Gavin B.

Spaghetti Western Soundtracks Ina Dub Style


Was Clint blissed out on those funny Italian blunts he was smoking?

A Fistful of Dub- The Vibronics I downloaded the Vibronics latest album, UK Dub on the Rhapsody.com music service over the weekend. This loose collective of London based dubmasters are certainly living up to their reputation as the vangaurd of the third generation of dub.

The spaghetti western themes of Ennio Morricone and Hugo Montrenegro have been a part of popular reggae music since the Italian genre of filmaking was established by director Sergio Leone in the mid 1960s. A Fistful of Dub, the opening track on UK Dub provides an interesting contrast to Ennio Morricone's 1967 rendition from the soundtrack of the movie A Fistful of Dollars.




This Youtube embed provides original Fistful of Dollars soundtrack theme from master composer Ennio Morricone.

Gavin B.

Update from Gavin B.



An Index to Thread is Forthcoming

I'm in the process of producting an index to this thread, Songs from the Golden Age of Reggae that will allow the thread user to easily access the songs on this thread both by artist and title, so you don't need to seach all the pages of thread if you want to hear all the songs by Sugar Minott, for example. I'm also thinking about including some music by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer (the original Wailers) now that we've covered so many of the other artists who contributed to reggae music.

My initial fear upon developing the idea for the Golden Age of Reggae thread was the thread would develop into a Bob Marley/Peter Tosh/Bunny Wailer appreciation thread that would marginalize other great Jamaican reggae artists who came before and after the Marley era. In some ways the Marley era is still with us because Bob is the only reggae star that is still selling significant numbers of albums 40 years after the rise of roots reggae music on the Jamaican music scene.

It will take me a week or two to develop the index which I will add to my first post at the very top of the thread for the convenience of the song seekers who want to check out a particular artist or song.

BTW, I recently nominated Bob Marley to the Music Banter Hall of Fame and I'm lobbying all reggae music fans to vote to induct him, so reggae music has it's first MB Hall of Fame member. As it currently stands the Hall of Fame is devoid of both black musicians and female musicians and the induction of Marley would be a big breakthrough.

Reggae Music Archive


The above image can be found on my newly opened archive of reggae and rasta related images called ReggaeMusicArchive. I just started the archive a couple of days ago but eventually I'm hoping to include a large collection of rastafarian art, reggae music album covers, pictures of Jamaica, photos of reggae musicians and my own photography of reggae musicians, concerts and places in Jamaica. The archive will be public domain free use and anybody can use the images for their own purposes.

Gavin B.

One from the Spear



Down by the Riverside- Burning Spear I was playing my copy of Spear's 1977 classic album Dry and Heavy last night and stumble across this old chestnut that hasn't cross my turntable for years. I thought I'd roll it out for my fellow Music Banter members to give a listen to. BTW, Dry and Heavy deserves a wider audience. While not the perfect statement of sublime Rastafarianism that Marcus Garvey was, Dry and Heavy comes pretty damn close to roots perfection.

Engine

And we thank you. I'm picky about Roots but that song is definitely it.

Gavin B.

One from the Blackheart Man



Cool and Deady- Bunny Wailer Of all of the original Wailers, Bunny Wailer (real name Neville Livingstone) was blessed with the greatest abundance of musical talent. He was a better singer than both Marley and Tosh. He wasn't as prolific a composer as Marley but his songs were masterpieces of rasta conciousness poetry. He was the youngest of the original Wailer trio and was still in his teens when the band skyrocketed to international success.

Bunny was also the most creatively difficult member of the Wailers trio. He hated touring outside of Jamaica and on two occasions he left the band in the middle of the tour because he was homesick. Even after the Wailer hired an ital chef to accomadate his strict Rastafarian diet, it failer to address the larger problem. Bunny simply hated touring outside of Jamaica especially in the colder climates of the USA, the UK and Northern Europe. Like many other of his Rastafarian brethern, Bunny didn't like wearing shoes which was problematic when the Wailers had a gig in Boston and there was 2 feet of snow on the ground.

