Mouth

I wanted to post something really good this time as a warm-up for my next post. We got our first (and so far only) donation the other day, just after I spotted something on ebay that I've been trying to find for more than 20 years. So although I'd planned to spend the money on beer, I spent it on a record instead. When it arrives, you'll see what it is.

Soul Inflation

2010-11-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

In The Mood

Here's a bit of a curiosity: a pretty decent melodica instrumental with a so-so vocal on the other side. The label's very nice as well.

Vocal & Deejay

2010-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here's Carlton Livingstone's 'Tale of Two Cities' plus Johnny Lover's deejay cut. Listening to this, it's hard to believe it was Livingstone's first recording. He also wrote the lyrics, and this song announced a major talent to the world. He would go on to record a number of classic tunes including 'Trodding Through The Jungle' and '100 Pounds Of Collie Weed', always impressing with his perfect phrasing and the beautiful tone of his voice.

Tales Of Two Cities

Johnny Lover (aka Johnny Jones) didn't make a lot of records, but the ones he did make are very much sought-after. He did this record for Brad Osbourne in New York in 1978, the same year the vocal came out, and around the same time he did 'Who You Gonna Run To' which appears on the LP 'Scratch & Company'.

Jah Station

The package is rounded off with two superb dubs. Hope you enjoy.

2010-10-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this post short as I'm writing with one hand and holding a baby in the other. I'm sure we all know Alton Ellis' classic 'Big Bad Boy' - it's certainly been a favourite of mine for many years. My only copy was the release on Giant, with 'Ace 90 Skank' on the flip, so hearing the original b-side was a bit of a revelation.

Big Bad Boy

It just adds wild trombone to the a-side vocal and the result is very interesting. Is there too much going on? Maybe, but it's things like this that make us love Keith Hudson

The Rhythm Master

2010-09-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here's an uptempo roots tune from 1979. It's 'Higher Man' by Glen Brown, and it's very nice in a far more polished way than the early-seventies tunes he's best known for. The label is one of my favourites - a really simple design that just works.

Higher Man

This is quite a rare record, I got mine off a list at the start of the nineties, flogged it, and then picked up another copy for next to nothing on ebay a couple of years ago. I've never seen it anywhere else - I hope you enjoy it too.

Happy Occasion

2010-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

French speakers might be able to guess what it is ...

And yes, the bit at the start is a bit of a giveaway.

Horsemouth Strikes Again

2010-09-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a really old deejay track by Mad Roy, better known as Leroy Wallace. It's a version of John Holt's 'A Love I Can Feel', and while it's quite nice, it's not his best. We've already had the magnificent 'Herb Vendor' in an earlier post, and someday I'll post a great vocal he did on Big Youth's Negusa Negast label called 'Far Beyond The Blue'.

Universal Love

The b-side is far older, about 10 years older in fact. It's a nice Jamaican boogie-woogie called 'Chariot Rock' from Sir Coxsone and the Blues Blasters. Coxsone's first love was apparently jazz and a lot of his productions, especially the earlier ones, do have a very jazzy feel to them.

Wreck Up My Life

2010-09-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Today's tune is a classic from Leroy Smart - 'Trying To Wreck Up My Life'. It's a superb vocal laid over a heavy Aggrovators version of an old Heptones song called 'Give Me The Right' (also superb).

Trying To Wreck Up My Life

It has a really good dub - one of my favourite Jackpot b-sides in fact - with some great double-drumming effects and echo. My copy called the b-side 'Channel One Under Heavy Manners' - but I didn't get a label scan before I flogged it years ago, so we're stuck with the only picture I could find. 'Channel One Feel It' doesn't go quite as well with the spoken intro on the vocal - but the message is still pretty clear.

Dillinger did a superb deejay version called 'Trial & Crosses' - his album 'Talking Blues' was one of the first reggae LPs I ever bought and I've always rated it as one of the best deejay records ever made.

Big Joe also versioned it to good effect on his LP 'Keep On Rocking & Swinging'.

As always, hope you enjoy.

Danger Zone In Roots!

