GUN MONEY...

Clint Eastwood

I inherited my Dad’s weapons. A whole arsenal. Twenty-one hand guns and three rifles. He had ‘em stashed everywhere- I guess in case of an ambush. When I was a youth, he had a pair of .22 Derringers hidden up his coat sleeves. My Dad was an Italian cowboy, if there ever was such a thing. He loved Smith and Wesson big caliber revolvers. Yep-he favored old school six-shooters like Clint Eastwood’s weapon of choice. Dad was a connoisseur of .357 and .44 Magnums. All pistols were loaded with hollow points. In that collection were a few 9 millimeters automatics, nothing special, so no love lost when I pawn shopped them. With the gun violence happening on our favorite West Indian Island I figured turning the gun money profit into Roots Reggae music would be Karmic justice.


and Clint Eastwood!

What tunes I traded my bullets in for!



Wake the town and tell the people...



...it is U-ROY rockin' the mic down at KING TUBBY'S sound system!

Okay, first off, U-Roy was not the original DeeJay to toast something wicked over a Dub plate but he was dubbed the "Originator" for he invented a new necessity. U-Roy copped the sly wisecracking style of Count Matchuki and crafted something so slippery that his lyrics would slide straight off the beat. Yep, Ewart Beckford, I mean U-Roy would slide those lyrical messages straight to the back of your unsuspecting subconscious! And you could still shake your ass to it! Within months, imitators sprang up like weeds in JAH'S garden. Not all the copies would choke out the sunlight though... Big Youth and I-Roy would flourish. Even threaten U-Roy's chart domination. But these songs are where the modern DeeJay style was born. Immerse yourself in Roots Rock History.



I do not claim to be an authority on such matters as U-Roy's jumbled discography. (Maybe it is my brain that is jumbled.) Thankfully websites like www.strictly-vibes.com help sort out the mess my memory is in. Jah knows I can not learn anything from reading the inserts. So my nitpicking gripe is with the presentation-all these Virgin/EMI editions have the same generic liner notes. Cheap MF's is what I call 'em. I mean Virgin has released and re-released the same batch of tunes. Damn sure Mr. Ewart Beckford does not see his fair shear of royalties. These 2004 editions are the 1991 remasters pretending to be new editions disguised with different front covers. But that is okay, because the sound is infinitely better than the snap, crackle and pop of my old vinyl.



Stay tuned - I am going to continue to add things up.

Those Crazy Eighties Digital Daze

STAY TUNED ...


The original release

The preset beat that was heard around the world! Well at least where electricity was flowing. The Politicians might be barbaric but it is not a third world nation if the radio is civilized. Right?



The deluxed edition.



Mad? Absolutely warped! Roll up some Rub a Dub Stylee and smoke it till your eyes cross! This record will take the mean right off your face. MAD PROFESSOR started life in Guyana Africa as student Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser. It was in the musical laboratory of London that the underclassman eclipsed his mentors and transformed the science of DUB. His experiments in sound helped usher in a second generation DUB. He created a new monster by being faithful to the traditional studio tricks and by cheating time honored techniques with digital short-cuts. Best way to describe this hybrid is to call it a mixed up old DUB plate plugged into a Atari video arcade machine. MAD PROFESSOR is still creating ethical and experimental ear candy that tastes sweet in the cerebral hemisphere. Just do not drink what is in the test tube.

My first taste

Now that AchisReggae gave my humble little Blog a big up. I need to get learning html speak real quickly. There is a problem though. I am an old dog, and if my lady luck aint all used up, I might be able learn new tricks. Takes the one or two brain cells I got left a few extra minutes to warm up. Maybe if rub ‘em together…
I will use this entry as my official beginning. If you where paying attention, you noticed I already mentioned that my age is old. Pick a number, any number between 45 and death. That is I. A past arrest report stated that I was a Caucasian male. That is what I get for looking suspicious
This Blog will rant and rave about sweet Reggae music. Covering everything from Roots Rockers to the deepest Dub to the slackest Dancehall. I love it all. I may also wander off on some tangent, but trust me; they will be related like kissing cousins.
Reggae records back in the early eighties were hard to come by for most Americans. A few hip record boutiques downtown carried a minor selection, Mostly the Island Record label releases. Blackworst’s label was the biggest independent until Virgin Music caught on. Competition between corporations is good, stimulates the creativity. The two labels were snapping up local JA talent in blinding flash. Great records where being pressed and shipped quicker than you could strip a Chrysler Cordoba. Fans win out this round. In those imported crates, along with the Bob Marley’s big movers came random gambles. “Black Uhuru? Names I never heard of! Cover looks cool though”.
Of course, I would not remain an ignorant MF’er for long.
I would spend every Saturday afternoon scourging the bins. Sometimes unearthing more than I my wallet could sustain. Sometimes the picture was bleak.

In those bins I found these releases. Heaven’s treasure. So here is a list of my first time dozen…



Culture’s International Herb is a high vibe lie low affair. Their sound is the sweet nothings of a lover whispering in your ear. That is if you love blazing the Chalice and chanting down Babylon. Culture’s Joseph Hill was a politician. Not a politician like the barking devil dogs of the Capitalist party. Hill was a Statesman for Jah. Hill was the Keeper Of Zion Gate. This is one of the strongest from the Roots era. Their Two Sevens Clash is a tight second place. Joseph’s son Kenyatta continues walking his late father’s shoes. No numbers necssary. The perfect buzz!



