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    Reggae Thread

    Does anyone know if this Pat Kelly/Ranking Trevor track is on CD?

    #2
    Reggae Thread

    I can't help with that, but I still have some 60's and 70's reggae on vinyl - those that I managed to keep hold of through my shared house experiences.

    I used to wander into various import reggae shops in London as a kid, so I've got a small collection of imported stuff. Unfortunately we've got no hi-fi at all at the moment.

    I keep intending to get a turntable and put them all onto MP3. If I do, and anyone's interested, one day I'll stick some of it up here. (Well, not up here, but you know what I mean...)

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      #3
      Reggae Thread

      That would be fantastic, kugelrund.

      daniel, I found a few CD releases on Discogs that have "It's Good Day," but it's not this version of the song (the ones are about 4 minutes long). There are sites that let you save the audio from a YouTube video if you want to grab an MP3 of this, which I'm going to do when I get home--thanks for the link.

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        #4
        Reggae Thread

        Good lord man, Kugelrund, yes!

        Similarly, I have a few old classic Trojan 7"s I 'inherited' (read: "stole"/"salvaged") from my sister when she left home. They're some of my most prized records.

        At a slight tangent, my main man - Richard H. Kirk - did an excellent album, back in 2000, acknowledging his Dub/Reggae roots, under his Sandoz moniker: 'Chant To Jah'...

        The title track

        Comment


          #5
          Reggae Thread

          I will second the interest in kugelrund's conversions. I'm in a similar boat: I have about 300 reggae LPs and 12"s at a house in LA but I haven't lived there since 1997. It looks like that house is about to be sold so I need to get around to selling those albums. The missus has put up with the thousands of CDs (much smaller and compact than Vinyl) and the thousands of football DVDs but has taken a stand on the vinyl.

          @inca: thanks for the remind about the Youtube MP3 sites. I have used those before and forgotten about them. I also have a program called Audio Hijack Pro that I use to capture streams when I want a higher bitrate and the stream is higher, but for youtube, which is usually 128k, there's no reason to mess with Audio Hijack. There are a few 12"s/disco mixes that float along the side of the track I listed above that are also good, so I will have to grab those as well for the morning commute.

          BTW, for folks who are still buying vinyl, there is a new series out that looks amazing, albeit pricey: Striker Lee comp and a Roosevelt Avenue Dub record. I emailed to ask about CD issues and it's vinyl only, unfortunately.

          Comment


            #6
            Reggae Thread

            If I had the room, I'd store those for you, daniel, but alas...

            Comment


              #7
              Reggae Thread

              Blimey, danielmak. I'd be completely stressed out at the thought of losing that lot.

              Sounds like there's a good chance some of you aficionados have already got most of my stuff anyway - I don't have an enormous amount, although I have a few that appear to be quite rare. Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, rasta chant stuff. (Ras Michael lives in California now, I think.)

              One of the problems with living in a house full of "musicians" and "artists", as I used to, is that people nicked each other's stuff all the time. Between nine of us, at one point, there were five copies of one particular album. One girl moved out and we realised she'd taken all five with her - she sold them. Luckily I'd hidden her Holger Czukay album, as I knew she'd nick some stuff, so I still have that.

              I used to have a few original Trojan and Motown singles because my older brother and sister loved ska and Motown. They vanished, as well. My sister also had a load of Motown demo records that she just gave away, I think - she's insane, obviously. I still have a couple of demo singles, though.

              Comment


                #8
                Reggae Thread

                Kugerlund, anything you've got will be worth hearing.

                Thanks, Inca. I think I will be able to have them stored temporarily by my cousin and then I'll try to come out and deal with them.

                Sticking with LA, there was a show that aired on KCRW FM called Reggae Beat. It was hosted by Roger Steffans, who is considered one of the top experts on Bob Marley, and Hank Holmes, who was said to have thousands of ultra-rare records back in the early 80s. Their show was 4-hours long and they would alternate longer sets. When I was first getting into reggae as a 12-year-old Steffans was my DJ of choice because he played all of the new stuff. But as I got older and wiser, I realized that I had missed out on some great stuff by not paying close enough attention to Holmes' sets. Anyway, one of those sets is up on Soundcloud. Check it out here. I asked for some help with the track listings on the Blood and Fire message board and only got this so far:
                first track. some joe gibbs dub. there is a different cut on the majestic dub LP if I´m not mistaken.
                7.05 dub to linval thompson - jah jah the conquerer.
                19.46. Keith Wilson- god I god I say
                23.24. Mighty Maytones/ vernon buckley - judgement a come.
                25: 45. jimmy riley - give thanks and praise.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Reggae Thread

                  I know this kind of thing is out of favour now, but...