2010-09-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here's another serious roots tune - and this time it's not in any way connected to psychopathic cult leaders or serial kiddy-fiddlers. It's 'Running Star' by Barry Brown, a roots version of 'Danger Zone' that you definitely ought to hear.

Running Star

It came out on the LP 'Stand Firm', with a disappointingly anaemic bassline. Here on the 7" version you get some proper bass, and a superb dub as well. The vocal and horns still have that slightly tinny sound that they have on the LP, but it hardly matters on a tune this good.

Random Chanting

2010-09-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted any proper deep roots music, and it's time to put that right. Here's a tune called 'Marcus Garvey' by Nuwaupu (never heard of them? me neither). It's raw deep and very spiritual, and it's got a sound all of its own.

Marcus Garvey

Was a time you couldn't get this for love or money, it got reissued a few years back and you can still pick up fresh copies on the 'Rootical Dubber' label (try the Blakamix shop if you want one to play out, or just want better sound quality). The flute version on the b-side is especially nice.

2010-09-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I love cover versions - anything that's done in a different style to what you'd expect - so it was a real treat for me to stumble across today's tune. It's a GG's production called 'How Glad I Am' by the Tidals. They're a pretty good vocal trio who've left no trace beyond a handful of records that they cut in the mid-seventies (a common theme in Jamaican music).

How Glad I Am

What interested me is that this is a cut to a jazz tune from the start of the sixties, by a singer called Nancy Wilson. She's a really excellent singer, and I love the song even though I sometimes find her style a bit self-consciously showy.

Needless to say, the reggae version is very different. I'm not sure if it's less surface and more depth, or just less surface. Anyway, I really enjoy both cuts and I hope you do as well. If you like this, you'll find their sole LP here on one of my favourite blogs.

Busy Day!

2010-09-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

The wife & kids are staying with my sister, so I'm home alone with nothing to do apart from putting off painting the kitchen. So since I've got time on my hands, why not have another one?

Apollo 12

It's a really nice record from one of the great pioneers of Jamaican music. Owen Gray recorded these songs for Chris Blackwell in 1969. 'Apollo 12' was a big hit with the skinheads here in the UK, but for me 'Understand My Love' is even better.

There's a very good interview with the singer here - he's interesting guy.

2010-09-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

This next tune is 'Rootesman' by I Roy, a wicked wicked deejay cut to Junior Byles' 'Fade Away'. But even better than the vocal side is the dub, which is one of the finest ever released by Channel 1. Seriously, you can't go wrong with this tune!

Rootesman

The dub has been released on a really good Pressure Sounds compilation called 'Drum Sound - More Gems From The Channel One Dub Room 1974 to 1980' (why do they always have dates in the title?). It also has versions to 'Jah Creation' (this alone is worth the buying it for) and 'Ride On Marcus': definitely not to be missed.

Deejay Gem!

2010-09-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a really good version of 'Rockfort Rock' by deejay duo Skipper & Ranking Jermaine: 'Rub & Dub International'. As far as I know their only other record was a version of 'Full Up' called 'Peanuts', also for Harry J.

Rub & Dub International

I really like this one, in spite of the fact that neither one of them could hold a tune in a bucket. It's bursting with energy and good vibes, the backing is top-notch and the mix is clear as a bell.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Sweet Three

2010-08-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here's an old favourite, the original rhythm to Mikey Dread's 'Barber Saloon' 'Love The Dread' (thanks VoR). It's 'Not Responsible' by Carlton Patterson & Leroy Brown (I don't know which one). The mix is great, especially on the dub where you get some real impact on the drums.

Not Responsible

There are also a couple of versions by Dillinger ('Ah You Me Love' and 'Healing Stream') and Bongo Herman ('Psalms Of Drums'). The next tune is just really sweet, followers of this blog will know that I'm a big fan of Joe White - an artist who never really got the recognition he deserved. 'Pretty Black Girl' was something he cut for Harry Mudie at the start of the seventies, and you can hear that my copy's been played into the ground.

Pretty Black Girl

The final tune needs no introduction, one of Horace Andy's very best, and one of the first really big hits to come out of Channel One: 'Girl A Love You'.

