Nice to see the World Music Network delving a little deeper into the reggae genre to highlight some of the pioneers of Jamaica’s early musical form, ska. Quite fitting too, that these twenty, well-gathered tracks were selected from the vaults of late producer, Vincent ‘Randy’ Chin who died in February 2003.

Chin was the Godfather of the Jamaican record business. The pioneer behind Randy’s Record Shop, the most popular record watering hole in Jamaica at 17 North Parade in downtown Kingston and whose Studio 17 upstairs, once played host to The Wailers’ historical recording sessions with Lee Perry.

Chin was an accomplished producer himself, having recorded many singers who are now part of reggae history themselves, including Alton (Ellis) & Eddie (Perkins) “Let Me Dream (1961), Stranger & Ken (Boothe) “Revelation” (1964) and Cornell Campbell with “Make Hay” (1963). All are featured here along with Bunny & Skitter’s early rasta-felt chant, “Leave Out Babylon” (1961) that blends some early calypso with the hand drums of Count Ossie.

Chin’s recordings with The Skatalites are as equally impressive as those recorded with Clement Dodd at Studio One. The CD opens with the band swinging on, “Malcolm X” (1964) a bouncy lick over Lee Morgan’s 1963 jazz scorcher, “The Sidewinder” and further makeovers of tunes including “Ska-Racha” (1964 taken from “La- Curacha”), “Freedom Ska” (1964) and “Baby Elephant Walk” (1964). Other treasures include a swinging ballad by obscure vocalist Basil Gabbidon “Iveree” (1962), two gems from the lead vocal group of the time, The Maytals “Someone’s Going To Ball” (1964) and “Lost Penny” (1964) and a smooth dance floor killer by crooner Lord Creator “Don’t Stay Out Late” (1964).

More than half of the tracks compiled, are reissued for the first time in over thirty five years so acknowledgement must go to reggae historian Steve Barrow and Vincent Chin’s son Chris for their efforts and Laurence Cedar who mastered this CD. The collection is a fine example of how Jamaican music began taking root with the integration of American ‘jump blues’ and it’s native ‘mento’ sound.

Those early years between 1960-1965 helped define what we are listening to today and there was no better ambassador for reggae music than Vincent Chin, the man who alongside his wife Pat (Miss P) launched what is now the largest reggae distribution company in the world, VP Records.



 by Trevor Holland, ReggaeWriter.com
 E-Mail: reggaewriter@mindspring.com

After having released many notable productions in the early eighties the U.K. based "Silver Camel" label stopped its activities in 1983. With the long-awaited cd release of Billy Boyo's "Zim Zim" the now U.S.A. based record label recently re-emerged on the reggae market as Silver Kamel Audio (SKA).

The label's current releases are the compilation sets "Roots Rasta Party" and "Roots Dancehall Party". The latter contains outstanding songs, all in showcase style (vocal version followed by deejay or dub version) produced by Jah Thomas (Nkrumah Manley Thomas). In the mid 70's it was 'GG' who first recorded Thomas. Influenced by Errol Holt, they put Thomas in the studio and recorded "Midnight Rock" produced by 'GG' and released in 1977. The follow-up single was a tune called "The Girl Them Love Me" produced by Joe Gibbs. In fact Gibbs, along with Channel One, were the first people Thomas contacted when he decided to become a singer. But the producers concluded that it was Thomas' ability to "fast talk" that was his real talent. Thus he became, for a period, "the hottest toaster" in Jamaica. To date Thomas as a singer has worked with all of Jamaica's top producers. He recorded with the legendary Sonia Pottinger, the first woman producer on the male predominated scene. Their collaboration brought Jah Thomas his third hit single, titled "Tell Me The Truth". Other hit singles followed, "Come Nurse" and "Shopkeeper", both produced by Joe Gibbs.

In 1979 Thomas decided to go solo. His self produced single "Cricket Lovely Cricket" was a smash! The success of the record was such that it reached the "bubbling under" position of the UK national charts! Back in Jamaica an album produced by Junjo Lawes entitled "Dance Pon The Corner" was released. This album was for local release only and in the UK on import only. Other hits followed with "Shine Eye Girl" - Barrington Levy. and "Heard It On The News". 1980 saw the release of the first dub lp "Black Ash Dub" on Trojan. Jah Thomas was a predominant name on that album. Also in that year Jah Thomas and Silver Camel joined forces, "Dancehall Stylee" (SCLP 005) was the first production.

