Listen Lord Laro “Progress and Prosperity”- rare calypso classic from the calypso legend
Friday 26 June 2015
Rare calypso classic from the legend Lord Laro “Progress and Prosperity”
Listen Lord Laro “Progress and Prosperity”- rare calypso classic from the calypso legend
Sunday 14 June 2015
Delroy Wilson “Love Got Me Doing Things” Faith Label, 1970s
LISTEN♫ here https://youtu.be/tpMnoXVWi8s
Delroy Wilson was one of Jamaica's most soulful vocalists, and over a 40-year career the singer unleashed a flood of hits and a multitude of masterpieces. Born on October 5, 1948, in the Kingston neighborhood of Trenchtown, Wilson's phenomenal talent would be his ticket out of the ghetto, and his discovery by producer Coxsone Dodd in 1962 would change the path of Jamaican music.
Jah Thomas "Come Nurse” - Sonia Pottinger, High Note, Jamaica 1978
Listen here https://youtu.be/_D5zIiMU2YQ
Jah Thomas was an important figure on the Jamaican music scene during both the roots era of the '70s and the subsequent dancehall decade of the '80s. One of the island's top producers for both singers and DJs. Many of these sides found their way to the dub studios of King Tubby, who transformed a wealth of Thomas' rhythms into a some of the best dub tracks to emerge from Jamaica.
Born Nkrumah Thomas in Kingston in 1955, Jah Thomas’ story begins with the legendary Channel One studio, where the aspiring DJ first cut tracks as one of a crew of young chatters in the mold of innovators like U-Roy, Big Youth, and Dillinger.
Working off his Channel One success, Thomas followed his fellow chatters in cutting sides for Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson at their 16-track studio on Retirement Crescent (the studio tandem -- also known as the Mighty Two -- were at the height of their success at this time, recording such DJ smashes as Trinity's "Three Piece Suit and Thing" and Prince Far I's "Under Heavy Manners").
Joining the ranks of contemporary dancehall knob twiddlers of the late '70s and early '80s like Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Linval Thompson, Gussie Clarke, and Winston Riley, Thomas began making his presence felt as a producer with sessions for both DJs and singers.
Like many of Jamaica's most important and talented musical men and women, Jah Thomas will probably not become as well-known and celebrated as, say, Lee Perry, Tubby, or Duke Reid, but his place in reggae's cannon can't be denied as one of the handful of producers who helped steer reggae out of it's first roots period into the modern dancehall era of the '80s and early '90s, the effects of which are still in evidence as reggae moves into the new millennium.
Fabulous roots monster Earl Sixteen "Reggae Sound" - Dread At The Controls, Jamaica, 1980
LISTEN♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu1ngORjxr8
Born Earl Daley, 1958, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. After winning local talent shows, Daley joined the group Flaming Phonics as lead vocalist before voicing the self-penned ‘Malcolm X’ for Joe Gibbs in 1975, later covered by Dennis Brown.
In 1977 Daley became a member of the Boris Gardiner Happening who introduced him to Lee Perry at the Black Ark. There he recorded four tracks in 1978/9 and met Earl Morgan of the Heptones, who produced his debut album, Singing Star. His next collection was for the radio disc jockey and DATC producer Mikey Dread, although there were singles for Augustus Pablo (‘Changing World’), Linval Thompson, Derrick Harriott and others, released throughout the early 80s, including an excellent set for former Stur-Gav duo Ranking Joe and Jah Screw. By 1982/3 he was at Studio One where his third version of ‘Love Is A Feeling’ was recorded. The Brentford Road sessions resulted in Coxsone Dodd’s Showcase album of 1985.
Since then he has appeared on tracks by Dread Zone and Leftfield. He made his major label debut in 1997 with Steppin’ Out for WEA Records.
Freddie McKay “Picture on the Wall” a perennial rocksteady favourite, Coxsone, Jamaica, 1971
LISTEN♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iko6AS3ZChs
Rocksteady singer Freddie McKay worked with Jamaica's top reggae producers Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd, and Prince Buster. Born in the late '40s in St. Catherine, Freddie McKay recorded for the Studio One and Treasure Isle labels, working with studio bands the Revolutionaires, the G.G. Allstars, and the Soul Defenders, with whom McKay cut "Picture on the Wall" (his biggest hit), which remains a perennial favourite on ska and rocksteady compilations decades later.