                  I'm Upset

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Reggae Thread

                    Blimey, the last time I checked for some of my stuff online there was nothing. Now it's all on Youtube.

                    First reggae record I ever bought with my own money. George Nooks: Tribal War. Whoever put it up put the B-side dub up on the same clip. Very simple, but I still like it.

                    I think probably everyone has this anyway, but here you go - The Abyssinians: Satta Massagana

                    My favourite Lee Perry: Baffling Smoke Signal.

                    Culture's Harder Then The Rest album isn't rare, or difficult to find, it's just one of my favourite albums. It has an all-time great playing just about every instrument - and then there's Joseph Hill's incredible voice... not in album order:
                    Holy Mount Zion
                    Behold
                    Tell Me Where You Get It

                    Burning Spear - and I hope this does the bass justice: Civilised Reggae

                    When I was a kid I used to practice drumming on tupperware tubs on my bed to the (excellent) dub on this... Pablo Gad: Bloodsucker. Weirdly, this person's record jumps slightly in the same place mine did. All these years I thought I'd scratched mine.

                    For older listeners, a Bunny Lee production - Derrick Morgan: Hold You Jack

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Reggae Thread

                      Thanks for the links. Although I prefer mid-70s through early 80s reggae, there are some early digital records that I still like a lot:

                      Coco Tea, "Rub A Dub Man"

                      Sugar Minott, "Four Wheel Wheelie"

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Reggae Thread

                        I've been on a reggae kick lately, picking up a great 4-CD set on VP (Deep Roots Observer Style) as well as some Pressure Sounds and Blood and Fire CD reissues that I somehow forgot to buy when they were released (Yabby You, Burning Spear, Tommy McCook). While reading the liner notes in the Spear is Burning reissue booklet I learned that the Island/Mango release of Spear's Marcus Garvey is a different mix than the original Jack Ruby Jamaican production. The Island/Mango version is a bit slicker in an effort to appeal to a mainstream audience who was digging Bob Marley. I was not aware of this remix until now. I have the 100th Anniversary (which I assume is in reference to Garvey's birthday when it was released in the 1990s) version that includes Garvey's Ghost. I've done some light searches to see if the Jack Ruby mix is available on CD but it appears that is not the case. Am I missing something? Does anyone know if this CD was every issued with the original mix?

                        It sucks that the album has been reissued again a few years back by Hip-O-Select and they did not include this original mix but instead just remastered that 100th Anniversary version.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Reggae Thread

                          Us west coasters could have a Reggae-a-thon 'round danielmak's gaff. I'd offer to house the collection but I'm moving to the east coast later this year.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Reggae Thread

                            Luckily my cousin has my records for now. I'll pick them up in a year or so. Luckily I can find most stuff on-line to stream.

                            BTW, I used to buy CDs from the guy who hosts this show. He would sometimes include cassettes of his show, which was nice for the commute when I lived in Tampa. http://smilejamaicakrcl.com/

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Reggae Thread

                              Is the Wailers' work with Lee Perry the best they ever did?

                              I'm not sure if we can say that Bob ever sold out musically. Redemption Song, for example, could have been written at any time in his post-ska career. It's probably more accurate to say that the singles, which he released to attract a pop audience to his more edgy work, don't capture his range.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Reggae Thread

                                The original rocksteady maestro, Alton Ellis, 1970. It's like a transitional genre between ska and reggae because it's fast (like ska) but has that behind the beat, relaxed, chilled, ragged vocal of reggae, but a more Americanized vocal than Bob Marley's and thus going for a more mainstream market than the Wailers of that time:

                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siawqK8fjGs

                                Marcia Griffiths, same period, perhaps too much echo on the vocal but the rhythm section is stunning:

                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V2Ii7Ml8xE&index=2&list=RDzGn5hBgDT1E

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Reggae Thread

                                  Favourite version of Long Shot Kick The Bucket from 1976:

                                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al7BCipkqjI

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Reggae Thread

                                    satchmo76 wrote: Is the Wailers' work with Lee Perry the best they ever did?

