Kingston Sounds Reggae & Dancehall 17 Items

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

Jamaican love songs always came across as heartfelt poetry whether they conveyed a broken heart, unrequited love or even the message ‘it’s all over don’t bother to come back’ anecdotes. But whatever the mood the singers of these songs were so good and versatile that putting such subject matter over in a few verses was always so moving and believable. Jamaican love songs were a constant in the ever evolving sounds and journey’s that reggae music took us on, from ska to rocksteady to the early reggae sounds of the late 1960’s early 1970’s. We have complied a great selection of songs that all deal with that timeless subject matter. Max Romeo’s heartfelt ‘Sometimes’ opens our set in fine style, known more for his roots singing this song proves what a great singer he is. The Melodians a great Jamaican vocal group are featured here with ‘Best Girl’. The Sensations provide us with our title track ‘Born To Love You ‘and the theme for this compilation a great rocksteady tune with fantastic harmonies. Alton Ellis gives us the soulful ‘Room Full Of Tears’. Ken Boothe provides us with his rendition of Dennis Brown’s ‘Money In My Pocket’ the ode that money cannot buy you everything. Cornell Campbell sings one of his most overlooked classic songs with his prideful `She Wears My Ring’. The great singer of love songs himself Mr John Holt tells us that we should all `Reconsider’, before giving up on love and a great lost singer Monty Morris gives us two great examples of how to find love in `Do It My Way’ and `Magic Moments’. A great selection delivered as only Jamaica can do with style and feeling…….

Hope you enjoy the set …greetings from Jamaica… love songs for all…

Tapper Zukie still asking the questions and stating the facts that few artists of his calibre would attain to.His classic Dee-Jay style has been copied by many but bettered by few.Over some of his killer rhythms that he previously worked up while producing fellow roots groups such as ‘Prince Allah’, ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Junior Ross and the Spears’. Alongside some fresh rhythms, he has taken these as a backbone to some further questions and biblical reasoning that needed answering. Tapper tells it as it is on this mighty collection of tunes put together under the name ’X is Wrong’. This is the first time this set of remarkable tracks have seen a proper release only previously being available as a download from Tapper’s website. A great set of songs that finally get the release they deserve…. Hope you enjoy the set….

Jackie Edwards voice can be heard on hundreds of Ska, R&B, Soul, Rocksteady records. In fact, all the incarnations that reggae revolved into. He was at the birth of Island Records and his distinctive soulful voice has rightly given him the moniker of the original Cool Ruler.

Jackie Edwards (b Wilfred Edwards, 1938, Jamaica) was a renowned singer from the early days and by 1959 had presented future Island Records owner Chris Blackwell with two outstanding tunes. The first a sentimental ballad ‘Your Eyes Are Dreaming’ and a Latin-Beat tune ‘Tell Me Darling’. His song writing skills were in much demand and his popularity of such importance that when Chris Blackwell went to London in 1962 to set up his future record company Island Records, he took his top balladeer with him. This was to pay dividends when a UK group Blackwell had signed the Spencer Davis Group released two of Jackie Edwards compositions “Keep On Running’’ and “Somebody Help Me’’. Which topped the British Charts in 1966 and were important early cornerstones in the future success in the Island Records story.

We have compiled some of Jackie Edwards finest tunes including his own version of the fore-mentioned big hit “Keep On Running’’, the sublime “Who Told You So’’ , “Get Up’’, the cutting edge ‘’Johnny Your A Gun Man’’ and the title track to this album “Peaceful Man’’ which we named him after. All great tunes in different reggae styles but all sung to perfection.

Tapper Zukie after taking a little time out of the musical arena has come back with an album full of great material and has called in an A list of fellow Jamaican artists to add flavour to this great set. As Tapper named the album himself ‘Bunker Buster’ it shows Mr Zukie busting back out of the studio and back in the arena in fine style.

The opening track finds his long-standing working partner Horace Andy adding his distinctive vocal style to ‘Aquarius’. ‘Nuh Fraid A Dem’ features the great Luciano, ‘The Blessings’ the mighty Michael Rose, and Little Roy adds some magical rhymes to ‘Wicked’. The soulful voice of Beres Hammond sweetens the effects of `Stress’. The killer title track `Buster Bunker’ is backed up by the Musical Intimidators and Tapper has reworked his ‘Good Luck My Friend’ track to ‘Lucky Friend’ which features the timeless backing vocals by the legendary Jamaican vocal group The Tamlins. Digging even deeper into his back catalogue he has also pulled up some classic rhythms and more existing vocals to rework over. For example, ‘The Light In Me’ features the greatly missed Ronnie Davis. Junior Rass adds his mighty roar to ‘Humble Lion’ and Junior Reid leads the charge on ‘Warrior’. Half Pint adds a musical layer to Flesh and Blood. All in all a great selection of musical ideas that also features the cream of Jamaica’s musicians, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Flabba Holt, Chinna Smith to name but a few. Tapper’s son Noel Barnes (aka Brand New) alongside Pam Hall adds some gloss to the CD edition of this release.

Such is his standing in the reggae community that a call out to Jamaica’s finest set of singers and their eager reply to add their talents has made this an album not to be missed and can sit proudly alongside and find a place in his already prodigious catalogue.

