El Manisero

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

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

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

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

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.