The album attained the coveted Number One position on the reggae LP charts! And as a measure of it's success, the album is still very much in demand. Jah Thomas has produced numerous artists such as Ranking Toyan, Barrington Levy, Anthony Johnson, Triston Palmer, Little John, Early B, Barry Brown and Jnr Keating to name but a few. "Roots Dancehall Party" offers eight tracks inna showcase style, kicking off with Anthony Johnson riding the "Heavenless" riddim in a song called "Strictly Rub A Dub", followed by the immensely popular deejay version of Jah Thomas. Triston Palmer hit the charts with his version pon the riddim called "Entertainment". Triston is present here with the track "Runaround Woman", which happens to be a splendid version of the "Shank I Shek" riddim. Jah Thomas and Ranking Toyan lay down a blistering deejay version! Johnny Osbourne was at his best at Studio One, but several productions with other producers have stood the test of time very well, just check out the uptempo tune "Rub A Dub Session" and the deejay counterpart by 'The Doctor' Early B.

Phillip Fraser is best known for his rootical outings, but here he puts out a fine dancehall tune, celebrating "dancing time", followed by a nice instrumental version of the tune. The 'Mellow Canary' Barrington Levy was at his best in the early 80's. Here he offers a splendid song called "Dancing Mood" with Jah Thomas taking care of the deejay version. Little John brings the hit tune "Say What You're Saying" on the "Pain" riddim. Here the (2003?) deejay version comes from Danny English. Anthony Johnson returns with the skanking tune "Every Time I Hear The Music" accompanied by Early B. with "The Girl Them Sexy". The disc closes with the dancehall don Lincoln 'Granulated' Sugar Minott. One of his best known tunes of that period was "Dancehall We Deh" and Early B shines once again in the deejay version called "Sunday Dish". What more can we say.... Essential!






 by Quatty, ReggaeTrain.com
 E-Mail: info@reggaetrain.com

What a gwaan? This is kicking! Usually the compilations in this Jet Star series are a bit average and predictable but this time they've knocked everybody out of the arena.

It is a soft and gentle take off with all the best modern roots artistes. Beres Hammond, Freddie McGreggor, Luciano, Don Campbell and the incredible voice himself, Glen Washington all take turns in praising Jah and the women of the world in the first five tracks. After that Mikey Spice and the legendary Shabba Ranks run things in Kshun Peng, a lick over from the classic cut Pass the Dubplate, of course in that cozy but still hard core spirit that Shabba pocesses.

It gets more up to date with 14K's version of R. Kelly's Fiesta and on the same riddim The Elephant man crushes everything and everyone in Jamaica. Tony rebel and Swade is not bad but medium good in Just friends. The album recovers with Leroy Sibbles (The Heptones) and Buju over Wailers' Forever Loving Jah riddim. Morgan Heritage is just as fantastic in Jealousy as Ghost is in the Sade cover By Your Side, like silk but smoother! Jet Star is hyping their own Ambelique together with Hackney's most conscious, Ras Ites in Back stabbers which in all fairness is a lick over of Marley's Kinky Reggae. Why Wyclef is featured with the mediocre warrior cause I do not know and maybe that is why Sizzla is so extremely angry in Galong. To cool off the session there is Lloyd Brown, Peter Hunnigale Freddie McGreggor, again, and finally George Nooks' Perfect World. What more could you ask for? Go and get it!






 by Quatty, ReggaeTrain.com
 E-Mail: info@reggaetrain.com

Every year I tell myself that I'm not going to get the current edition of the Reggae Gold series, and yet somehow every year it ends up in my lap. Such is the case again this year, and the 2003 volume sadly, predictably does little to make me eagerly anticipate next year's offering. While this certainly isn't the worst volume to date, it's still an underwhelming enterprise that shows that, as with the pop charts, the songs that are most popular with the reggae-listening public are often, well, crap.

What Reggae Gold 2003 does do well, though, is reflect what a breakthrough period 2002-2003 was for dancehall reggae. Even non-reggae fans should recognize no less than 3 of the tracks here -- "Make It Clap," "No Letting Go," and "Get Busy" -- all of which received heavy rotation on both radio and television. Indeed, in the years to come, we could look back at this time as the era when dancehall finally broke through into the American cultural consciousness (soon thereafter to be adopted by a "pioneering" Elvis/Eminem-type and slowly so absorbed into white American culture that in the decades to come it's practically forgotten that this was originally a black Jamaican music . . . well, we'll see on that one.). The familiarity of such tunes may please some listeners who'd like to have all of the songs on one album (although the version of "No Letting Go" included here is a pointless remix featuring LL Cool J that sounds like he's just rapping over the pre-recorded original song), while it may annoy others who are already tired of the songs. I tend to fall a bit into the latter category, particularly when taking into account the presence of several other tracks -- notably Sizzla's "Thank U Mamma," Morgan Heritage's "She's Still Loving Me," and Shaggy's "Hey Sexy Lady" -- with which I was already familiar.

