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Pictures of Jamaica 1978-1984
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...channelone.jpg The legendary Channel 1 Studio. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...ArkStudios.jpg Lee Perry's Black Ark Studio. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...-road-home.jpg Bob Marley's family home at 55 Hope Road, Kingston. Rita and some of the Marley children still live there. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...athoperoad.jpg The Wailer's old tour bus at Hope Road. |
Hey man.
Im sure I don't need to say this, but this thread is one of my favourite threads on MB and the work you put in is much appreciated. Got me to put down numerous albums to search for and expand musically, big time! So just keep up the good work. Great thread. |
A New Generation of Dub
As much as the audience for roots reggae music has ebbed over the past 20 or so years, there has been a growing interest in all kinds of dub music. Remixers, techno sound system operators, trip hop artists along with producers and performers in the techno/electronica world have rekindled the public interest in dub and inevitably the road of dub always leads the traveller to the palace of roots reggae. Tribal War - Little Roy and Adrian Sherwood This eletrifying live performance was filmed just 4 days ago at the Independent Dub Day concert by one of my rasta breddren, Bomba Class. The song will probably end up on one of Adrian's forthcoming albums. If you're a roots reggae fan, this performance will thrill you. Goin' Under - Rocker's Hi Fi with Kruder and Dorfmeister This stark and sinster remix of a Massive Attack riddim was one of the earliest hits of post-millenium dub from the trip hop school. While technically not a reggae song, Goin' Under was a genre splitting tune that enjoyed a lot of play in reggae dancehalls. The Man Next Door - Massive Attack This song was originally hit in Jamaica for Paragon's vocalist John Holt during the mid 60s. Massive Attack, however, would look closer to home for their inspiration, incorporating elements of two definitive versions from musicians directly influential to their sound: a 1981 Sly & Robbie-powered dub version,and the dub/ punk of the Slits' "Man Next Door." Using these tracks to keep themselves in check, Massive Attack recorded what is perhaps the best-ever rendition of the song. Keeping a muddy, dubbed-out bass of Slits-ian proportion to drive the song, and they also sampled the drip-drip guitar from the Cure's "10:15 on a Saturday Night" and dropped it prominently into the song to punctuate the bridge. Reggae music veteran Horace Andy, whose own original version of the song is one of its finest early airings, then reprised his vocals to great effect and, alongside the band's melodic retooling, it became less story and more veiled threat. Give thanks and praise and listen in awe... Massive Attack is the past, present and future of popular music. |
You mentioned in another thread that you don't like much Reggae post 86 and part of this was due to electronica replace traditional instruments but if that had never happened then we wouldn't have got the above music if the genre stayed stagnant. Every genre will always have a degree of evolution and sometimes it can splinter and give us Trip Hop etc.
Great picks BTW. Kruder & Dorfmeister are fantastic remixers and bring something new to the table in the crowded world of remixers. |
Black Uhuru was founded by Don Carlos and Duckie Simpson in the mid Seventies and became the premier reggae band of the post-Marley era.
