Dub / Reggae: An Idiot's Guide

what was most eye-opening, so far, has been the linval thompson songs. blood gonna run is unbelievable. should'a played it during "occupy" protests! no, wait . . . well, maybe.

haha

there is more where that came from in Linval's catalog

also, glad people are digging the mix!

compiling it I was kinda struck by how little certain deejays got into this style - Dillinger definitely did it, but that was the lone I-Roy cut that I could find that felt like it fit. U-Roy never did this kind of thing afaict.

i've kind of been digging big youth's style a LOT lately

interesting you mention the deejays, because your mixtape reminds me that -- in many respects -- "toasting" isn't my thing. there's something about the vocal tics that go with the style, e.g., the almost slurred vocal delivery and speaking/singing over the original material, that doesn't appeal to me. but (a) when i like it, i like it a lot; (b) i can see where the format is perfect for the niche you wanted to explore, and (c) it turns out that some of the people labelled as "toasters" (or, i guess, deejays) don't sound much like the typical style, e.g., the yabby you song on your mixtape, which sounds more like a straightforward reggae singer.

man, some of the discoveries on this mixtape -- e.g., linval thompson's blood gonna run; yabby you's walls of jerusalem; willie williams' armageddon time; rod taylor's jah jah is calling; keith hudson's jonah -- are beyond amazing.

that whole Yabby You album is insanely good

http://dreadinababylon.com/images/Yabby_You_-_Chant_Down_Babylon_Kingdom-Vinyl-%20F.jpg

I have heard one Linval Thompson song,and it is one of my favorites of all time; apparently I need Shakey's mix

i'm just totally struck by how many reggae artists i know without knowing a lot individual names. i never heard of linval thompson but when i listened to the mix i'm like "oh yea, the guy who sings jah jah is the conqueror." i have so many reggae albums that depending on whether it's a dub album or a toaster album or the singer/band's album they are all labeled and credited differently, so it can be hard to know who created the original tune.

I have heard one Linval Thompson song,and it is one of my favorites of all time; apparently I need Shakey's mix

― Reality, that incessant contrarian (Drugs A. Money), Friday, March 14, 2014

the blood & fire linval thompson comp is a must-have.

shakey, i've never even heard of that yabby you before. is it out of print? can't see it on itunes, for instance.

no idea. Roots Archive notes it was also issued as "King Tubby meets Vivian Jackson" and has this alternate sleeve
http://www.roots-archives.com/artwork/albums/thumbs/7765.jpg

I think I got it from a random d/l somewhere

and yeah he is more like a singer than U-Roy-style toaster

King Tubby Meets Vivian Jackson is the alternate title for Yabby You's second (I think) album Walls of Jerusalem. A lot of it's on Jesus Dread, but not that track.

Which I guess is also the same as that Chant Down Babylon Kingdom LP above.

these actual versions are on jesus dread? not saying they're not; i just don't remember it that way.

Jamaican releases are super fucking confusing.

otm

Yes songs from this LP are on Jesus Dread on the second disc.

The first disc is Conquering Lion and versions/dubs of that record. Second is the bits of second Yabby You record and versions/dubs and various Prophet, Wayne Wade cuts.

Walls Of Jerusalem / Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Jerusalem Dub / King Tubby's
The chilling opening track to the powerful album of the same name - also released under
the title 'Vivian Jackson Meets King Tubby'. Yabby's heartfelt lyric on the crucifixion is
made more moving by its complete lack of ambiguity. The dub shows why Tubby shared
credits on the album.

