Showing posts with label reggae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reggae. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Collection Essentials #3: The Harder They Come
Jimmy 'Too Bad' Cliff
The Harder They Come
the soundtrack of the ‘country boy goes to the city and goes bad’ film from
Jamaica, starring Jimmy Cliff was
one of the early bridgeheads of reggae music into the American market. In the
early 70’s when the film was released, those who had heard of reggae in the US
probably numbered no more than a few hundred music nerds. But after the soundtrack received
considerable airplay and the sweet tenor of Jimmy Cliff, singing some of his most memorable tunes (Sitting Here in Limbo, Many Rivers to Cross)
American ears wanted to hear more.
Stevie Wonder
followed up with a groovy song called Boogie
On, Reggae Woman and by the mid-70’s Bob
Marley and the Wailers were favorites of music snobs and college radio
stations. The rest is history.
Every song on this record is vital and absolutely
essential to any record collection. If you’re not into reggae than this is a
wonderful place to start. You get some of the finest of Jamaica’s musicians (Toots and the Maytals, Scotty, Jimmy Cliff,
Desmond Dekker) performing lively, snappy and smooth reggae tunes. Indeed, every song on this album is now so
deeply ingrained in our collective memory that they are like dear friends. And still, 40 years after the movie came out,
they are remain moving and fun and danceable.
My youngsters, who had to endure dad singing, Johnny Too Bad, this afternoon can attest to this!
Ned Wood, my old friend, who is now retired somewhere up the
wilds of Alaska, brought this record to my attention in the late 70’s. There is no question. This HAS to be in your
collection.
Track
Listing:
01 The Harder They Come
02 Draw Your Brakes
03 Rivers Of Babylon
04 Many Rivers To Cross
05 Sweet And Dandy
06 The Harder They Come
07 Johnny Too Bad
08 Shanty Town
09 Pressure Drop
10 Sitting In Limbo
11 You Can Get It If You Really Want
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
From the Mountaintop: Prince Far I
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| Prince Far I
Ever wonder what it must be
like to hear the voice of the Almighty? Not as the still quiet inner voice but
actually with your ears?
Listen to Prince Far I, the self proclaimed Voice of Thunder, reggae ‘chanter’ and King Cry Cry.
On this stunning piece of
art/music/worship the Jamaican singer recites and riffs in spoken voice upon
several Psalms from the Old Testament. In the background a band keeps the
emotions swirling creating a ‘righteous’ platform to Praise the Lord. This record was originally released in 1975
and was the Prince’s first. It
sounds like the Lord of Hosts himself is issuing his commandments to
mankind. Indeed, according to Fari I
he made the record for those who could not read and yet needed godly
guidance.
Play this loud and forget
about church/mosque/ temple/ bar/ club for the week.
One of the many voices of the roots era, Prince Far I was absolutely unique. He
certainly cannot be categorized as a singer, although at times -- especially
during chanted passages -- there was definitely a singsong quality to his
vocals, and in that respect the closest comparison was to Winston Rodney of Burning
Spear. However, that group actually wrote lyrics, while Prince Far I vocals were a stream of
consciousness that belongs in the DJ realm. But to call him a toaster is
equally inaccurate. His delivery was reminiscent of an Old Testament prophet,
railing at the wicked, a seething outpouring of religiously inspired
righteousness.
Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 1944, Michael James Williams actually started
his career in the sound systems, DJing for the Sir Mike the Musical Dragon setup. That certainly didn't pay the
bills, however, and the young man also worked as a security guard at Joe Gibbs' studio. Eventually, he was
then employed by Coxsone Dodd as a
bouncer for the producer's own Studio One sound system. It was a sheer fluke
that Williams ended up cutting his
debut single for Dodd. The producer
had a session booked for DJ King Stitt
one day in 1970 and the veteran toaster didn't show. On the spur of the moment,
Dodd allowed the bouncer to take the
mic instead, the end result was the "Queen of the Minstrel" single.
It was released under the moniker King
Cry Cry, a name foisted on him by the producer, who'd witnessed more than
once his employee bursting into tears when angered. Williams kept the name even after he began cutting singles with
other producers. The following year, King
Cry Cry scored his first minor hit with "I Had a Talk," recorded
with Bunny Lee. Coincidentally, in
the U.K. this song was paired with "Zion Train" by a still unknown Burning Spear.
It wasn't until 1976 that Prince Far I recorded his debut album,
Psalms for I. Produced by Lloydie Slim,
it comprised ten tracks in all -- the Lord's Prayer and nine psalms, across
which the artist first previewed the sermon-esque deliveries that would become
his trademark. And while the album had a marvelously rootsy sound, the missing
element was rhythms heavy enough to support the artist's apocryphal vision. (allmusic)
Track Listing
01. Psalm 49
02. Psalm 48
03. Psalm 24
04. Psalm 87
05. The Lord’s
Prayer
06. Pslam 95
07. Psalm 53
08. Psalm 23
09. Psalm 2
10. Psalm 1
11. Untitled
|
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Bus Tour: Bob Marley
 |
| Bob Marley |
The first serious and seriously good concert I attended was 33 years ago. Bob Marley and Wailers at Northrup Auditorium on the campus of
the University of Minnesota.
I used to cook in a greasy spoon open-all-night campus café
with a guy who worked in a local record shop, named Ned. He had an amazing and eclectic record
collection and will always be remembered as the guy who introduced me to such
artists as Fela, The Flamin’ Groovies and The Bonzo Doo Dog Band. One late Saturday night when we were both
covered in flour (our café’s speciality was pizza that in the immortal words of
one reviewer tasted like ‘it had been scraped off the carpet’) Ned told me that
Bob Marley was coming to town soon.