Dorothy Russell “You’re the One I Love” wonderful Duke Reid thriller from 1973
Commonly referred to as one of the queens of Jamaica, Dorothy Russell is one of the ladies who made reggae. LISTEN♫ http://bit.ly/1CB7NW3
George Tucker “Woman of the Stump”, George Tucker & The Dust Label, Jamaica
LISTEN♫ https://youtu.be/adqUdtKtNtY
The exceptionally influential Prince Buster “Run Man Run”, Prince Buster Label, Jamaica 1965
LISTEN♫ (actual version) https://youtu.be/8BtSGPo27LA
Prince Buster, synonymous with ska but equally important to rocksteady, is an exceptional talent on both sides of the mixing board and one of Jamaica’s the most influential reggae artists. From Judge Dread to rude reggae, Prince Buster left his imprint across Jamaica's musical landscape, both as a singer and a producer, and over 45 years after he first appeared on the music scene, Prince Buster was still making an impact.
Born Cecil Bustamente Campbell May 28, 1938, the son of a railway worker, Campbell simultaneously pursued two quite separate careers - boxing and singing. An introduction to Coxsone Dodd, not yet a producer, but at the time running a hot sound system in competition to another businessman soon to turn producer, Duke Reid, let to Dodd employing the young singer not for his vocals, but for his fists, as a security guard cum Guy Friday. By 1959, the young Buster understood the sound system business inside and out and set off on his own. He began by opening a record store, Buster's Record Shack, and then set up the Voice of the People sound system.
The next year, producing his debut single, the instrumental "Little Honey," created an immediate sensation, with a sound far removed from the American R&B swamping the sound systems. Prince Buster had basically introduced the classic syncopated rhythm of ska to a voracious Jamaican nation. Prince Buster himself made his recording debut in 1962, releasing a clutch of hits over the year. Prince Buster, as and artist and producer, was releasing so many singles that he set up two new imprints (Islam and Buster Wild Bells) to help with the overflow from his original Voice of the People label. Blue Beat, his U.K. distributor, could barely keep up with the output and over an eight-year period, he released over 600 Prince Buster productions. This works out to approximately two new singles a week produced by Buster, with two new singles of the artist's own hitting the British streets every month. A superstar in Jamaica, he was almost as big in the U.K. Hit after classic hit, a flood of seminal singles was fed into the market, many of which were rounded up on Blue Beat's I Feel the Spirit in 1963.
Fabulous Lloyd Charmers vocal hit “Birth Control” on Splash Records, Jamaica 1969
LISTEN♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhLuVJicVQQ
Born Lloyd Tyrell, Lloyd Charmers' career spans some of the most fertile periods of Jamaica's musical history. From the late 50s Jamaican shuffle R&B and the subsequent ska boom, to the rocksteady and roots reggae of the late '60s and early '70s, Charmers made valuable contributions as a vocalist, session musician and producer. Charmers first broke into the Kingston music scene as a member of the singing duo the Charmers along with vocalist Roy Willis. After scoring a few hits in the late '50s, the group caught the attention of rising producer and future reggae legend Clement "Coxsone" Dodd. Later, having picked up valuable studio experience Charmers launched his own Splash label in the early '70s (he would also release material on the Soul Beat and Wild Flower labels).
Reggae George “Drifter” - Fabulous Steppers cut to the Harry Moody Classic, Jamaica 1978 Flame Records
Fabulous Steppers cut to the Harry Moody Classic by Reggae George “Drifter” on Flame Records, Jamaica 1978. Born George Daley 1950s, Kingston, Jamaica. George initially recorded ‘Babylon Kingdom Fall’ as Prince George - an alias he used only once. His second release, ‘Fig Root’, credited to Reggae George, was produced by Sonia Pottinger for her High Note label. The success of ‘Fig Root’ led to recording sessions with producer Hartnell Henry, featuring Bingi Bunny and Sowell Radics. The most notable release was ‘Read The Bible’, which was followed by ‘Vision’, ‘Stop Push The Fire’ and a version of the classic Dennis Walks hit, ‘Drifter’.
King Oney “Green Green Grass Of Home” Raphael Stewart Records, Jamaica 1970
LISTEN♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1EzZkBQmlM
Fabulous early reggae tune and very hard to find “King Oney, Green Green Grass of Home” on Raphael Stewart Records, Jamaica early 1970s. King Oney also went by the name Raphael Stewart.
Vintage early reggae Peter Austin “Women a Bawl” Original Jamaica 1974 Stud Label
Peter Austin “Women a Bawl”
LISTEN♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHxhBRafNcg
Peter Austin was an original member of The Clarendonians, a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Jamaica, active initially when he and Fitzroy "Ernest" Wilson came together in 1963. Both from Hayes in Clarendon Parish, the duo won several talent contests before coming to the attention of Studio One boss and producer Clement Dodd, while they were still in their early teens. Dodd took the duo into the studio, and recorded a series of chart-toppers in Jamaica, that helped to define the "rude boy" era of ska, alongside the other (initially less successful) young vocal group that Dodd was working with, The Wailers.
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