King Pharaoh's Plague discomix / The Prophets & Trinity
Plague of Horn / Tommy McCook
King Pharaoh Dub / King Tubby's
Jesus Dread / Trinity meets Dillinger
Far too many discomix releases were little more than cynical attempts to run seven inches
worth of music onto twelve inches, at an exorbitant price. Not the case here; it's difficult
to believe that this was actually the official B-side. Yabby You and Trinity sing out as if
their very lives depended on it - 'alright, alright, alright'. As if that wasn't enough, a
previously-unreleased sax cut keeps up the pace, ushering in a further dub mix from
Tubby and taken from the 'Walls Of Jerusalem' album. The last cut of this great rhythm
has Trinity (and Dillinger) enthusiastically endorsing the power of the Yabby You sound,
and testifying to its popularity on London's reggae scene in the mid-seventies. 'Natty
humble in a Four Aces club, natty humble in a Noreik'.

Chant Down Babylon Kingdom discomix / The Prophets & Trinity
Chanting Dub / King Tubby's
Hornsman Chant / Tommy McCook
The A-side of the aforementioned 12" discomix, and a real tour-de-force for all involved.
The dub track is from the 'Walls Of Jerusalem' showcase LP; Tommy McCookís tough sax
version is previously unreleased. Each cut stands on its own merits, but the cumulative
strength of vocal, deejay, dub and instrumental workouts is quite awesome.

Fire In A Kingston / Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Fire Dub / King Tubby's
Yabby tours the war zones that were Kingston's ghettos in the election year of 1976; the
rhythm was played by Sly & Robbie at Channel One. Both cuts appeared on 45 and on the
'Walls Of Jerusalem' album

So four of the six vocals in either full length or discomix format and four of the six dubs as well.

Lol I mean amusingly EVEN in the sleeve notes they refer to the same album by two different names.

And neither are the name above Chant Down Babylon Kingdom. (o_O)

Jamaican releases are super fucking confusing.

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Friday, March 14, 2014

Either way all those tracks are fucking amazing. Jesus Dread is one my favorite B&F releases.

Also like that there is grammatical error on King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson...

i gotta re-explore jesus dread. i know i've said that before. it gets lost among a lot of other releases. another thing i recall about jesus dread is that it's really only a handful of instrumental tracks, maybe with yabby you laying different vocals on top of it? that made it a bit harder for me to get into the album, i think.

Well the same songs are versioned a bunch but those versions are mostly killer so I don't get complaining about it. There's no lack of vocals on either disc either (Yabby You or various toasters or eventually proteges like Michael Prophet and Wayne Wade).

I mean all five of these share the same backing but you won't hear me complaining:

Jah Vengeance / Vivian Jackson & the Sons of Jah
Revenge / Tommy McCook
Freshly / Dillinger
Natty Dread On The Mountain Top / Tappa Zukie
Gwan & Lef' Me / Trinity
Tubby's Vengeance / King Tubby's

Or counting either since uh that's six tracks.

so, the linval thompson album where blood gonna run and money money come from appears to be african princess, with songs recorded from 1975 -- 1983, but mostly from 1975 -- 1976. it's available on itunes, but there's almost no real information floating around the web on the album.

anyone heard it/have opinions on it? i love those two songs immensely, and the rest of the songs on the disc (from the snippet samples) seem to be working in a similar vein.

I got both tracks off a vinyl album called Cool Down on Clocktower Records.

digging this. "country-reggae"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl6jnIW2OA0

Another shout for Dub Landings.

i've listened to shakey's blood gonna run mixtape far more than any other album this year. it's so great. i've even come to love some of the toasters, and that's not normally my thing at all. the big-youth tracks crackle with revolutionary energy. i wish shakey would put together a vol. 2, if there's enough tracks to make it work.

Oh go on

Second volume wouldnt be too difficult but would have to wait a little while

Oh go on

― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, March 20, 2014

seriously. my 13 year old daughter -- whose normal fare is bruno mars and lady ga ga -- said she had the song, blood gonna run stuck in her head. that's amazing to me.

she did roll her eyes when she heard me say that big-youth line, "certain place on king street they say there is a car bomb. so it is, baby."

that big-youth line works better coming from him than from a 46 year old commercial litigator.

yah this is good shakes

My girls at under 10 used to get and ask for Congos tunes all the time. Watta la la bom bom etc... it is hard to believe that anyone with ears could not be smitten with the mighty Congos.

plenty of people are unimpressed with that record. see, e.g., omar, outdoor_miner and sam 500, way up-thread.

i love heart of the congos, but de gustibus non est disputandum.