Unfortunately for Reggae Gold 2003, the familiar tunes make up a significant portion of the best cuts on the album, with the exception of the painful "Hey Sexy Lady." The best of the rest include Tanto Metro & Devonte's fun, fast-paced "Honey I Sugar Pie," Beenie Man's catchy "Row Like a Boat," the hit sound of T.O.K.'s "She's Hot," and what is probably the best song of all on this album, Tanya Stephens' "It's a Pity," a surprisingly funky lovers jam that is head and shoulders above anything else I've heard from this female DJ. Ultimately, however, too many of the songs on this compilation are disappointingly uninspired, insipid works from usually reliable artists like Elephant Man, Beres Hammond, Buju Banton, and Bounty Killer. Next year, I won't bother with Reggae Gold 2004 . . . or will I???






 by Quatty, ReggaeTrain.com
 E-Mail: info@reggaetrain.com

This CD solidifies the excellent Reggae on the River 2-DVD set chronicling the 20th anniversary of the festival by providing the audio from most (13 of 18) of the full-length performances from the video. For reggae veterans, most of the songs included will be familiar, but lovers of live music should relish the energy imbued in these performances. Particularly involving are Anthony B’s “Raid the Barn” (still possibly his best tune), Third World’s classic “96 Degrees in the Shade” (performed with a larger-than-life flair), ex-I Threes Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths’ unique musical take on Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” and Beres Hammond’s energetic medley of “She Loves Me Now” and “Step Aside,” along with a surprise tribute to Dennis Brown with “Should I.”

Even non-reggae acts like Ben Harper and David Lindley contribute strong, funky roots cuts (“With My Own Two Hands” and “Quarter of a Man,” respectively).

Even with the reggae tracks, of course, personal preferences will differ; while I would like to have heard Culture’s “I’m Not Ashamed” (which is on the DVD) or Israel Vibration’s "Why You So Craven" (I suppose “Reggae on the River” would’ve been the most appropriate), “International Herb” and “Same Song” are fine and are considered classics by many. All in all, though, Reggae on the River delivers a good time for live album fans and provides just a hint at what the festival is like. For a more in-depth view beyond the few liner notes on the CD, you should check out the highly-regarded DVD set.






 by Quatty, ReggaeTrain.com
 E-Mail: info@reggaetrain.com

No country has ever issued as much protest music as Jamaica, whose artists have released half a century's worth of songs calling for racial pride, repatriation, peace, brotherhood, cultural change, and the general and complete dismantling of all things Babylon. Out of this welter of protest, Trojan has picked 18 tracks for the fifth installment of its Reggae Pulse sampler series, a task that must have been daunting, since for every song selected, a dozen equally deserving ones had to be passed over, and this project could easily have been a multi-disc box set and still have been considered woefully incomplete. There are some obvious tracks here, including Peter Tosh's version of "Get Up, Stand Up," a song he co-wrote with Bob Marley while in the Wailers, Marley's own haunting declaration of intent, "Soul Rebel," and Third World's late-'70s history lesson, "1865 (96 Degrees in the Shade)."

There are also some interesting surprises, like Delroy Wilson's resigned and hopeful "Better Must Come," which surmises that since things are so awful right now, "better must come one day." Two of the most striking tracks are 21st century interpretations of a couple of classic protest songs.Luciano restructures Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" into a magnificent statement, stripping out the rage and replacing it with a controlled resentment that seems all the more powerful when sung in Luciano's calm, measured voice. Bushman's reading of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" is also surprisingly effective, and given a Jamaican setting, the song rings with an added edge. What's collected here is obviously only the tip of the tip of the iceberg (one could easily fill a disc with Marley's protest songs alone, and Island's Rebel Music does exactly that), but as a sampler mixing in some classic tracks with some surprising new ones, Protest Songs accomplishes its mission, as long as one doesn't expect anything comprehensive. As Marley said, there's so much trouble in the world. Better must come.

Review by Steve Leggett