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Classic Heptones album produced by Lee Scratch Perry
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More vintage Treasure from Bandcamp Studio One
From the vaults of Studio One comes an eclectic grouping of rare shots picked from the treasure chest of the label’s releases. Here album tracks by Willie Williams, Lennie Hibbert and Freddie McGregor are joined by rarer releases by the Conquerors, Cool Operator, Roy Richards and the Freedom Singers. Also included are alternate versions of songs like “All the Way” and “Jah Light” as well as “Pirates Choice” that have circulated among Studio One collectors for some years.
There is an unauthorized version of this album circulating from Japan aptly titled Pirates Choice Vol. 2. The Studio One album Pirates Choice Vol. 2 will also be available on CD and LP in December of 2020 with additional tracks.
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Greetings @steviebee
Just wondering did you get the Catch A Fire with the JA mix? Hope your enjoying it whatdya think?
Yup, arrived safely but a bit busy lately at Bee Towers so have only listened once on phones.
I like it!
Seems very solid and powerful mix. Although, I’ve not had time to directly compare, the JA mix makes me wonder why a ‘London’ mix was thought necessary really. Its not like the JA mix was rough or spotty in any way…
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Exactly!
Basically Blackwell was trying to promote the band to appeal to a Rock audience and decided to have it over dubbed with Rabbit Bundrick, Wayne Perkins and the then Blues guitarist Junior Marvin who became a permanent member of the later Wailers backing band.
Totally unnecessary, but arguably Catch A Fire may not have been the crossover success otherwise, which lead to Marley’s international stardom and exposure/interest in Jamaican music to a wider worldwide audience
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Got to love Yellowman. New video just out of his cover of The Casinos from his No More War album.
Looking good and dapper, still going strong and overcoming much struggle, prejudice and losing half his jaw to cancer.
Always brings a smile to my face, nuff respect
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So pleased to see these available to stream, I have original vinyl but they’ve been long out of print on his I Anka label.
Bob Andy will be familiar as one half of Bob & Marcia who rode the charts with Young Gifted & Black and Pied Piper.
Bob’s career harks back to Studio One where he released the classic Song Book LP. He is probably Jamaica’s greatest songwriter penning many great songs that were often covered by other artists.
In the late eighties into the nineties whilst other artists were jumping on the nascent Dancehall bandwagon Bob continued quietly ploughing his furrow releasing these great fashion defying quality Roots Reggae records.
The Songs Of Bob Andy
Andywork compiles his production work with other artists
Mad Professor Dubs of Bob Andy productions
And rewinding back to 1975 this lovely meeting with the one and only Marcia Griffiths
All highly recommended
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Roots veteran Ronnie Davis lovely acoustic album from a few years back. Songs like I Wont Cry and Got To Go Home seem to have added poignancy as he sadly passed away just before this was released
CD & Stream
The beautiful voice of the late great Prince Lincoln Thompson
Original 1979 Ballistic label pressing.
Disappointingly all I can find on stream are posthumous re issues on the Easy Action - Orange Street Digital label who ever they are, very poor SQ compared to original vinyl.
It’s a travesty really as Prince Lincoln’s back catalogue deserves better
Why Romain Virgo isn’t more widely known fails me.
When you see the kind of dross that graces the likes of X Factor and artists like this remain little known.
Superb modern Jamaican Pop/Crossover Reggae (In the best sense of the word).
Romain Virgo has made a number of consistently good albums since his self titled debut in 2010 which contained the song Mi Caan Sleep about his childhood being kept awake at night whilst warring gangs gunshots rang out in the neighborhood. Follow up album The System also explores more concious and reality themes The System, Minimum Wage, Food Fi Di Plate along with the Love songs. both highly recommended.
These two are his most recent “EP’s”.
Lifted is mostly Love & Dancehall flavoured with his great take on Sam Smith"s Stay With Me, much better than Sam Smith, the lovely Soul Provider and Star Across The Sky
Lovesick is more Pop & R&B flavoured and includes a nice version of Dennis Brown’s Caress Me Girl
Jamaican Rastafarian Roots vocal trio The Abysinnians.
Original mixes of classics like Satta Amassagana, Declaration Of Rights, Forward On To Zion, Abendigo, African Race and more plus alternates and 7" single mixes.