From 1980 through 1984 Black Uhuru recorded nine albums that redefined modern roots reggae. Since 1980, drummer Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakepeare have supplied the turbo-charged drum and bass to the Black Uhuru riddim. Sly and Robbie remain charter members of both the recording and touring unit of Black Uhuru. The frontline of Black Uhuru has changed over the years, but Sly and Robbie were element of Uhuru's sound that remained unchanged for almost 30 years. The most productive edition of the Black Uhuru was the unit that featured singing trio of Duckie Simpson, Puma Jones and Michael Rose. The crown jewel of their musical output was 1983's Anthem which won a Grammy and acheived crossover success in the USA and the UK. In early 1985 at the peak of their success, lead vocalist Michael Rose left Black Uhuru over creative differences. Rose was replaced by Junior Reid but Junior's visa problems kept him from touring with the band outside of Jamaica. Puma Jones left the band in 1987 to fight a struggle against cancer and she died in 1990. In 2001 Black Uhuru returned to the studio with Michael Rose sound-alike Andrew Beckford and Puma Jones sound-alike Pam Hall and recorded Dynasty which recalled Uhuru's glory days but has been silent since then. The group has been touring Europe over the past couple years and is in the studio preparing an album for release in 2009 or 2010. Choosing just three songs that reflect the glory of Black Uhuru is like trying to summarize Bob Marley's legacy with three songs. I decided to pick one track from each from their three most crucial albums Red (1981), Chill-Out (1982) and Anthem (1984). The Youth of Englington- Black Uhuru This is a live performance of the anchor song on the album Red and it gives you a pretty good idea of the power of their live performances. The performance was in Grugahalle Essen, Germany on October 17th 1981. Right Stuff- Black Uhuru This song is from 1982's Chill Out an album which saw Uhuru using more state of art electronica techniques including the innovative use of the vocoder to process the background vocals. But despite the innovation, the sledgehammer one drop riddim of Sly and Robbie's drum n' bass keep Uhuru's sound firmly rooted in roots reggae. Black Uhuru Anthem - Black Uhuru Black Uhuru Anthem was a dubwise declaration of faith in rasta in these times of sufferation. The song's power is underscored by Michael Rose's melancholy incantation of the stark lyrics. |
I said earlier how Steel Pulse are probably my favourite reggae band. That's because Black Uhuru give them a proper run for their money in my opinion. Another brilliant band - Red is such a great album. Had no idea they were on the verge of a new album, I'll have to keep my ear to the ground with that one (should be worthwhile, with or without Michael Rose).
On another note, you weren't lying - that Beat album is indeed excellent. |
U-Roy: Original Deejay Is Still Top Ranking
Ewart Beckford began his career in his teens in 1961 as a DJ. U-Roy would select the music and to motivate the audience to dance would add a "toast". Sound Systems played the hits of the day and their own special remixes in an attempt to out-do each other. Eventually some of the new versions of well known hits with the "added toast" became more popular with the crowd than the original. Calling himself, “your ace from outer space”, this 28-year-old Jamaican welder revolutionized the musical style of reggae in 1969. Even though U-Roy was not the first microphone artist, he was the first to gain recognition through recording this style. U-Roy popularized and gained a wider audience for “toasting”; rapping over “versions” of popular songs remixed by dub music pioneer King Tubby. This style of vocals was a major influence on the early rap scene (Disco/Electro/Break Beat) and the later American hip-hop movement Rule the Nation- U-Roy This is a U-Roy performance from Sunsplash in 1980. Rule the Nation is one U-Roy's earliest hits. Soul Rebel- U-Roy This is a rare video of U-Roy and his frontline crew performing at an outdoor dancehall event in Sav La Mar in 1978. Lover's Rock- Love Trio in Dub In 2006 U-Roy joined a group of New York based performers to form a side project called Love Trio in Dub. Other members of the loose collective were Sabina of the Brazilian Girls and members of Wax Poetic a group Norah Jones performs with periodically. Love Trio in Dub brings a jazzy trip hop sound to U-Roy's sound and has reached a whole new generation of music fans. |
How To Build a Good Reggae Collection Without Spending a Fortune
From those of you who are trying to build a decent digital reggae collection I'd suggest you buy the songs I've listed as single MP3 @ 99 cents at Amazon or Rhapsody. I'd avoid purchasing entire albums which often have filler in them. That way you can gradually build a top ranking collection of these 100 crucial songs. Jamaican reggae has always been more focused on the sales of 12" and 7" singles rather than album sales. Many of these songs are unavailable at any music sevice and were posted by reggae music fans like myself who convert their out of issue reggae singles and albums into the digital format and post them on YouTube. Most of the YouTube videos I've posted can be converted into high quality digital MP3 files if you have the free YouTube Downloader software. It isn't illegal to convert avi format videos into the mp3 format, as long as you do so for your own personal use and don't repost the music for others to download. I'd say that around 50% of the songs I've posted on this thread are out of issue anyway. There are important reggae albums which every reggae fan should own but purchasing singles is the best way to get started because you'll get a broad exposure to the various artists and you can decide which ones you like well enough to spend money on album. The first 5 years I listened to reggae I only purchased singles and didn't even purchase a proper album until I broke down and bought Jah Son of Africa by U-Roy in 1978. If you're interested only the the long playing album format check out Bulldog and Jackhammer's crucially crucial guide to reggae albums. |
I’ve been negligent posting on this thread in the past week for a couple of reasons. I've got a deadline on a couple of pieces I'm preparing for publication, and I've spent some time on the start-up of my Music Banter blog, Aural Fixation. My work on this thread is almost done with only an additional 10 reggae songs to complete my hot 100 list of reggae classics.
