Jump to content

Any early reggae fans in here?


Brandon Burke

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 68
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Club Ska:

http://www.reggae-reviews.com/clubska.html

Sir Lord Comic

"Adam and Eve went up my sleeve and they never came down til Chrismas Eve. tell dem!"

Skatalites

Guns of Navaronne

Intensified Original Ska: 1962-1966

http://www.multikulti.se/rekcd/america/car...ntensified.html

More Intensified Original Ska: 1963-1967

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w2ja7i58g75r

Dr. Kildare

Man in the Street

Six and Seven Books of Moses

Lucky Seven

Emergency Call for Dr. Ring Ding

The Great Wuga Wuga

Dick Tracy

Train to Skaville (where you hear that the vowel for the a in ska was not originally pronounced by the musicians themselves as it is now; they themselves pronounced it more like the a in satellite)

Great stuff!

Edited by It Should be You
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

I recently picked up a great reggae compilation, and the standout track is an instrumental called "Surfin'" by a guitarist named Ernest Ranglin. It's as if a Wes Montgomery disciple decided to play reggae, simply awesome. I'll be looking for full-length albums by this guy, no question.

Ernest Ranglin :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently picked up a great reggae compilation, and the standout track is an instrumental called "Surfin'" by a guitarist named Ernest Ranglin.  It's as if a Wes Montgomery disciple decided to play reggae, simply awesome.  I'll be looking for full-length albums by this guy, no question.

Hi Noj,

Yeah, Ernest Ranglin has been laying down some GREAT grooves for many years! He came out with a 2-CD set a little while ago called "Ska Way 'Dat"... there should be some samples floating around the 'net. You should be able to pick this up (and other titles by him) for cheap over at Amoeba. I think I found it new and mispriced for $8.00... not bad for a 2CD set!

Ernest has played with virtually EVERY major ska/reggae artist, and has had his share of work in the jazz world as well (played with Monty Alexander for a spell). I'm a huge fan of his!

Cheers,

Shane

Edited by Indestructible!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The jazz and reggae worlds are quite similar in that a finite amount of session men played on those classic sessions. So you get varying arrangements of the same 40-or-so players; some of which were colossal greats, others underappreciated, and still more who can surprise you at times.

Also like jazz, in the early years of reggae you basically had three or four engineers running the whole show--each with their own style. (Think of comparisons between RVG and...say...Tom Dowd. Only in reggae it's the Coxsone sound versus Joe Gibbs, etc. )

Jamaican music is fascinating for so many reasons...

[EDIT: I strayed from my original point...the musicians. In the jazz world you have several sets of guys who just *clicked*, regardless of whose session it was. Herbie Hancock and Anthony Williams, for example. Or Jackie McLean and Billy Higgins. I don't know..you could name a million. Reggae has its own pockets as well--Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare being the most famous example. Adding person X or person Y to the mix, however, is where things get interesting...]

Edited by Brandon Burke
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently picked up a great reggae compilation, and the standout track is an instrumental called "Surfin'" by a guitarist named Ernest Ranglin.  It's as if a Wes Montgomery disciple decided to play reggae, simply awesome.  I'll be looking for full-length albums by this guy, no question.

Hi Noj,

Yeah, Ernest Ranglin has been laying down some GREAT grooves for many years! He came out with a 2-CD set a little while ago called "Ska Way 'Dat"... there should be some samples floating around the 'net. You should be able to pick this up (and other titles by him) for cheap over at Amoeba. I think I found it new and mispriced for $8.00... not bad for a 2CD set!

Ernest has played with virtually EVERY major ska/reggae artist, and has had his share of work in the jazz world as well (played with Monty Alexander for a spell). I'm a huge fan of his!

Cheers,

Shane

Thanks Shane, I'm going to hunt that 2cd set down! :tup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently picked up a great reggae compilation, and the standout track is an instrumental called "Surfin'" by a guitarist named Ernest Ranglin.  It's as if a Wes Montgomery disciple decided to play reggae, simply awesome.  I'll be looking for full-length albums by this guy, no question.

Hi Noj,

Yeah, Ernest Ranglin has been laying down some GREAT grooves for many years! He came out with a 2-CD set a little while ago called "Ska Way 'Dat"... there should be some samples floating around the 'net. You should be able to pick this up (and other titles by him) for cheap over at Amoeba. I think I found it new and mispriced for $8.00... not bad for a 2CD set!

Ernest has played with virtually EVERY major ska/reggae artist, and has had his share of work in the jazz world as well (played with Monty Alexander for a spell). I'm a huge fan of his!