Girl A Love You

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

2010-08-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I missed out 'Standing Firm' from the list of 'Take Five' versions, especially since it was on my wants list for years before I got it. There are a couple of other versions connected with Jacob Miller as well - such as this (which also slipped my mind).

To Take It All

Although credited to Jah Devon, this is actually Dean Fraser backed by the Fatman Rhythm Section. It's quite a nice jazzy take on the rhythm, a bit faster than most of the other versions, and it has a really good dub.

I've only ever seen two tunes on the Jaques label, this and David Jah Son's 'Jah Is Coming For His Earth One Day' which is a wicked version of 'Every Day Is A Holiday'. I always liked the look of the label as well, not least because I used to love 'The Wizard Of Id' when I was little.

Move & Groove

2010-08-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Dennis Brown cut a string of classic tunes at the start of the seventies for producer Derrick Harriott. Here are two of the best ones (not counting 'Concentration' of course): 'Silhouettes' and 'Musical Heatwave'. Both of them were included on his 'Super Hits' LP (available on reissue - seriously, you won't regret it!).

Move & Groove

When you listen to 'Silhouettes' it's obviously a cover of someone else's tune, but until just now I had no idea who did the original. Thanks to the wonder of YouTube I've managed to cram yet another piece of useless info into my overloaded brain. Here's a group called the Rays way back in 1957:

Here's a wonderful version by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers:

And here are the Ronettes in 1962:

Enjoy.

Take Five

2010-08-11T03:39:00.000-07:00

Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five' (actually composed by his saxophonist, Paul Desmond) became one of the most popular rhythms in reggae, with endless versions by a stream of singers, instrumentalists and deejays. This record is one of the very best of those versions.

Two House Department

The first Jamaican version of 'Take Five' was Val Bennett's 'The Russians Are Coming' for Bunny Lee, which Lee immediately recycled into Derrick Morgan's 'Great Musical Battle', an assertion of his superiority over Coxsone. Randy's got in on the act next, with Lester Sterling's 'Age Of Revolution'.

Bunny Lee put out two more versions, both masterpieces, in 1977: 'Twelve Tribes of Israel' by Linval Thompson and 'Jah Love' by Dillinger which has one of the best dubs King Tubby ever mixed.

Val Bennett returned a year or two later with a recut called 'Blow Mister Hornsman Blow' over a tuff rockers rhythm that was absolutely perfect for the time. It got versioned into:

Two House Department - Barry Brown

In Bondage - Barry Lee

Blow Brother Joe - U Brown

Step It Ina Africa - Lone Ranger

Hands In The Air Girl - Madoo

Captivity - Barrington Levy

Money - Cornell Campbell

There were also wicked cuts by Rico, Ossie Scott, Reggae Clinic 65, the Disco Reggae Band and the Young Lions (aka Aswad) on different versions of the rhythm.

The Ossie Scott version is a must because it's the only one that keeps the time signature of the original.

Finally, one of my favourites - a mighty Gussie-produced lovers cut by the Mighty Diamonds.

Dreadlocks Rock

2010-08-11T01:41:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my favourite records - deejay on one side and instrumental on the other. It's 'Dreadlock Rock' by Dillinger, a version of 'Don't Touch Me' by Nicky Thomas, and 'Fort Augustus Rock' by Joe Gibbs & the Professionals which is a seriously ruff horns and bongo cut to 'Beat Down Babylon' (the spoken intro is by Prince Glen, aka Trinity).

Dreadlock Rock

This is quite a rare one, and well worth picking up if you see it. There's a wicked deejay cut on the same label, 'Virginia Skank' by Prince Glen, which came out on the back of a reggae version of 'In Heaven There Is No Beer' by the Happs.

A Landmark In Reggae

2010-08-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a real treat, Ras Michael's first self-produced record. This was the first time that he recorded his own music, rather than being a hired hand on someone else's session. It's revolutionary, simple and beautiful music, with a really optimistic and uplifting vibe.