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Well done on your spot in Editor's Pick Gavin. Richly deserved too.
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I'm flattered. My mission in life is accomplished and there are no more mountains to climb. Now I'll have enough free time on my hands to start experimenting with hard drugs.
I might even get lucky enough to get thrown in the slammer for possession of heroin and drug paraphenalia like my idol Trey Anastassio. Saaaa-weet! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...reyMugShot.jpg |
Three Scientist Dub Productions
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8.../scientist.jpg Scientist-The Lion of Dub Babylon- Sugar Minott- This song is dreader than dread. Heavy on the one drop drum, a rolling bassline and plenty of dubwise echo echo echo Cannibas Dub- Scientist and Roots Radics Cannibas was a favorite cut of selectors and toasters in Jamaican dancehalls in around 1980. It's slightly slack tempo which makes it a great dub plate for toasting improvised lyrics over. Ganja Dub - Scientist and Roots Radics This is another Scientist dub plate that was an early Eighties selector's choice in the dancehalls. The song really highlights the Radics ability to lay down a hypnotic groove that bubbles up the riddim and leaves you smiling. |
The History Behind A Classic Reggae Song
1865 (96 Degrees in the Shade) by Third World The Third World song 96 Degrees in the Shade is a retelling the events of the October 1865 Morant Bay rebellion led by George William Gordon and Paul Bogle. Slavery ended in Jamaica on August 1, 1834 with the passing of the British Emancipation Act, which led to emancipation on 1 August 1838 - the date on which former slaves became free to choose their employment and employer. On paper, former slaves gained the right to vote; however, most blacks remained desperately poor, and a high voting fee effectively excluded them from the franchise. During the elections of 1864, the ratio of black Jamaicans to white was 32 to one, but out of a population of over 436,000, fewer than 2,000 were eligible to vote, nearly all of them white. George William Gordon a wealthy mulatto member of the Jamaican National Assembly, was the son of a black slave woman and a wealthy British plantation owner. Gordon's father, like many other British colonial elites lived most of the time in England sired second surrogate families with native Jamaican women, unknown to their families back in Britain. George William Gordon was his father's common law heir under Jamaican law. George William Gordon was considered a troublemaker by Edward Eyre, the newly appointed colonial governor of Jamaica because Gordon's high profile activities on behalf of disenfranchised newly freed slaves. Gordon had assisted a group of former slaves draw up and circulate a petition to Queen Victoria asking her to bequeath a small amount Crown owned land in the bush of St. Ann's Parish for the local landless farmer to cultivate as they could not find land for themselves. At least, the Queen's worthless land would produce some tax income for the Crown and provide a means of living to many wretchedly poor Jamaican citizens who had no other means of survival. For the newly installed British colonial governor Eyre, it was unthinkable that a group of uppity "maroon negroes" would have the comeuppance ask Queen Victoria's permission to cultivate a few hundred acres of the vacant undeveloped land in a remote colonial town 4000 miles from Buckingham Palace. Eyre immediately regarded the charismatic mulatto legislator as a political enemy with a subversive agenda. On October 7, 1865 a black man was put on trial and imprisoned for trespassing on a long-abandoned plantation, creating anger among black Jamaicans. The black man was nothing more than a squatter using part of the property of an abandonned plantation to plant a subsistence crop for his family's needs. When one member of a group of black protesters from the village of Stony Gut was arrested, the protesters became unruly and broke the accused man from prison. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...liamGordon.jpg George William Gordon, the mulatto plantation owner Governor Eyres and the local constabulary suspected that George William Gordon and one of his protégé, Paul Bogel a deacon at a local black Baptist church, were the key organizers of the protest and the subsequent prison break. Paul Bogle soon learned that he and 27 of associates had warrants issued for their arrest for rioting, resisting arrest, and assaulting the police. