KING JAMMY pt. 1

To do this justice...I'm gonna break up this book report into several parts.



A few straight up facts about this 7x7 inch (exactly the size of a 45 single in its sleeve), one hundred and fifty two page thick soft cover book (the thickness of my pinkie finger.) It is simply the most massive book of it size. So heavy are the contents that it is like trying to move a mountain every time I pick it up to read.
And read it you will. You’ll find yourself casually skimming through it. But mostly you will find yourself deep in research. It is picture packed and full of facts.

Remember these!

It tells the story of a Prince behind the mixing console in the studio of his boss and mentor KING TUBBY. Once this prince left the security of his former employer he re-emerged newly crowned as KING JAMMY. He ruled the 80’s decade, from a humble home studio in the Kingdom known as WATERHOUSE. This neighborhood was just one among many impoverished parishes in and around the capitol city of KINGSTON.
The world may know of TRENCHTOWN through the words of the late reggae ambassador ROBERT NESTA MARLEY but this WATERHOUSE parish can boast of having more talent per square inch than any place on EARTH except maybe the renaissance of HARLEM in the 1920’s.

All the game changing names passed through his studio doors. The singers, the players of instruments and young mixers that became the next generation masters of sound. JAMMY'S was as much an incubator as it was a music studio...it gave birth to the new digital RIDDIM.

More...

WHITE MICE

To answer the who part of the question I asked a few post ago. Who? White Mice.



There is a strong chance ya never heard of him. I knew almost nothing about him and what I do know; I learned only recently. I used to haunt the capitol city's hippest record stores and I was never graced with the presence of his "True Love" LP. The magazine rack had issue after issue of underground rock music but stocked no Reggae magazines. At best you could thumb across a random article on Reggae. I never found a printed word about White Mice. Remember this was pre-internet days. I found out about him from Beth Lessor's mighty King Jammy/Dancehall books. Google him now and you'll be informed by the same variation of the linear notes. He faded away quietly and quickly by his own device. Nobody knows why. If he continued laying down tracks he would definitely been a huge star. With a unique technique he rode some first class riddims. Lyrical content covered serious concerns. Everybody talks about the 70's being the golden era of reggae. A fact I won't refute, but by the end of the decade everybody was building their career from the Bob Marley and the Wailers blueprint. The 80's saw a new architect in King Jammy. The ghetto didn’t wanna make Reggae for white British college kids anymore; they wanted to create a homegrown soundtrack for themselves. Apparently the producer Junior Delgado working at Jammy’s studio baited White Mice with a piece of cheese just long enough to capture a full CD's worth killer tracks. Released on Basic Replay outta Germany.



White Mice was born Allan Crichton and the original vinyl was released on his brother Blemo's Intelitec label based in Miami. While searching for some photographs to cut and paste I came across this info…he resurfaced as Ras Iwa. Maybe it’s him-the intel seemed sketchy.

DREADFUL?

Nah, just not necessarily Ital, only the beginning of modern dancehall is all. I remember when the hour struck the new millinium, (man...ten years have already slipped by!)-that in my infinite wisdom I and I preached that the previous decade was a bleak era for righteous reggae. (the 1985 to 1995 bad man years). A few bright stars were still shining over Jamrock but they were growing dimmer with each passing year. During those dark ages, I falsely believed that talent had become an option because gimmicks were the standard. It was a music machine stamping out the same tune over the same riddim over and over. And then some. Yeah, I was dead wrong.
Was I not listening? Actually I was, I just would not admit it. I blew that snot attitude clear outta my head. Freshly focused and informed that the roots rockers were still marching on Babylon. The Deejays were still reporting from the ghetto yards. Dub infiltrated into mainstream music thanks to London clubs. So what was my generations gripe about? Nothing really. To old school stoned to dig our minds under me sleng teng. I was guilty as charged!
Now looking back, there has never been a bleak era in all things reggae. Never. Every stride REGGAE has taken since its birth is a step towards new golden years. It seems to grow younger with every new decade. That dark aged decade I was mentioning brought us the Tenor Saws, the Johnny Osbournes and the Cocoa Teas. It brought us the Sugar Minotts and Barrington Levys. A fistful of years later, Shabba Ranks would bring reggae back to the world's doorstep. Shaggy wiped his feet on the welcome mat. Maybe the Hip-Hop crossover was sacrilegious. Maybe we thought reggae was no longer our secret. What foolishness! I even remember thinking all those Michael Rose solo albums weren' t that choice only because it was not his Black Uhuru best. Absolute nonsense. Junior Reid dropped the immortal One Blood. Chaka Demus and Pliers blew up all over TV video channels with Murder She Wrote. Then again, you can never go wrong with a Sly and Robbie production. I remember changing my daughters nappies to it. I would not admit it but at the time, I knew all the words to the "sell out" Shabba Ranks's Mr. Loverman.
The Revenge of KING JAMMY'S Super Power Allstars volume 2 is proof that many stars burned bright in Jamrock's late 80's night skies. This set list from the pioneering digital age is pure smokin' Sensi. Side one of disc one starts off with the choice cut Budy Bye from Johnny Osbourne. Wayne Smith's massive classic Under Me Sleng Teng is tune number two. Features a handful of Tenor Saw tunes as well as a handful from his sparring partner, Nitty Gritty. Pumpkin Belly being the big tune from Tenor Saw is third up. Get the picture? I am talking about two discs worth of these classics! For under ten dollars and featuring early hits by Cocoa Tea and even a later hit by Dennis Brown. My ears had been deprived of hearing False Alarm, Nitty's answer to Tenor's Ring the Alarm. This massive collection fixes problems. Get it.