Lion Of Judah

I hope you enjoy this one - personally I love every record on the Zion Disc label, and hope to share some more soon.

Who Have Eyes To See

2010-08-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a tune from Errol Holt, not quite as good as 'Red Eye' or 'Gimmie Gimmie' but still very nice (especially the dub).

Who Have Eyes To See

Prince Far I did a deejay cut called 'Talking Rights', which I do have somewhere but haven't been able to locate. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Memories By The Score

2010-08-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Herre's a deejay cut to 'Memories By The Score' by Ansell Linkers (better known as Ansell Cridland of the Meditations). I've seen a few copies of this over the years, but none of them have ever said who the artist was or what it's called.

Version By The Score

It's a really nice mix and the deejay is not bad either. I guess it's probably produced by Fud Christian, like the vocal.

Two from '81

2010-08-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of tunes from 1981; 'Street Of Gold', the Heptones update of the Gladiators' classic, and 'Blood Stain', a sort of early dancehall thing from Peter Broggs. They're pretty different, but both good in their own way.

Street Of Gold

Of the two I prefer 'Street Of Gold' - it's the harmonies, the rhythm section, and above all the dub that set it apart for me.

Blood Stain

I've sorted out my computer problems now, so I'll be posting a bit more often. As always, hope you enjoy.

Party Night

2010-07-31T03:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a great party tune by the African Brothers. There's a good little bio of them on Wikipedia, and there's an excellent compilation called 'Want Some Freedom' which gathers together most of their releases and is still available.

Party Night

This song isn't really typical of their output, which tends to be a lot rootsier. I like it because it's a lot more of a party tune than stuff like 'Lead Us Father', 'Practice What You Preach', and 'Want Some Freedom' (all of them brilliant, but sometimes you need a break from that sort of thing).

Sweet

2010-07-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm Your Puppet

Here's a great Jimmy London vocal from 1975, far superior to Glen Brown & Lloyd Parks' earlier version on the 'Slaving' rhythm. Jah Woosh recut this as 'African Sound' soon afterwards.

It's a very different style to James & Bobby Purify's original:

Computer problems are preventing me from posting too much at the moment (bad BIOS flash), but I hope you enjoy this.

Rizla

2010-07-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Rizla

Just a top tune - also provided the rhythm for Dillinger & Trinity's 'Rizla Skank', one of the finest deejay head-to-heads ever recorded.

Heavy Stuff

2010-06-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

Death In The Arena

Today's tune is a seriously heavy 1976 offering from Dillinger, produced by Harry J. It's not on the Studio 1 'Death In The Arena' rhythm - I'd be interested to hear from anyone who recognises the vocal (if one exists).

2010-06-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

Todays post is a bit of a strange one. It's the entire works (as far as I know) of some geezer who called himself Caleb Sweetback. Coincidentally, it also features the entire back catalogue of the New York-based Black Spade record label (proprietor: Caleb Sweetback).

So here they are: lovers classic 'Darling You', and roots monster 'Zion Here I Come'.

Backing on both tracks is provided by Zap Pow and it's rock hard. Sweetback is sometimes off-key, but very listenable and very original. These records are what's known as 'Private Press' in soul circles: some guy's decided he's got something he wants to share with the world, and he's gone and done it all off his own back. Even though we may never know anything more about Sweetback, we should be grateful that he's made the effort to create these two fantastic records.

When I was little, the man who drove my school bus was a salsero called Oscar who'd cut a stack of records but never quite made it to the big time. He used to keep a cardboard box of his old singles under the front passenger seat, and even gave a couple to me and my sister. I lost the single years ago, and have no idea what his last name was, or what his stage name might've been. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of people out there who cut a handful of really really great tunes before disappearing forever back into their everyday lives.

Wedding Bells

2010-06-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

I recently attended Lala's wedding at a nice Iraqi restaurant here in London. I thought I'd mark the occasion with a post of an old tune by U-Roy Junior - a Lloyd Campbell production called 'The Wedding'.

I hope you'll join me in concratulating my fellow blogger and his lovely bride.