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8.../paulBogle.jpg Paul Bogle the black Baptist deacon and leader of the protests at Morant Bay The historical record doesn't confirm whether either Gordon or Bogle were involved in any of the events up to that point but it's likely that Gordon wasn't involved and Bogel probably was. It's an undisputable fact that Bogel was firmly in command of a large contingency of protesters who marched on the Morant Bay courthouse, four days later. When the group arrived at the Morant Bay court house, they were met by a small volunteer militia (ie.. vigilantes) who panicked and opened fire on the group, killing seven black protesters before retreating. The black protesters then rioted, killing 18 people (including white officials and militia) and taking control of the town. In the days that followed some 2,000 black rebels roamed the countryside, killing two white planters and forcing others to flee for their lives. Governor John Eyre sent government troops to hunt down the poorly-armed rebels and bring Paul Bogle back to Morant Bay for trial. The troops were met with no organized resistance but killed blacks indiscriminately, many of whom had not been involved in the riot or rebellion: according to one soldier, "we slaughtered all before us… man or woman or child". In the end, 439 black Jamaicans were killed directly by soldiers, and 354 more (including Paul Bogle) were arrested and later executed, some without proper trials. Other punishments included flogging for over 600 men and women (including some pregnant women), and long prison sentences. Bogle was lynched and hung without a trial, moments after the British troops took him into custody. Gordon, who had little - if anything - to do with the rebellion was also arrested. Though he was arrested in Kingston, he was transferred by Eyre to Morant Bay, where he could be tried under martial law. Ever the politician, Governer Eyre saw a public hanging of Gordon as a high profile opportunity to assert his authority as the newly appointed governor of Jamaica. A kangaroo court convicted George William Gordon of sedition and treason in two days, but Gordon wasn't informed of his sentence until an hour before his hanging. Gordon was paraded through the streets of Morant Bay and led to the his hanging by a contingency of 10 thousand soldiers. And presiding over the surreal and carnivalesque events was none other than the portly Governor Edward Eyre dressed like a British dandy attending a night at the opera. People from all over the island attended the grotesque spectacle and the narrator of the story in the song, 96 Degrees in the Shade is none other than the condemned man, George William Gordon. The lyrics to the song are very close to the same final words of Gordon as he stood before the Governor. Gordon even began his remarks with a polite remark about the stifling humidity of the October day. [B]Lyrics to 96 Degrees in the Shade[/B] Quote:
Shortly after the hanging of Gordon, Jamaican governor Edward Eyre was recalled back to England and following an investigation was fired by the Queen's Colonial Office. Today a statue of George William Gordon in memory of his contributions and martyrdom stands in front of the very Morant Bay court house where he was placed on trial in 1850. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...rant-bay-c.jpg The courthouse in Morant Bay where the rebelllion began and the court where George William Gordon was placed on trial. |
Three 60s SKA & Bluebeat Songs Resurrected in the 80s Ska Revival
Rudy, A Message to You -Dandy Livingstone- Dandy's song was notably covered by the Specials in their 1979 2-Tone debut album The Tide Is High- The Paragons w/ U-Roy Blondie did a great cover of this song their 1980 album Autoamerican. Debbie Harry had a great love of ska and reggae music Blondie frequently included one or two reggae covers in their live performance song lists. The group also had a minor hit in 1979 with the Debby Harry/Chris Stein reggae influenced song Die Young Stay Pretty. Madness- Prince Buster The Prince Buster bluebeat hit Madness was covered by none other than Camden's favorite sons, Madness on their 1979 debut One Step Beyond. The song was one of the first bluebeat songs to hit the charts in the UK, way back in 1963. |
Thee Songs Ina A-1 Style