Roots Music for your heart and soul
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Streaming…
Inspired by David Rodigan who recently featured the track To Be Rich Is A Crime on his show
Jeb Loy Nichols finally comes home to On-U Sound, the label he first befriended in 1981. A country/dub crossover record, backed by members of Dub Syndicate and the Roots Radics, and with Adrian Sherwood at the controls. The subtle dub production gives Jeb’s careworn songs of love and loss a unique sound - this is Nashville-by-way-of-Kingston, Lee Hazlewood if he’d made an album with the Wailers, equal parts Johnny Cash and Horace Andy…
Following a limited Japanese release in 2010, the album has been remixed, resequenced and redesigned to present the definitive edition of this sublime set of songs.
“The high priest of country cool” – Rolling Stone
Producer Adrian Sherwood on Long Time Traveller:
In early 1981, as we were preparing to release the first On-U Sound album, I was living in a squat in Battersea, South London with Ari Up, Glenmore “Junior” Williams, and a 16 year old Neneh Cherry.
One day Jeb Loy Nichols knocked at the door. He had just arrived from the United States and was looking for Neneh. Jeb had been living in the same New York apartment block as her and her family (Don, Moki and Eagle Eye Cherry, as well as members of Talking Heads) and had come to see how she was doing staying in London with us lot.
Jeb came originally from Austin, Texas, but as a 17 year old had got a scholarship to a prestigious art school in New York and had moved there. Jeb was now 20 and making his first trip to London, a short visit during a break from studies. I really liked Jeb’s voice and took him on his first venture into a recording studio where we recorded two tracks, “Hostage In Iran” and "Things that made U.S.”. On his last night in London, in the kitchen of our squat, we talked all night with Junior Williams and Ari’s ‘father-in-law’, John Lydon. Early next morning Jeb headed off to the airport in a tired/wired state. Jeb must have had a really good time as he returned to London some eight months later and started making plans to resettle in the UK, which he duly did.
In the following years Jeb continued with his art, and while based in London established himself as a great singer/songwriter, releasing to date some ten albums. Although I remixed the track “As The Rain” for him, and even though we remained friends and often talked of working together again, it would be 30 years before I got him back in a studio. The result is this album.
I had “baked” lots of the old On-U master tapes of Roots Radics/Dub Syndicate recordings and also recorded a batch of brand new recordings with “Style” Scott, Franklyn “Bubbler” Waugh, George Oban and Vince Black. Jeb chose the rhythms he most liked, voiced all the tracks in one day and we overdubbed and mixed the whole album in three, old school style and most enjoyable…so enjoy
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Around the late eighties early nineties Jamaican music went through a quite nasty and negative period with the rise of gangster influenced Dancehall & Ragga styles glorifying guns, drugs, bling and misogyny.
Many traditional Rastafarian/Roots artists from the 70’s golden period alienated by this worrying trend pretty much disappeared from recording. However, later in the nineties as a counter to all the negativity and nastiness, a new movement of artists spearheaded by many who were from the Bobo Ashanti branch of Rastafari noticeable from the wearing of turban wraps over their locks, robes and staffs, emerged with a refreshing modern take on traditional Roots Reggae and “One Drop” riddims, flashing righteous militant fiery lyrics, consciousness, reality and love sings over modern “digital” riddims.
This is a fairly decent compilation of the contemporary One Drop style over 2CD or stream
I would also highly recommend the Greensleeves Biggest Reggae One Drop Anthems series of CD’s/stream
More fyah!
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Blizzi, Inna De Yard style, with a tribute to his Grandfather Toots Hibbert RIP
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Big Up!
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Back in the late Seventies into the Eighties the Greensleeves label used to release a weekly selection of 12" singles, always well pressed and mastered they were synonymous with quality and anything on those 12" singles could be bought with confidence.
As the Seventies rolled into the Eighties, the emerging nascent Dancehall style was carrying the swing, Greensleeves were on top of the game thanks to their exclusive licensing deals with a number of top Jamaican producers.
The early Dancehall Style was still using analogue and live musicians, amongst which was the cracking session band Roots Radics with drummer Style Scott and bassist Errol Flabba Holt who developed a slow, heavy, punchy and transient sound that gave space for the extended dub workouts by the likes of Scientist, Prince Jammy & Soldgie on the boards at Channel One and King Tubby’s. Roots Radics went on to work with Adrian Sherwood & Onu Sound under the name Dub Syndicate.
Some years back Greensleeves started compiling some of the cream of the crop from its 12" catalogue on its 12"Rulers" series of CD’s (Now streaming Tidal Masters) including this one showcasing the productions of Linval Thompson.
Other titles in the series include Henry Junjo Lawes, Jah Thomas Midnight Rock and Gussie Clarke, all highly recommended.
Run the track selecta!..
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