And here's that link: The Wedding

Guilty Pleasures

2010-05-31T02:45:00.000-07:00

Today it's 'Cry Cry' by Errol Mayes (aka Don Mais of the 'Roots Tradition' record label), and 'Be True To Your Man' by Errol Dunkley. These are the records in my collection that are most likely to get you a slap if your lady's in a bad mood.

Cry Cry / True To Your Man

There's a fair bit of misogyny in reggae, as there is in rap, and it reflects the fact that this is music made by young men and boys in culture where these attitudes were normal. You see it in some artists more than others (Prince Jazzbo, for example, with all his tracks about concubine). I've lived in countries where it's very common for young women to look for a sugar daddy to look after them. It makes sense in a way, because it guarantees these ladies a good standard of living for a few years at least (instead of a life of constant struggle), and allows them to build up some assets for the future if they're careful. Of course, some of the struggling young men who they leave behind get a bit pissed off.

High Society

2010-05-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Today's record is one of my rarer ones - 'High Society' by Pat Francis, aka Jah Lloyd. It's from the Rupie Edwards stable, features that really beautiful guitar that we often find on his productions, and is a straight vocal rather than a deejay tune. Jah Lloyd seems to have been a singer in the same way that Big Youth was (check out his versions of 'Second That Emotion' and 'To Be A Lover') - not much technique, but a whole bucket of soul.

High Society

The lyrics are paricularly sad in the light of this Blood & Fire post from a journalist who interviewed him for 'The Beat' magazine a year or so before his death in the mid-nineties: "He died from poverty basically. He was a little tiny guy and had severe asthma, I doubt he had access to proper medicine much less the money to pay for it. He lived rough, no fixed place to live, no money for food. His body was found in some park where he'd been living."

High Locks

2010-05-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice pair of instrumentals from Studio 1. It's Pablove's versions of 'Foggy Road' by Burning Spear and the Gladiators' 'Beautiful Locks'. They're both very very heavy, and 'High Locks' is a lesson in how to use echo to improve a mix.

High Locks

As always, I hope you enjoy.

White Horse

2010-05-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a good roots tune that I never really liked until quite recently. It's John Steele with 'Selassie On His White Horse' - it's deejay cut to the Black Uhuru's 'I Love King Selassie', and is very nicely dubbed up. I originally bought this for the dub, and didn't really rate the deejay side.

Selassie On His White Horse

I still think it's a bit shaky at the start, but once John Steele hits his stride he comes out with some pretty good lyrics, and it works at least as well as U Black's version. This is quite a rare tune, and I'm starting to regret flogging it.

Picnic Plate to Dubplate

2010-05-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post - I've been wondering about those extra holes in my dubplates for ages. Anyway, check this out - it's quite entertaining.

Polling Day

2010-05-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's election day! And what better way to celebrate than with Mr Bojangles' take on the 1976 elections in Jamaica?

Election Derby

It's a version of a classic Treasure Isle recording - 'Those Guys' by the Sensations - and was produced by Sonia Pottinger. Bojangles only recorded a few tunes, but he seems to have been a pretty decent deejay. His lyrics here are a pointed and sometimes very funny commentary on the whole process, and fit really very well with the ebb and flow of the polls during the campaign and the results on election night.

Here's the original Treasure Isle vocal:

Hope you enjoy.

Rare Rare Rare!

2010-05-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today's pick is one of the rarest reggae LPs ever recorded. Produced by Clem Bushay and mixed at King Tubby's studio in 1974 or 1975 by 'King Tubby Jr' (?), it features a stellar cast who never completely live up to their potential. Only 500 copies were pressed; mine apparently belonged to producer Phil Pratt, who gave it to the guy that owned Daddy Kool, who flogged it to me.

With Dave Barker, Dennis Alcapone and Augustus Pablo as leads, extra arrangements by Alton Ellis, and backing from Skin, Flesh & Bones you'd expect this record to be pretty damn good. It is - sort of.