The songs below are songs I've come across over the years that I thought typified the what Reggae's golden age was all about. Each song is carefully crafted, perfectly executed a contains one or two melodic hooks that put the listener under the spell of the song upon the first hearing. The truly amazing part is that none of these three great songs were any more or less exceptional than thousands of 7' and 12" being sold in record stores across Jamaica in the late Seventies and early Eighties. There was such a glut of killer singles released on any given Tuesday in JA, and lot of the best singles got lost in the shuffle. Gregory Isaacs once told me that in the early Eighties he was releasing 3-5 new singles a week on his African Museum label and he estimates that from 1975 until 1985 he released 400 albums (including compilations). My point is that as much as 50% of the musical treasures from the golden era has yet to be heard outside of Jamaica. The challenge is to find a map that leads to the lost treasures so they can be unearthed. Gregory Isaacs is a man that lives very much in the moment and I doubt he doesn't remember what happened to the master tapes of all the recordings he made at African Museum. At least he told me he didn't know where the master tapes were. I asked him once about it and Gregory hesitated and touched his hand to his brow as if trying to recall somthing really important and then said, "Is a good question, mon, me nuh no." I'm betting that those and many other lost masters are around in somebody's basement, some warehouse storage space or in a private or public music archive somewhere on the island. Until Gregory's memory is refreshed, there plenty of fatastic music that was released in the USA and still has gone unheard. Tune In- Gregory Isaacs I Nuh Everything- the Gladiators Roll Jordan River- The Itals |
Ras Gavin's Reggae Remix Project
Good News for Reggae Fans! I just pulled together all of my movie making software and meshed with my digital mixiing board and I'm starting convert my collection of nearly 2000 rare albums into studio quality digital wmv. files for people to download for their own enjoyment. I'm fairly confident of my mixing skills but when I heard the finished product on these, I have to say they are among the best remixes I've ever done. The sound fidelity sounds better than the songs when they were on virgin vinyl. Please stop me from gushing all over my own work. Two songs are now posted, both are out of issue. By way of explanation, Ras Gavin is both a steet and trade name I've used for years. If you want to hear the high definition version hit the button that says HQ at the bottom of the YouTube player when the video starts play, it will turn red HQ as demonstrated if you're successfully in the high def mode. I recommend high def for maximum listening pleasure. On other the second song Black Star Liner, Robbie Shakesphere's bass grabs you right in the face on the high def version. Walk On By- The I-Tones I chose launch my YouTube reggae remix project with song that meant a lot to me for sentimental reasons of my own...read on. The I-Tones are a reggae band that I occasionly played guitar for and almost always did the sound board for at their live gigs. The I-Tones made one album in 1980 and released this song Walk On By as a 12" single around 1983, if my memory serves me. The band broke up in 1989 and I really haven't seen any members of the band since because I moved halfway across the country shortly after the I-Tones broke up. The band was built around three principle performers, Ram who had a beautiful Smokey Robinson type soprano, Jah Shirt a Jamaican toaster and deejay of some noteriety and Chris Wilson a white Jamaican national who moved to the USA during his college years. I am no longer in touch with anyone in the band but I know that Chris is Heartbeat Record's primary executive producer. The little youth girl whose picture graces the video is my daughter I-Ayna whom I promised to put on the cover of the first YouTube video I produced. Black Star Liner - Jah Thomas The second video is a 1978 rendition of Black Star Liner by Jah Thomas which is murderous toast that I promise you won't find anywhere else on the face of the earth but this YouTube video. I searched for years for a second copy and its was nowhere to be found. There isn't even another copy of it anywhere on YouTube, which usually 50 copies of every song in the world posted. My personal feeling about the Black Star Liner" is it's the only toast that I've ever heard that was good enough to shake my faith in the mighty U-Roy. If you want info on the musicians who played in the session just double click through to the YouTube site and read my notes. There a rather annoying 10 second lapse of silence before this song starts is because it's embedded in the vinyl pressing of the original song. I was afraid of destroying the sound fidelity of digital file if I tried edit the gap, so instead I just threw up a title card for most of the lapse. When I learn more about editing vinyl to mp3 to wmv formats I'll take more chances on the cutting and editing. |
The most stellar thread of the lot man. You have put alot of good work in and im sure inspired alot of people to go out and explore reggae in more depth, including myself.