I had never heard the name. “What kind of music?” I asked.
“Reggae,” Ned said.
“What?”
“Just come along.”
I did and wow, what a night. We sat right in front the light
board from which clouds of ganja smoke drifted through our heads. Bob raced and
jumped back and forth across the stage, his dreadlocks covering his face all
the time. The I Threes swayed and cooed throughout and the band sizzled like a
bbq in the desert. A new world opened
before me. How, I wondered, have I not heard this groovy music before?
I recently listened to tonight’s selection, Babylon by Bus, which was issued around
the same time as the concert I attended. It deserves all 5 stars awarded by so
many critics. The sound is crisp, the band is tight and Marley simply bristles
with energy. Exactly as I remember.
Some say this is the best live reggae record ever made. Who
knows. But God, it is exciting! Give it a spin. It will get your blood flowing.
Track
Listing:
01 Positive Vibration
02 Punky Reggae Party
03 Exodus
04 Stir It Up
05 Rat Race
06 Concrete Jungle
07 Kinky Reggae
08 Lively Up Yourself
09 Rebel Music
10 War/No More Trouble
11 Is This Love
12 Heathen
13 Jamming
Saturday, December 31, 2011
How to Revolutionize Music (Quickly): The Skatalites
Happy New Year! May 2012 be about two thousand and twelve
times as productive, peaceful, stress-free, prosperous, lucky and serendipitous
as 2011! And may you travel many many
interesting musical pathways.
To take you on your way into the new year the Washerman’s Dog shares a set of
wonderfully upbeat musical blandishments and sweetmeats for your New Year’s Eve
dancing party. Even if dancing means little more than tapping your fingers on
the arm of the easy chair as you sip a warm single malt.
The Skatalites are
to ska and reggae what the Beatles
were to pop music and Hank Williams
to country. Both definition and
inspiration. Super studio band that backed everyone from Anton Ellis to Bob Marley
and Toots and Maytals they laid the
basic soundtrack of 1960s Jamaica and what subsequently became known as reggae (and its many progeny).
In the story of The
Skatalites are buried happy and sad lessons of poverty, passion and
institutionalisation. The group’s key
members, Thomas McCook (sax), Johnnie ‘Dizzy’ Moore (trumpet), Lester Sterling (alto sax) and the
mercurial and tragic figure, Don
Drummond (trombone) came together at the Alpha Cottage School for Boys, a
nicely named church run institute for trouble-seeking and trouble-wielding
boys. Rather than flash blades or use their fists, a Catholic priest got them
blowing into brass instruments, little realising that these discarded bits of
humanity would go on to revolutionise a nation’s music and secure a rarefied
and respected niche on the global scene.
 |
| The Skatalites |
Starting out, the unlikely lads played in Kingston hotels
and were soon joined by the seminal pianist Jackie Mittoo and Lloyd
Knibbs on drums. At the same time,
the initial studios were opening up and the group found themselves to be in
demand as everyone’s favourite back-up band.
In 1964, they began referring to themselves as The Skatalites, In between recording for others they criss crossed
Jamaica playing their own gigs to a rapidly growing audience.
So important and omnipresent was the group that it is hard
to know where their music started and other artists’ ended. Since they played
on thousands of records that were released by countless other acts and
musicians they often did not get the credit.
But their sound and drive and energy and ‘magic’ was what made the song
a hit. In this way, their influence and
importance to creating and defining their ‘musical moment’ far exceeds that of
the Beatles and Hank
Williams. They were everywhere, in every studio, backing every act and
playing every weekend. They were making up a sound and an entire genre as they went.
 |
| Don Drummond |
The musicality of The
Skatalites is simply delightful.
The horn playing is masterful but unassuming and laidback. Just like everyone’s
idea of a Jamaican beach. The licks are
groovy and grabbed from any corner of the musical universe. Witness the direct
‘sampling’ of the Mexicali trumpets from Johnny
Cash’s smash hit, Ring of Fire,
on Music is My Occupation. Central to
the beat and soul of the sound was the tremendous trombone work of Don Drummond. Surely one of the best slide
trombone players ever but also one of
the most troubled. His time as a delinquent and institutionalised (and
brutalised) inmate of Alpha Cottage, affected his mental health. With the band
barely a year old, he murdered his wife and the band’s vocalist and was reinstitutionalised in an Asylum. He died there in 1969. The Skatalites dissolved in 1965 but reformed in the early 80s and
continue to play to adoring and hip crowds around the world even today.
These recordings are from their prime and short life as a
band between 1964 and 1965. Infectious,
joyous and wonderous music.
Bye bye 2011!!!
Track
Listing:
01 Guns Of Navarone
02 Eastern Standard Time
03 Garden Of Love
04 Latin Goes To Ska
05 (Music Is My) Occupation
06 Street Corner
07 Musical Storeroom
08 Green Island
09 Corner Stone
10 Musical Communication
11 Doctor Dekker
12 Feeling Fine
13 Don De Lion
14 Lucky Seven
15 Stampede
16 Silver Dollar
17 University Goes Ska
18 Knock Out Punch
19 Cool Smoke
20 Around The World
21 Alley Pang
22 Good News
23 Thoroughfare
24 Mesopotamia
25 Dragon Weapon
Listen here.
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