Disappointingly none of the tracks feature the artists together, but there are still some real gems. The best track is just by Skin, Flesh & Bones on their own, a rootsy flute instrumental called 'South Camp Road Rock'; there's also a very good melodica cut of 'Keep On Moving', a nice tune (randomly titled 'String Hanger') which features Dave Barker shouting a lot, and a couple of interesting dubs.

Calling 1,000 Dreadlocks

I'm afraid the Dennis Alcapone tunes are a bit of a let-down, but hey, you can't have it all...

Vintage Roots

2010-04-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today's post is the serious roots that I promised a couple of weeks back. I got these a few years ago off a roofer who used to run a sound system back in the day. He told me his wife hated reggae, so they'd just been sat in the attic collecting dust for the last ten years.

First up, a tune that should need no introduction: 'Ten Thousand Lions', the tune that really made Prince Hammer's name here in the UK. It's a monster of a tune, and the b-side over Delroy Wilson's 'Money' is pretty good too. The dub to 'Ten Thousand Lions' is on 'World War Dub', and there's a different mix on the b-side of the original single on Belva - both crucial and well worth seeking out.

Next, a tune that everyone ought to know, 'Gone Down The Drain' by Al Campbell. It's the same rhythm that Barry Brown used for 'Better For I'; it was also used by Rupie Dan for Shaka favourite 'My Black Race'. This got reissued a while back on the Duke Reid label, sadly without its dub. The original 7" (available here) has a different dub to the twelve - equally great.

Finally, there's Linval Thompson's version of 'Full Up': 'Six Babylon'. Nice vocal, good deejay, heavy (if slightly dull) dub. What more could you ask for?

Vintage Roots

The next post (almost ready) will bring you one of the rarest reggae LP's ever pressed. I'm also getting a couple of my favourite dubplates ready to post, so watch this space.

Found it!

2010-04-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Here's that Symbols tune that was mising off the last post.

The Symbols, Bim Sherman & Matumbi

2010-04-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

OK, here's the next lot of twelves, and a slightly different vibe. I've always been into the sweeter side of roots music more than the heavy stuff. The last post of 12" singles featured a few tunes that you'd describe as 'shaka killers' if you were an ebay seller trying to ramp up the price - this one is all great roots, but none of these records really fit that stereotype.

First is one of my favourite twelves: 'Mister Oppressor' by Rudolph Francis and Ranking Blake. I picked it up years ago at Daddy Kool's. They also had the Symbols' version on the Kebra Nagast label, and I ended up getting that too because I couldn't make up my mind between them. The Symbols (different outfit to the midlands-based Black Symbols) did a handful of singles in the late seventies and early eighties, and I remember hearing somewhere that Rudolph Francis was their lead singer. I first heard them on a compilation called 'King Tubby On The Mix' - a wicked tune called 'Motherless Children' that a lot of you probably know already - and have been on the lookout for more of their stuff ever since. Anyway, this record is simply beautiful. I don't have words that can really do it justice: you just have to hear it.

The next record is 'Lightning And Thunder', one of my favourite records by Bim Sherman. It has that sweet easygoing vibe that I love, and really shows off his strengths as a singer (one of the sweetest voices in reggae!). The dub is also very nice.

After that we have a very nice slice of Matumbi featuring Rico Rodrigues on trombone - yes, it's 'Solitude'/'Introducing Abu Baka' by the Session Men and Abu Baka. Apart from the 12" version of 'Death In The Arena' this is the only time I've heard the instrumental part of a record come before the deejay or the vocal. I picked this up second-hand while I was still at school, and it's stayed with me ever since. The b-side has two of Michael Smith's best-known pieces. I prefer 'Roots' to 'Mi Cyaan Believe It', but to be honest I'm not really a big fan of dub poetry and neither one gets a whole lot of play in my house.

This from a forum post from 2008: "... the man Abu Baka or Abubaka sells hats on Atlantic Road in Brixton. He is an elderly dread who has been selling hats all his life. He told me that when he was a youth (he used to smoke collie weed in a Rizla) in Jamaica, he would take a hat on credit from a manufacturer and sell it in Coronation Market, then take back the money and select another hat on trust. He is name checked in Jah Thomas's 'The Plane Land' for Gibbo."