Cheers,

Shane

Thanks Shane, I'm going to hunt that 2cd set down! :tup

There's a few recent Ranglin albums worth looking for on Island/Palm a couple with Sly and Robbie. not early or ska but lovely rich sounds

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right on fent99, thanks! It will be cool to hear more from Ranglin, that "Surfin'" track has instantly become a favorite. CDUniverse has the full-length disc available with audio samples:

Ernest Ranglin - Surfin'

EDIT: Actually, the version of "Surfin'" I have is different from the one on this album. The one I have is superior!

Edited by Noj
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The jazz and reggae worlds are quite similar in that a finite amount of session men played on those classic sessions.  So you get varying arrangements of the same 40-or-so players; some of which were colossal greats, others underappreciated, and still more who can surprise you at times. 

Also like jazz, in the early years of reggae you basically had three or four engineers running the whole show--each with their own style.  (Think of comparisons between RVG and...say...Tom Dowd.  Only in reggae it's the Coxsone sound versus Joe Gibbs, etc. ) 

Jamaican music is fascinating for so many reasons...

[EDIT: I strayed from my original point...the musicians.  In the jazz world you have several sets of guys who just *clicked*, regardless of whose session it was.  Herbie Hancock and Anthony Williams, for example.  Or Jackie McLean and Billy Higgins.  I don't know..you could name a million.  Reggae has its own pockets as well--Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare being the most famous example.  Adding person X or person Y to the mix, however, is where things get interesting...]

Brandon, you're always brimming over with valuable information, and I appreciate it! :tup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Continuing along the Chinese-Jamaican thing.....It's worth noting that one of the biggest early reggae producers was a Chinese-Jamaican named Leslie Kong. His most famous production was "The Isrealites" by Desmond Dekker, featured prominently in the film The Harder They Come.  Here's the link.....

c573991n12g.jpg

King Kong Compilation

Another lesser known, but important Chinese-Jamaican producer was Herman Chin-Loy. He loved jazz, and is notable (among other things) for producing the first recording by Augustus Pablo. Pressure Sounds (a great label), just released this awesome compilation:

PS45.jpg

Aquarius Rock

I brought this thread up, because I'm listening to the great compilation on Blood & Fire, Yabby You: Jesus Dread (1972-1977). It doesn't really fit into the original thread title, but I figure if we start more than one reggae thread on the board, people might get a little antsy. :P In any case, this stuff is fantastic - 2 discs worth of original tracks, versions, and instrumental takes. Absolutely crucial roots stuff... you can hear the vibe being stripped down, totally spiritual and musically on point.

Thought maybe we could revive the thread and spark some more discussion beyond just ska and rocksteady (or we can keep talking about that, too!). I've been listening to more reggae, African, hip hop, soul and other stuff than jazz in the last few months - probably while all my recent posts are on those topics. Jazz has been, and always will be first, but I go through phases where I get really deep into other genres as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

Loved reading this old thread. After an evening of listening to avant-garde, straight-ahead, and classic jazz, I was ready for something else, so right now I've got on Jazz in Jamaica (Treasure Island). Not jazz, really, but instrumental R & B, ska, and rock steady from 1960 to 1967. I love Jamaican music from this era and for about ten years afterwards. Later stuff doesn't speak to me as much, but that probably has to do more with my age than with the music itself. Jazz in Jamaica features Don Drummond, Roland Alphonso, Baba Brooks, and the rest of the Skatalites together and in various settings. Easy skankin'!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Club Ska:

http://www.reggae-reviews.com/clubska.html

Sir Lord Comic

"Adam and Eve went up my sleeve and they never came down til Chrismas Eve. tell dem!"

Skatalites

Guns of Navaronne

Intensified Original Ska: 1962-1966

http://www.multikulti.se/rekcd/america/car...ntensified.html

More Intensified Original Ska: 1963-1967

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:w2ja7i58g75r

Dr. Kildare

Man in the Street

Six and Seven Books of Moses

Lucky Seven

Emergency Call for Dr. Ring Ding

The Great Wuga Wuga

Dick Tracy

Train to Skaville (where you hear that the vowel for the a in ska was not originally pronounced by the musicians themselves as it is now; they themselves pronounced it more like the a in satellite)

Great stuff!

Intensified, More Intensified, and Club Ska '67 were my introduction to ska. Intensified was issued in the U.S. on Mango; the others were released in the U.K. on Island.

61DEN0W6EFL._SL500_AA240_.gif

They also had a great rock steady compilation, Catch This Beat. What fun stuff! Great melodies, singing, all the great Skatalites instrumentals, the Melodians singing "This is the last train to Expo '67, are you ready..." And songs like "Rukumbine" by Shenley Duffus - what does that mean??? Also, Mango used these really scratchy 45's, so part of the fun was similar to listening to some of those Charlie Parker bootlegs.