Although I don't download the songs like you mentioned further up, I have purchased close to 25 albums within the last 2 and a half months and spent copious amounts of hours reading articles and a what not. Wouldn't mind hearing your opinion on The Mighty Diamonds? Their album "Get Ready" was the first reggae album I bought and a stellar one at that. |
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Mighty Diamonds are irie, mon. Did I miss them on this thread? I'm not sure but I'll make up for it by posting a couple of rare singles tommorrow. I think I might even have some old 12" dub plates I can transfer, mix and upload. Now on to the music side of the blog: Don Carlos, Roots Radics and Nunz on Drugs Booming remix From this point on, all of the music I'm posting is from my personal collection of reggae music. I've used up most of the good stuff currently posted to YouTube so I'll post my own 12" singles and remixes I do under my Nunz on Drugs alias. Which brings me to the topic of my current posting: Booming Dub- Nunz on Drugs This is my own dubwise remix of an old Roots Radics track that first appeared as the as a Don Carlos single Booming Ball in the late Seventies. I love doing remixes of the Radics because they alway have so many things going on riddimically. I decided to pull in the stable elements of Style Scott's ornate drumming , Flabba Holt's rock solid bass, and Sky Juice's conga playing and then destablizing their solid sound by wrapping it with flashing waves of echo, mostly from Dwight Pickney's guitar track. I did a slight downtempo adjustment to Don Carlos original bouncy version to make it more dub friendly. Don Carlos' vocal is completely mixed out of the dub version because his gorgeous voice will always be at the center of tracks he performs on. I will also post the Don Carlos vocal version of Booming Ball you to compare. I fell completely in love with Don's vocal and the Radics playing when I first heard this song in 1979 on my first trip to Jamaica. The genius of Lee Perry, Mad Professor, and King Tubby is they do a mix straight from the sound board on one take, right while the tape is rolling. On the other hand it took me several days of lost takes and howling frustration to studio quality remix. On this particular song I was at the point of giving up on it because I had to delete at least 2 dozen unsucessful takes and start the remix from scratch all over. Then last night I woke up around 3am sat down at the computer, did a one take remix, did a one take storyboard for the song and did a one take upload to YouTube. All in fifteen minutes.. for that short moment in the middle of the night I knew what it felt like to be King Tubby. Warning: If you are offended by PG13 images of seductive herb smoking nuns don't watch this. Nunz on Drugs projects reflects my own lurid fascination the holy order of the sisterhood. Read more: Music Banter Booming Dub- Nunz on Drugs Booming Ball- Don Carlos and the Roots Radics Band |
Dis one goes out by special request to Zeppy.
Mighty Diamonds live and direct from the soundboard at Dread TV Have Mercy- Mighty Diamonds |
That was one really sick track man, definitely going to keep that one bookmarked.
Much appreciated. |
Rarities and Out of Issue Dept.
Bad Weed- Junior Murvin & Lee Perry Many reggae or Clash fans will recogize this riddim as Police and Theives a big hit for Junior Murvin. This Lee Perry dub remix is about the rudest dub remix I've ever heard him do and that's saying a whole lot about a producer who used samples of cow mooing in his dub effects. Shortly into the song Perry hits a fog horn blast that makes your jump out of your skin if you're not ready for it. Black Star Liner -Reggae Regular I first heard this song at a dancehall in Sav La Mar in 1978. I searched the bins of Gregory Isaacs' African Museum record store, Joe Gibb's store and Randy's Records and couldn't find it anywhere. Now by accident, I come across it on You Tube three decades later. This is the full 9 + minute song and dub version on the original 12" issue by Greensleeves. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...1924-08-05.jpg Marcus Garvey 1924 Black Star Line- Fred Locks Another song inspired by Marcus' Garvey's Black Star Liner Company an effort by Marcus to repatriate American black citizens back to Africa via ocean going luxury liner. Garvey's Universal Negro Improvment Association (UNIA) was the largest black organization in history with over 2 million dues paying members. Nobody, not Martin Luther King, Malcom X nor Jesse Jackson had as large a following as Garvey. |
Amazingly good stuff, Gavin. I have some different thoughts about repatriation/Garvey-as-hero but I love that you inject true History into your posts here.