Bunny had the deepest Rastafarian religous convictions and practiced the ancient Jamaican art of obeah and form of voodoo that is common in the bush of the Jamaican back country. He was a bit of a fearful figure and relished his role as a blackheart man, a Jamaican term for a high priest in the practice of obeah magic. It is said that both Marley and Tosh respected and sometimes feared Bunny Wailer's practice of obeah.

For several years, no amount of money could get him to tour. In 1973 at age 27 Bunny quit the Wailers and effectively ended his career as a performing musician outside of Jamaica. He used to produce an album every 3 or 4 years or so but Bunny hasn't been in the studio since 2000, By all accounts, at age 61 Bunny Wailer is as fit as a fiddle, in good singing voice and still won't tour except for an occasional 5 day jaunt to London for a limited three show engagement. He's the sole surviving original Wailer and outlived Peter Tosh by 23 years and Bob Marley by 30 years.

Gavin B.

Bad Brains




I and I Survive- The Bad Brains- I and I Survive was the first music I ever heard from Washington D.C.'s Bad Brains and liked the song on a 12" single of the song way back in 1983.

The Bad Brains came out of a jazz/funk background and had only been playing reggae music for a couple of years when they recorded I and I Survive. I was a bit baffled by their decision to devote most of their enegry to playing hard core which was primarily the musical domain of white suburban males. The Bad Brains could play circles around the best of the hardcore bands like the Dead Kennedys, Gang Green, Black Flag, or Flipper. I and I Survive is a solid roots reggae song that sounded as good as any the reggae music coming out of Jamaica in 1983.

Engine

It's because they were black suburban males (suburban MD) who were into punk (even though they were talented yound guys who played funk/jazz). Their appreciation of The Clash introduced them to reggae riddims and all their Rasta stuff came later. Culturally they had far more in common with all of the other white suburban (and urban) males who played hardcore in DC than they had with Jamaican Rastas.

__________________

Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Gavin B.

One From the Vault


Earl Sixteen sings post-dance hall reggae in a roots/rockers style.

Reality- Earl Sixteen Earl Sixteen is a newer reggae performer from the post dancehall era but Reality is a single from Earl 16 that is about 10 years old. I unearthed this gem of a song while surfin' the Tube about a week ago, and I've been skankin' to it every since. Because of the sledge hammer drumming and bottom heavy bass riddims, I'm guessing it's a Sly & Robbie Taxi squad production, but don't quote me on it.

Gavin B.

Lover's Rock Ina Jamaican Style


Niney the Observer (l) and Freddy McGregore (r) join forces to make a near perfect dancehall single.

Lovers Rock Ina JA Style- Freddie McGregor Freddie McGregor has been on the Jamaican reggae scene since the 60s and his career is a patchwork of hits and misses. Niney the Observer has also had a similarly checkered career as a producer.

On a trip to Jamaica in 1985, I picked up a 12 inch single (with dub) of Freddie's single Lover's Rock Ina JA Style which was produced by Niney the Observer at Channel One studios. Lover's Rock Ina JA Style was harmonic convergence of two erratic artists to make one near perfect dancehall single.

The song never appeared on any of Freddie's regular album releases anytime in the 80s, but since the year 2000 Lover's Rock Ina JA Style has appeared on two different McGregor anthologies and on a retrospective of Niney the Observer's production credits.

At the time I picked up a copy ot the McGregor single, I was working as a deejay at the Channel Club in Boston and as a selector on the crew of Ras Michael's Sound System a loose alliance of reggae oriented deejays who primarily gigged dancehalls in an around Boston's West Indian community in Dorchester area of the city.

Whenever I dropped Lover's Rock Ina JA Style on the turntable, the dance floor would immediately fill with enthusiastic couples skanking away to the tune. It's a rare to find just the right single that gets everybody up and moving in a dancehall and Freddie's single always did the trick. I got more requests for that song in my club deejay booth and on my radio show than just about any song I ever played. There's something magical in the chemistry of the song that make people want to move to the beat.

It's a great single and it brings back a lot of happy memories for me.

Lusk

Hi!! someone can say me what is the second song than this video???



youtube.com/watch?v=cjiPnA5LNuQ


sorry I am spanish, the song is a Reggae song, thank you!!