Finally, there's the Symbols' version of 'Mister Oppressor' - I prefer the piano on the other version, but this one's still a fantastic tune and it comes with a top-class dub. The b-side is a lovely version of Alton Ellis' 1972 classic 'Living In A White Men World'. It's a great song and the Symbols really do it justice. I really like this group and would love to know a bit more about them, so if anyone has any info please stick it in the comments.

Sweet Roots

Anyway, here they all are; as always I hope you enjoy them.

Rice Can't Swell

2010-04-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Here's U-Black's deejay cut to a tune by the Symbols (we'll be hearing more from them in coming weeks) called 'Rice Can't Swell'. It's a rare one - just a handful of copies were released on the Symbols' short-lived 'King David' imprint. Apart from a reference in RKR, all I can find in Google is the feedback for a copy I sold on ebay a while back.

I really love design of the label, this and the vocal were the only two tunes ever released on it.

Stepping Out A Distress

It's got a really heavy rhythm and some nice drumming on the b-side. The toasting isn't bad, but it's not U-Black's best (check out some of the tunes he cut for Jammy and Joe Gibbs).

Digital Den

2010-04-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

I don't usually go for late-eighties reggae, but there's some that you just can't say no to. 'Fire Singer' (aka 'Fire Fire') by Dennis Brown is one like that. This came out in 1987 and just a year or so later couldn't be had for love or money.

Fire Singer

What's great about it? First, the rhythm; second, the mix; third, the vocals; fourth (and most of all), the lyrics. If you've ever felt angry about all the world's injustice, cruelty and waste then this is the song for you!

Ten Tons Of Dub

2010-04-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a great deejay tune called 'Ton Ton Woman' by Jah Stone. It's a GG's production over a sweet dubbed-up and very heavy version of 'Black Cinderella'. I don't know whose version it is, but I ought to because I've definitely heard that voice somewhere before. If anyone does know, please tell me!

Ten Ton Woman

The dub is also excellent, in fact I listen to it more often than the deejay side. Heavy bass, pounding drums, a shed-load of echo on the horns, organ and vocals, and tracks fading and dropping in and out of the mix all over the place: it's a masterpiece and it's designed to be played very, very loud.

Combination

2010-04-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

I've got a couple more nice tunes today. First up, 'Musical Combination', Charley Ace's monster deejay cut to Keeling Beckford's hit 'Combination'. The b-side is also pretty decent, a lovers vocal by Keeling Beckford with a really interesting rhythm track - I really like the bubbling organ and stabbing horns behind the vocal.

Next we have another deejay tune - Dennis Alcapone's cut to 'Magnificent Heptones' on the Pressure Beat label. The vocal is a sought-after medley of 'Baby', 'Why Must I' and 'Why Did You Leave Me To Cry' that Joe Gibbs put out in 1971 or thereabouts. In this version Alcapone stays away from the nursery rhymes and riffs off the themes of the original songs - the result is quite satisfying. The real star of the show, though, is Vin Gordon's version on the b-side. It's definitely one of his best tunes, and has a relaxed, improvised feel to it. I always prefer reggae instrumentals that flow like this rather than repeating a single phrase over and over and over again.

The next tune is a bit of an odd one. I'm not quite sure how to describe 'Leaving The Ball' by Mr Nigel, it's not a deejay tune and I'd hesitate to call it singing. Mr Nigel was actually Nicky Thomas who as we all know really could sing quite beautifully.

The b-side, 'Sweep The Street' by Neville Hinds is a really nice fairground-flavoured organ cut on the same 'Wear You To The Ball' rhythm. Neville Hinds had a major hit with 'Delivered', his instrumental version of Alton Ellis' 'Deliver Us' but mostly worked as a backing musician, and later as a producer at Dynamic studio.

'Poor Man' by John Jones is also a bit odd, and it's not reggae: it's a Dynamic Sound production with a bit of an Elvis vibe. I quite like it - I'd be interested to know if I'm the only one. The b-side 'Merci Cherie' sounds like something you'd get from one of the better hotel bands at the end of a wedding reception. The Tiger label is one of my favourites, just for the design. The wavy black stripes and blocky, cutout-style letters work really well together.