I've never heard the 3 songs above but clearly all three are treasures. |
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Garvey like any other grass roots leader had his flaws which were often synonmous with his own strengths as a leader. His own seperatist views that were viewed as racist by whites were viewed by Garvey's followers as a strength. Garvey simply refuse to allow whites to define the nature of the struggle of American blacks for racial sovereignty. I would never support Garvey's repatriation efforts, especially since the only people in the modern USA that would support a Garvey style repatriation are white segregationists. My wife who is Jamaican Creole would wring my neck if I supported sending her back to Africa...LOL She has stated unambiguously to me in her own alluring patios on several occasions, “Deh be no bumba clot bungo mon gwan to repatriate I and I.” Remember that in Garvey's era, however, there were many black folks who were either born slaves or sons and daughters of slave who really did want to return to their homeland, but that was 100 years ago. The African nation of Liberia was actually founded by former slaves in America who repatriated back Africa. Early on, freed slaves were assisted with the establishment of Liberia, by the American Colonization Society (ACS). The society was supported by Southerners fearful of organized revolt by free blacks, by Northerners concerned that an influx of black workers would hurt the economic opportunities of indigent whites, by some who opposed slavery but did not favor integration, and by many blacks who saw a return to Africa as the best solution to their troubles. During that era the ACS was regarded as a liberal and benevolent charity even as their racist intent seems pretty obvious in today's world. For the record, the ACS existed until 1964, so repatriation of blacks to Africa was seen as acceptable social policy in the United States from the end of the Civil War, all the way up to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement. I wrote my senior thesis on Garvey, which was a great way for me to gain entry and some sort of credibility among Rastafarians and reggae musicians in Jamaica. Some hard core followers of Rasta Fari Makonnen, the founder of the religion, are still black separatists but most 2nd and 3rd generation Rastafarians are racial pluralists who have always preached the gospel of racial unity. That being said, many of those 2nd and 3rd generation Rastafarians are still have a blind spot on the subject of Garvey and some of his own errors of judgment toward the end of his career because all Rastafarian view Marcus Garvey as a prophet of foretold the coming of Haile Selassie I, the most high. I was very careful to never raise some of the more troubling aspects of Garvey's career with my Rastafarian friends and associates. Most of them simply deny the fact that Garvey had a short lived alliance with the American Ku Klux Klan who supported his repatriation efforts. Garvey, by the way, was the first the very first political target of J. Edgar Hoover, who was an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department and believed that Garvey was a dangerous foreign national and wanted to deport him. Failing to find any grounds to deport Garvey, Hoover built a trumped up case of mail fraud against Garvey for selling ownership shares in the Black Star Liner Company by mail. The evidence of fraud was based on a painted picture of a ship on a Black Star Liner investment brochure called the Phyllis Wheatley. Hoover claimed mail fraud had been committed by Garvey because a ship named the Phyllis Wheatley never existed in the Black Star Liner fleet. The ship portrayed in the brochure was a ship called the Orion, which Garvey had planned to rechristen with the name Phyllis Wheatley but never had a chance to do so, because Hoover stepped in and arrested him for mail shortly after he sent the first batch of "Phyllis Wheatley" brochure through the mail. Hoover's specious charges would have been dismissed by any reasonable modern day judge but this was Jim Crow America in the 1920s.The federal prosecuter spent most of the trail convincing the all white jury that Marcus Garvey was a dangerous man who needed convicted on the mail fraud charges because Garvey and his and his 2 million UNIA followers were a threat to white America. The rest is history. Garvey was convicted by an all white jury and sent to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary and was unceremoniously deported by President Calvin Coolidge upon his release in 1927. J. Edgar was rewarded for his efforts on the Garvey prosecution with an appointment as the Director of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Investigation where he spent the next 37 years harassing and falsely prosecuting black political leaders, left wing radicals and any political groups that didn't meet his conservative right wing standards. |
That was one of the most interesting things I have ever read on the internet.