Right ok. Thats puzzling to me. Some of the discussion above linked it to Absynnians , Techniques, Mighty Diamonds etc - I always regard these fine groups as closely linked with a certain kind of American soul music - mainly Curtis and the Impressions I suppose - who I love. So maybe not liking The Congos is some kind of extension of not liking that sort of sound. Heart of the Congos just seems like such a sweet feel good classic, not liking it seems to me like not accepting joy. Who are these dark, leaden souls? But yep I guess there is no accounting for taste. Or heavy metals inside dreary bodies.

No ad hominem intended. Just got slightly baffled by my own lack of empathy and then subsequently caught in the flash dramatic eddy of where the words ended up.

heart of the congos is good but i feel like i haven't spent enough time with it. there are a bunch of other reggae albums/tunes that i go to instead

seriously. my 13 year old daughter -- whose normal fare is bruno mars and lady ga ga -- said she had the song, blood gonna run stuck in her head. that's amazing to me.

she did roll her eyes when she heard me say that big-youth line, "certain place on king street they say there is a car bomb. so it is, baby."

― Daniel, Esq 2, Thursday, March 20, 2014 7:01 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that big-youth line works better coming from him than from a 46 year old commercial litigator.

― Daniel, Esq 2, Thursday, March 20, 2014 7:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha, that line is definitely Big Youth at his coolest, I totally get the temptation to try it. I haven't downloaded this yet. is Big Youth's "Is Dread in a Babylon" on this? the super long "dreeeeaaaaaad" on that song is the zenith of roots deejaying for me

Right ok. Thats puzzling to me. Some of the discussion above linked it to Absynnians , Techniques, Mighty Diamonds etc - I always regard these fine groups as closely linked with a certain kind of American soul music - mainly Curtis and the Impressions I suppose - who I love. So maybe not liking The Congos is some kind of extension of not liking that sort of sound. Heart of the Congos just seems like such a sweet feel good classic, not liking it seems to me like not accepting joy. Who are these dark, leaden souls? But yep I guess there is no accounting for taste. Or heavy metals inside dreary bodies.

― Hinklepicker, Friday, March 21, 2014

don't get me wrong. i think heart of the congos is one of best records ever, of any genre. but ymmv.

catching up on this thread after too long:

i really like a lot of the jolly brothers.

this is perhaps a little feeble, but I find the yearning, resolute, and slightly mysterious sentiment 'In reality, I and I will overcome' very affecting and sweet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Ot4jvkcyw

haven't heard the LP, just the Larks from the Ark compilation.

prince alla is great - got into him by listening the fuck out of the Iration Steppas remix of Lot's Wife on some Blood & Thunder compilation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Ot4jvkcyw

the super long "dreeeeaaaaaad" on that song is the zenith of roots deejaying for me

Yes! Gives me a chill down my spine every time I hear it, without fail. both haunting and full of power at the same time - and that's a great combination (touched more frequently by reggae than other music I think).

Mining the sweet rare reggae music site, and just dl'd Shakey Mo's mixtape, which I'm v much looking fwd to - now off into town to collect my bike and to listen to a load of reggae :)

ffs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb6zmaLQ690

another nice thing shakey's mix did is remind me that there's more to many of these artists' catalogs than what's selected for inclusion in career-retrospective discs, even discs from trusted labels. for instance, i only know most of the toasters from what i've heard on blood & fire comps. the mix encouraged me to seek out full albums, from i-roy and big-youth, on itunes. very glad i did.

Mining the sweet rare reggae music site.

― Fizzles, Saturday, March 22, 2014

great site, but looks like its been dormant since mid-december. hope it will remain active.