                                    I'm not sure if we can say that Bob ever sold out musically. Redemption Song, for example, could have been written at any time in his post-ska career. It's probably more accurate to say that the singles, which he released to attract a pop audience to his more edgy work, don't capture his range.
                                    Sorry I missed this when you first posted. I assume many reggae fans have a similar relationship with Bob Marley as other music fans have with the big stars of whatever sub-genre (e.g., I don't know now often punks listen to the Sex Pistols). So, I like The Wailers as a group and Bob, Peter, and Bunny on their own. Bob was obviously the biggest star of that trio and Peter's records with The Stones were a bit too pop for my tastes. Bunny was clearly the most true to the genre in terms of heavy roots, but Bunny lacked the voice of the other two, so he had no real chance of catching the ears of mainstream listeners.

                                    In terms of Bob's work, there are a few songs that get steady radio play here: Three Little Birds being the main song. Most of these songs don't really interest me when I'm listening on my own at home, but there are others that might have garnered some kind of mainstream attention that I think are really good. "Ambush in the Night," "Natural Mystic," and "Rat Race" come to mind but there are many more. I'd say that there are very few songs from Bob that I skip if I put one of his CDs on. But, again, I don't listen to him very often when I'm in the mood to listen to reggae. I tend to go with other stuff from the 70s and 80s.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Reggae Thread

                                      I'm an early Bob man too. I tend to disagree slightly with your comment about Bunny Wailer's singing - he's great on 'Rock and Groove' from 1981. Here he is doing 'Dance Rock' off the album. It's a lovely sound.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Reggae Thread

                                        Vicarious Thrillseeker wrote: I'm an early Bob man too. I tend to disagree slightly with your comment about Bunny Wailer's singing - he's great on 'Rock and Groove' from 1981. Here he is doing 'Dance Rock' off the album. It's a lovely sound.
                                        I'm a fan of Bunny Wailer, but I just don't hear a vocal style (a pure quality of voice) that would appeal to a more mainstream audience. He is similar to Burning Spear or Joseph Hill (Culture) for me: great roots music that has a very respectable following among reggae fans (when I lived in LA he was able to play large outdoor campus venues on college campuses or the same types of amphitheaters for one night that Elvis Costello might play for two nights in a row) but there was no way he was going to cross over. I get that some of that has to do with the length of many songs (esp. thinking about Blackheart Man) and crossing over shouldn't be a goal. But he never wrote anything on par with some of Tosh's minor hits. And Bob Marley was obviously working at a very different level.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Reggae Thread

                                          Yesterday I picked up the Kingston Sounds reissue CD of Tapper Zukie's Peace in the Ghetto. Here's the first track:

                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Do_np3cJQ

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Reggae Thread

                                            I can't remember if posted Sugar Minott's "Inna Dancehall Style" in any of the reggae threads, but another spin won't hurt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoRTOEWXtjU&spfreload=10

                                            The lyrics seem to jump all over the place, mirroring what would happen in a dance given all of the breaks that tend to occur. The heavier version of the Heavenless riddim on this one is great and Sugar's voice is in great form.

                                            Here's another Sugar Minott track over the same riddim with Charlie Chaplin; they're running with a theme that seemed to get hot with Early B's "Wheely Wheely."

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Reggae Thread

                                              Here is Rod Taylor, "His Imperial Majesty" with the Mikey Dread dub.

                                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzMpJa3HqIw

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Reggae Thread

                                                Any of you into the so-called 'revival' stuff that's coming out of JA right now?

                                                The biggest name is probably Chronixx (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeIfiiBTfY) but there are some other great artists, such as Protoje (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzqFmXZ8tOE), Jah Cure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xir1RsZfLOY) and Jah9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4cewEb8x2Y) among many others. Plus Morgan Heritage, whose album Strictly Roots won the reggae grammy recently (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edpJelDq7qo).

                                                There's definitely life in the old dog yet and that's before I even mention the new wave of European reggae from the likes of Mungo's hi-fi, Rootikal Attack, Vibes & Pressure and many others.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Reggae Thread

                                                  This is a really good streaming show/podcast. Too bad there's not a download option with Mixcloud:

                                                  https://www.mixcloud.com/Dubhifi1/sound-system/

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