I recently got this through Amazon, haven't listened to it yet:

51PRV0VH89L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Let's Do Rocksteady

Finally, mention must be made of some of those great Ska revival bands of the early '80's. I liked The Selecter:

41E2CV04RDL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've pretty much gone nuts on this stuff since this thread was started. Here's my current playlist of favorites:

Al Campbell - Last Dance

Althea & Donaa - Uptown Top Ranking

Al Brown - Here I Am (Come & Take Me) (Al Green)

Al Brown - Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City (Bobby Blue Bland)

Aswad - Dub Fire

Barrington Levy - Shine Eye Gal

Bob Marley - Jailhouse

Bob Marley - Sun Is Shining

Bob Marley - Rainbow Country

Carlton Livingston - 100 Weight Of Collie Weed

Clement Sir Coxsone Dodd - Bionic Dub

Cornell Campbell - Ten To One (The Impressions)

Cynthia Richards - Foolish Fool

Dawn Penn - You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)

Dennis Brown - Money In My Pocket

Derrick Laro & Trinity - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Michael Jackson)

Dillinger - Dread Called Fred

Dillinger - Cocaine In My Brain

Don Carlos & Captain Sinbad - I'm Not Crazy

Eek-A-Mouse - Wild Like Tiger

Eek-A-Mouse - Wa-Do-Dem

Eric Donaldson - Cherry Oh Baby

The Eternals - Queen Of The Minstrels

Frankie Paul - War Is In The Dance

Frankie Paul - Pass The Tu-Sheng-Peng

Half Pint - One In A Million

Half Pint - Freedom Fighter

Ini Kamoze - World A Music

Jackie Mittoo - Deeper & Deeper (Barry White)

Jackie Mittoo - A Big Car (Be Thankful For What You've Got - William DeVaughn)

Jacob Miller - Westbound Train

John Holt - Youths Pon The Corner

Johnny Osbourne - Fally Ranking

Johnny Osbourne - We Need Love

Keith & Tex - Stop That Train

Keith & Tex - Tonight

Junior Marvin - Police & Thieves

Keith Rowe - Groovy Situation

Ken Boothe - Rivers Of Babylon

Lee "Scratch" Perry - Soul Fire

Lee "Scratch" Perry - Curly Locks

Lee "Scratch" Perry - Roast Fish & Cornbread

Lloyd & Devon - Push Push

Max Romeo - Chase The Devil

The Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number

Michigan & Smiley - Nice Up The Dance

The Mighty Diamonds - Pass The Kutchie

Michael Palmer & Jim Brown - Ghetto Dance

Michael Prophet - Cassandra

Michael Prophet - Gunman

Michael Prophet - Trouble Nobody

Michael Prophet - Just Talking

Papa Michigan & Genera - Dangerous Diseases

The Pioneers - Pusher Man

Prince Douglas - Tribesman Dub

Rita Marley - One Draw

Roots Radics - Dynamic Dub

Sister Nancy - Bam Bam

The Specials - A Message To You Rudy

The Specials & Rico - Ghost Town

Tenor Saw - Ring The Alarm

Tony Tribe - Red Red Wine

The Toyes - Smoke Two Joints

The Upsetters - Closer Together

The Wailers - Steppin' Razor

Winston Hussey - I Wanna Go Home

Yellowman - Zunguzungzungazunguzeng

Yellowman - Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt

I've got hordes of stuff I'm sifting out favorites from. The Studio One and Greensleeves material seems to be particularly strong. So much great music in roots reggae, and tons of excellent covers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuing along the Chinese-Jamaican thing.....It's worth noting that one of the biggest early reggae producers was a Chinese-Jamaican named Leslie Kong. His most famous production was "The Isrealites" by Desmond Dekker, featured prominently in the film The Harder They Come. Here's the link.....

c573991n12g.jpg

King Kong Compilation

I cant recommend that compilation enough.

If you can't find it there is some overlap with the new Harder They Come Soundtrack- Deluxe two disc edition remaster.

Great film, makes a great double bill the other Reggae cult classic film Rockers.

One of my favorite clips from Rockers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

The Justin Yap produced ska stuff was always great - especially the instrumentals. Also the pre-ska Jamaican R&B - people like Theo Beckford. Vocal groups through the rocksteady years - The Maytals, Heptones, Paragons, Sensations etc. Favourite solo vocalists - Ken Boothe (love the way he does vowels) and Laurel Aitken (love the way he does consonants)...

Roland Alphonso on tenor sax - love his records right through the reggae years

LOVE that beatboxy stuff they did - Baba Brooks' Vitamin A a classic for this

Edited by cih
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...