Medley Train

This is going to be the last medley-themed post for a while. It's a double helping of deejay goodness over backing tracks featuring Ken Boothe and the Cables. First up is 'Rhythm Train', a slick U Roy toast over the first part of Ken Boothe's 'Six In One' (a.k.a. 'The Great Ken Boothe'), which originally came out on Aquarius. The rhythm track is a really polished mash-up of 'Train Is Coming', 'I've Got To Tell You Goodbye' and another tune I can't quite put my finger on. It's the perfect stage for a bit of showing off, and U Roy doesn't disappoint: this is a masterclass in the art of toasting. I Roy used the second half of the same medley for his 'Ken Boothe Special', which is good, but not quite as good. 

The other tune, 'Roots & Soul' is a bizarre deejay, bongo and whistling cut of a Cables medley that features 'Baby Why', 'What Kind Of World' and 'Salt Of The Earth'. It's records like this that keep me interested in Jamaican music: endlessly inventive and a lot of fun.

Anyway, here are some of the original vocals used in these two singles - I hope you enjoy them.

Early Train

I was thinking that maybe I'd post 'Westbound Train' today. It's one of Dennis Brown's best tunes, it's one of Niney's biggest rhythms, and it has a great dub. The only question - what to post with it?

Well, I used to have quite a strange record - a 7" single with 2 pocket-sized instrumental/dub versions of 'Westbound Train' on one side, and two of Ken Boothe's 'Silver Words' on the other. I think it was one of the so-called 'economic packages' that surfaced occasionally during the oil crises of the seventies, but never really took off because the grooves were packed too tight together to get very much in the way of bass. So I thought I'd do that with the two original vocals, and why not have deejay and instrumental versions just to round it all off? Here it is: http://www.mediafire.com/file/dzvn2dholft/Early Train.zip Enjoy.

Reggae City

Hi,

Here's a bit of older stuff: Desmond Dekker's 1967 classic '007 (Shanty Town)' with a great instrumental from Roland Al on the back.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ytgax0jyjyd

We'll follow that up with a couple more really fine instrumentals, this time from 1969: 'Reggae City' by Val Bennett and 'Mellow Trumpet' by Karl Bryan.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ign4ti1dg3z

'Reggae City' was a big hit at the time and spawned a follow-up: 'Last Flight To Reggae City', by Tommy McCook & Stranger Cole, produced by Lloyd Charmers. You can listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Jzw1ZEhxI

Finally, there is 'Earthquake' from U-Roy, a wicked version of the Upsetters' 'Dark Of The Moon' where U-Roy toasts over his own vocals. The b-side is the fast version of 'Suspicious Minds' by Hortense Ellis (Alton Ellis' younger sister). There is a slow version as well - it's rumoured to be really good but I've never heard it. Both songs date from 1971.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5jitoggzyj0

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.


   

Music

Hi All,

I've got a couple more tunes for you, and they're nice ones: 'Penny For Your Dub' by U-Roy, and 'Love Without Feeling' by the Heptones.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mi2fzuuy2xg

'Penny For Your Song' was a hit for the Federals in 1967, a bigger hit for their lead singer David Scott in 1971, and an even bigger hit with Scotty's deejay version (yes, David Scott again). U-Roy's version holds its own against the others and the dub version is superb.

http://www.mediafire.com/?raay0ouqwzz

'Love Without Feeling' comes on one of Harry Mudie's heaviest rhythms, and there are a lot of great versions to check out. "Theme  From The Gun Court" (one of my favourites), "Spanish Town Rock" and "Lick Dem Face" are all very nice, and Mikey General did a good cut ('Now Is The Time') sometime in nineties.

Anyway, enjoy!