After that short break, we're back to the deejays again, or rather we're back to Prince Buster. The Prince did a couple of cuts of Java way back when, both credited to 'Senior Pablo & The All Stars'. The first was called 'Science' and was very good, but it didn't have a dub. The Jamaican issue had a really good dub of 'Giant' on the b-side, the UK issue had Dennis Alcapone ('Giant' again - wicked tune). So the second one, which actually has an instrumental version is in serious demand.

The instrumental is a note-for-note rip-off of the Randys original; but being recorded in a different studio, it has a different sound (I've heard that it's Pablove on melodica). The deejay side is fantastic. Buster puts some seriously righteous lyrics over that missing dub: it's a really spare mix and at one point everything but the melodica and the deejay drops out. My copy's in a bit of a state, but I hope this'll inspire you to go out and look for one in slightly better condition.

We finish with another deejay tune, 'Free Black People' by Jah Woosh. Like 'It's A Fire', this is quite rare and not in the best nick. The vocal side got reissued on a Pressure Sounds compilation a while back - 'An Even Harder Shade Of Black' - and it has a really nice mellow dub.

Anyway, here they all are. Enjoy.

Top Twelves

2010-04-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd try to dig something good out of my virtual crates. I've chosen three of my favourite twelve-inch singles today: 'Kingdom Of Jah' by the Twinkle Brothers, 'Warrior Charge' by Aswad, and 'Glory Glory' by Beshara.

I first heard this one on a cassette that a friend's dad lent me about 20 years ago. He'd already flogged all his records years before and just had a stack of tapes left over. I think it was probably a similar situation to the one I found myself in a while back: records, or clothes for the kids?

Anyway, we have two really great tunes here: you can find the lyrics on 'Words Of Wisdom' in the links section, but it's the music that really makes them. The horns and percussion are great, and the mix is spectacular: dark and spacey with lots of sound effects and plenty of width and echo.

Everyone knows 'Warrior Charge' , one of Aswad's very best recordings. I've put this on for the dub, which really brings out the jazzier side of the song. The drumming is also spectacular. Sometimes it's easy just to take Aswad for granted. Their 'Showcase' LP and 'New Chapter Of Dub' are so familiar that you almost find yourself forgetting just how groundbreaking they were. If you listen to Burning Spear's first live LP, that's Aswad playing the instruments; they had a rich complex sound that you can never get tired of listening to. I think the only reggae band that can match Aswad at their best is the Light Of Saba.

I got my copy of 'Glory Glory' off a guy called DJ Derek who used to play at my local back in Bristol. It cost me the princely sum of £3.50. Beshara were a brummie band best known for lovers rock classics 'Men Cry Too' and 'Shadow Of Love'. This is a seriously heavy record - it has the sort of dub that can make your ears bleed - and seems to be quite sought-after. I recently saw a copy sell for over £100 on ebay.

Anyway, I've got a few more twelves lined up for the next couple of weeks, including 'Gone Down The Drain', 'Ten Thousand Lions' and a selection of essential lovers rock. Until then, I hope you enjoy this.

Son Of A Slave

2010-03-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I can't post quite so often anymore - my family's back from Africa, and the IPL is on (I've been starved of cricket for so long!) - so I'll try to post some proper treats when I get the chance. First of these is a hard-to-find record by one of my favourite artists: 'Son Of A Slave' by Michael Anthony. I really rate this tune: I picked it up years ago off the same mailing list as 'I Love The Way Jah Makes Me Feel' by the Tonals and 'Living In The Slum' by Well Pleased & Satisfied - still one of the best parcels that's ever landed on my doormat.

Son Of A Slave - Michael Anthony

Michael Anthony cut 5 or 6 records in the mid-seventies, and they are all wicked. He's not the greatest lyricist, but he more than makes up for it with his heartfelt delivery, really superb rhythms and beautiful dubs. If you like this, look out for 'Living In Sorrows' and 'Sinner Man'.