Israel Vibration’s The Same Song was their debut and is still the best place to start. You need it if your gonna pass Go. Sure, the band made up of Apple Gabriel, Skelly and Wiss soldiered on to make more great records, but this first one has all the optimism, innocence and enthusiasm of group that has not yet experienced the ugly of business. Apple split solo after the last dip down. Skelly and Wiss are still keeping the name high. Good stuff. 7.5 out of 10 stars.



The Wailing Soul’s Inchpinchers. The band had been kicking around JA studios for quite some time before scoring international with Inchpinchers. This would be their highest peak chart-wise. Sadly, this Roots Rocker style was nearing the end of its shelf-life. The new trends in dancehall swept most of these bands off the charts. The Wailing Souls refuse to be a dusty old memory and still continue like nothings changed. 7.5 out of 10 stars.



Steel Pulse’s Handsworth revolution. This band sounded completely original. There is a subtle difference to their vibe. They even Thanked and Praised a little differently. Possessed a punks attitude but without the noisy guitar. I at the time had no clue that they were English. Media coverage was scarce in all things JA. The music rags even seemed to gloss over it in favor of the new wave of haircuts. The band was the first-born generation of Jamaican parents who migrated to England after JA’s independence. (A farce of sorts). These folks were led to believe career opportunities waited for them. The JA immigrants filled the dole queue with the rest of England’s disenchanted. This band delivered 4 or 5 albums of unarmed resistance before going radio friendly. Although, David Hinds, the bands big boss is back at it giving Babylon a good fight. 9 out of 10 stars.



Mr David Hinds and his gravity defying locks!



Militant Barry’s Green Valley was the dreadest! Darker than Big Youth. Thicker than I- Roy. Deadlier at the mic than Clint Eastwood. Producer Keith Hudson supplied the murkiest sludge to get your ears stuck in. Bass so wicked your bones felt possessed. This record requires your undivided attention. This needs to be thumped loudly through your speakers. Green Valley was my first DeeJay experience. It blew my mind like the cheap pair of speakers I blasted it through!. Green valley is one of my all time favorites spins. 10 out of 10 stars. The perfect buzz!



Eek-A-Mouse’s Wha Do Dem. What in Babylon is this? Nobody scats that fast! What a wordsmith Mr. Mouse is. Tales for the whole family to enjoy! 9.5 out of 10 stars. A mighty fine buzz!



The remastered CD version with new cover which is the original vinyl's back cover.



Jah Lloyd’s Black Moses. Coming off the heels of the Lee Perry produced Colombia Colly record Jah Lloyd delivered Black Moses like he was being chased by the hounds from Hell. This record is a blistering set of words and music. Dread power, black man power, people power and even the power of suggestion . Virgin Record's top dog Richard Branson got jealusous of Island Records grabbing the lion’s share of the Reggae market, so he sent Johnny Rotten/Lydon of the recently imploded Sex Pistol to Jamaica for some serious cool out and to talent scout. Mr. Rotten signed on the dotted line those artist that scared Island records. 9.5 out of 10 stars. Chronic!

Not quite the promised dozen 'cause my eyes are bugging. Once I focus...

Forty days and forty nights adrift the Black Ark

Lee "Scratch" Perry took the title Upsetter while his contemporiaries chose royal Titles like King Tubby or Prince Jammy. "Scratch" the man is half flesh and half myth. Sometimes the actual person is stranger than the fiction. Lee Perry is a brilliant but maniacal producer of sounds.



This is a whole made of sums. This nicely collects togther choice singles, album sides and dubs from "Scratch" the solo performer and "Scratch" the genious behind the controls. Passengers on his Black Ark may of found themselves bewildered but also found themselves at the top of the charts. Check the names. All seventies superstars! What? Out of print? Morons! Allright, try this one...



This is a great overall sampling of Scratch's legacy.

Disc one begins Scratch's history with head strong but straight forward productions of ska and rocksteady singers. These tunes are great long lost treasures that hopefully will never be buried again.

Disc two is where that outerworldly sound started leaking from Scratch's pysche. This is the Scratch as a genius or certifiable madman emerging! His touch at the controls was as important as the band playing the music.

Disc three is Scratch as Jamaica's Native Son swallowed up into the belly of the beast! He is living in Babylon (America, then Europe). You can accuse Scratch of having an avant-garde approach, maybe because of the bone-chilling cold winters, his touch at the controls changed. Some of this stuff would give the shivers to German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. Like disc two, it still has that outerworldly vibe, only now it is more like a ghost in the machine.



I don't sing to my plants when I water them, I spin Super Ape. To get a jungle you need the Full Experience. Seeps down deep to reach the Underground Root. If you don't own this, your garden won't grow.



There is something so ethereal about this record. It could be Junior's falsetto. It could be that the tracks were looped through Lee Perry's frontal lobes!



Lee Scratch Perry helped Bob find himself vocally, but Lee's hand is all in the band's sound as well. Most Marley fans consider these original versions collected here, to be his and the Wailer's greatest effort. Most of these were later reproduced for Blackwell's label Island and became Reggae standards. Nothing tho, as they say, is better than the original! Includes extra tracks (Upsetter dubs)-all necessary.



Lee Perry's backing band would be thieved away by Bob and rechristened the Wailers. This is a late 70's edition of that band. The long lanky gentleman standing up on the left is Cedric Myton. Which is a nice lead into the next up band...



Cedric's falsetto took this earth rooted harmony trio to the heavens. So perfect was this debut, that everything released after was judged unfairly against it. Everybody wanted more of the same and with Perry absent at the controls for subsequent releases, the Congos moved into other directions. Thankfully, Cedric is still hitting high notes that only dogs can hear!



The VP Records version of the release with a slightly different mix.