I did my senior thesis on why T. Jefferson failed to do anything about 'the slavery issue' while his written rhetoric indicated that he favored abolition. I know all about the ACS but you still just gave me an education on Garvey and I thank you for that as much as I thank you for the reggae that you've exposed me to (and created) on this thread. :beer: |
Post Millineum Dub
Dubliftment- The Vibronics Dubliftment was the title track of a double album. vinyl only, UK release by the Vibronics, in 2004. Five years later it gets a lot of play on sound systems in London and New York, although I must be the only person in the great state of Missouri in the US of A who paid 30 bucks to have it shipped to them from London. Most people in Missouri think Dub is a pretty good name for a horse. The first issue of Dubliftment sold out almost instantly but we are talking about a limited edition run of 5000-10,000 pressings mostly for deejays, remixers and collectors. If a UK boutique label like Zion Train can turn a profit doing limited edition pressings of 5000 albums, I don't understand why the major labels can't turn a profit with all of those quadruple platinum albums they sell, even with all the file trading and free downloading going on. |
Back to Barrington
Murderer- Barrington Levy Murderer is a killer! This song blew the roof off of dancehalls all over Jamaica when in first appeared in 1984. Prison Oval Rock- Barrrington Levy A 1982 hit from Barrington. "The prisoners are skanking while the wardens are watching." What a great line! Shine Eye Girl- Barrington Levy Shine Eye Girl was Barrington's first big dancehall hit and a certified reggae classic. It's Barrington's signature tune. |
Barrington Levy is an amazing old dude! Here I Come is an absolute classic of dancehall - everything that makes it as viable a sub-genre as roots, dub etc, is summed up by listening to that LP. Good post sir :thumb:
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A Remastered Version of Classic Dancehall Song
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/lapeste/jonjo.jpg Junjo strikes a pose with his massive sound system. Jump No Fence- Frankie Paul I obtained this dancehall classic on a 1984 trip to Jamaica and it was on the album you see displayed in the YouTube video window below. The album was called Barrington Levy Meets Frankie Paul and side one contained six Barrington Levy songs while side two featured six Frankie Paul songs. The album was never released in the United States and a rare UK edition of the album has gone out of issue. It was fairly typical of the two artist showcase albums that were popular in Jamaica at the time. However, Barrington Levy Meets Frankie Paul was unusual because all twelve songs were produced by Henry Junjo Lawes at Channel One and each song came from the Roots Radics session with Lawes that was ground zero in the rise of dancehall music in Jamaica. The Roots Radics and Lawes laid down the riddim tracks for the earliest dance hall hits at the Channel One sessions which introduced General Echo, Michigan and Smiley, Eek-A-Mouse, Scientist, Yellowman, Cocoa Tea, Hugh Mundell, Toyan, Clint Eastwood plus Barrington Levy and Frankie Paul as the second generation of artists performing reggae music. Henry Lawes singlehandedly created dancehall music sub-genre and did so without even having his own studio to record in. Lawes used Channel One to lay down the riddim tracks and the shuttled the tapes over to Harry J's studio lay down the vocal tracks and do the final mix. Lawes was also something of a star-crossed figure: he spent the latter half of the '80s in jail, halting his career just as the new, electronic ragga sound was changing the face of dancehall. Although Lawes returned to work in the '90s, he was no longer on the cutting edge, and tragedy struck in 1999 when he was gunned down and murdereed in London. I was surprised that YouTube didn't have a single posting of Jump No Fence which I rank among the best five songs produced during the dancehall era. I remedied that situation by posting my own digitally remastered version of Jump No Fence to make this song available to one and all. I'm not one to blow my own horn, but I got lucky in my remastering effort and the fidelity of the song almost sounds like the virgin vinyl Channel One edition of the song I first heard in Jamaican dancehalls in 1984. |
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This is bloody fantastic and another reason why more of us should support independent music. I would love to hear the album in full. Keep up the good woek. Superb journal and a real eye opener for me with some names. |
More great dubwise reggae from the Zion Train label:
I think the Vibronics are the best of the Zion Train label dub masters . The dubbing skills are right up their with Scientist and Mad Professor. Here is a link to the Vibronics UK homepage. Be sure to hit the "downloads" link on their homepage because they usually have 10 or 15 free MP3 downloads and couple Mpeg movies, free of charge. Crossfire Dub- The Vibronics Who Are You - Batch Tribesman Dub- Iration Steppers |
Spaghetti Western Soundtracks Ina Dub Style
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/lapeste/43.jpg 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. |
Update from Gavin B.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8..._LightBeam.jpg 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. |
One from the Spear
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...ry_500x500.jpg 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. |
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One from the Blackheart Man
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...erXXX_7462.jpg 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. |
Bad Brains
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...bad-brains.jpg 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. |
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One From the Vault
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...ste/Earl16.jpg 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. |
Lover's Rock Ina Jamaican Style
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...rver2_tb_y.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...ad_92_tb_y.jpg 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. |
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!! |
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