Hope you enjoy the set

Jamaican love songs always came across as heartfelt poetry whether they conveyed a broken heart, unrequited love or even the message ‘it’s all over don’t bother to come back’ anecdotes. But whatever the mood the singers of these songs were so good and versatile that putting such subject matter over in a few verses was always so moving and believable.

Tapper Zukie still asking the questions and stating the facts that few artists of his calibre would attain to.His classic Dee-Jay style has been copied by many but bettered by few.Over some of his killer rhythms that he previously worked up while producing fellow roots groups such as ‘Prince Allah’, ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Junior Ross and the Spears’.

The period of 1967 – 1968 when Rocksteady was in full flow, would also be a turning point for Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee, when he became a producer in his own right. Many of the great tunes during this eventful year came out of his stable and initially saw the light of day on his own imprint label ‘Lee’s’. This album has been assembled from some of those fine tunes and tells the story of reggae in what was a stellar time for both reggae and Mr Bunny Lee.

Orange Street, Kingston, Jamaica the epicentre of the Reggae world.

The ‘3000 Volts of Holt’ album was the third in a series of records that launched John Holt into the UK charts in the 1970’s. To say that every home had a copy of a 1000 Volts and many 2000 Volts of Holt might be an overstatement but it certainly felt that way, as all good radio stations and parties seemed to have these tracks on permanent rotation.’3000 Volts of Holt’ was the more roots sounding of the three albums but still carried that sweetened string sound that set these recordings together.

Tapper Zukie’s ‘Black Man’ album originally came out in 1978 as a Jamaican only release on Tapper’s’ Stars imprint. Long deleted it has become a classic in Mr Zukie’s vast cannon of musical biscuits and is well overdue this worldwide release for the first time.

Junior Ross and The Spears are another great Jamaican Roots group that have been nurtured under the guidance of fellow Jamaican, producer and singer Tapper Zukie.Who not only gave the singer and his band their name but recorded, produced and released their records on his own ‘Stars’ imprint label.

The Sound of Studio One can be identified by the great singers that it cultivated along the many great songs that these singers released. But as studio 1’s dominance was slowly pulled away by the up and coming new breed of producers many of the artists would inevitably end up working for these new camps and so the songs and singers found a new audience. The reggae sound of the Studio 1 would make a great combination and the man to pull this was together Bunny Lee.
The 1960’s in Jamaica was run by two main factions, Coxsonne’s Studio 1 and Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle. These two leading protagonists saw what some of the other great Sound System men like ‘ Tom The Great Sebastian’ had not taken onboard, that when the tunes they imported began to dry up from the USA, their future lied in producing music. Tunes that suited the musical styles that the people of Jamaica still enjoyed. By the late 1960’s thse supremacy was being challenged by the up and coming new producers on the scene, Lee Perry being one, and the other being ‘Ghost of the Studios’ himself, Bunny Lee. Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee may have inherited the moniker ‘Striker’ from his liking of a particular TV show called ‘The Hitch-Hiker’, but it would soon stand also for the considerable hits he would obtain as he was declared producer of the year in Jamaica in 1969, 1970,1971 and 1972.
For this release, we have compiled many of the great Studio hits that Bunny Lee recorded with the singers that had originally cut at the famed Studio 1. Bunny Lee’s sprinkling of magic over some classic tunes….the sound of Studio 1 backed up this time Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee’s set of star musicians The Aggravators. Proving you can’t keep a good tune down, or a great producer pushing forward…..Bunny Lee strikes back….
Hope you enjoy the set…..

The early Reggae sound that came out of Jamaica between the years 1968 and 1971 became the soundtrack to the skinhead movement in the UK. Not only was the music embraced but also the dress style of the Jamaican Rude Boys.

The skinhead style started around 1968 and by the following year 1969, had become the style and fashion of the British teenagers. The uniform of the skinheads consisted of boots, braces, button down shirts and jeans and the upbeat reggae sounds seemed to match the style perfectly. The tempo of the music in Jamaica had previously slowed down from the more up tempo beat of Ska to the calmer pace of beat called Rock Steady. Some say this was to match the extreme heat wave that was hitting the island between 1966 and 1968. But that period had now passed and the evolution of the Reggae beat had again found a new pulse to hang its songs by. A more up tempo beat that all Jamaicans, British youths and various pockets of people around the world could groove to.

We have selected a cross section of tunes from those heady times, so sit back and enjoy some of the tunes the youths were listening to when the Skinhead Shuffle was all the rage. Hope you enjoy the set….

Gregory Isaacs (b.15 July 1951, Kingston, Jamaica) the Cool Ruler as he became known, grew up in the ghetto district of Kingston Jamaica. His influences lay not only in the American singers he heard on the radio such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, but also local singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, and John Holt. His debut release ‘Another Heartache’ was recorded for producer Winston Sinclair and was released under Winstons’ name in the U.K. This saw Gregory move on to work with producer Rupie Edwards forming a vocal group called The Concords alongside two local singers Bramwell and Penros Releasing ‘Buttoo’, I Need Your Loving’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Suffer’ as a trio on Rupies’ Success label. Then as a solo artist with ‘Far Beyond The Valley’, ‘Too Late’ and ‘Black and White’. The latter track becoming a big hit in the U.K. for the group Greyhound. Gregory Isaacs always had his sights on forming his own label which he did in 1972 alongside Errol Dunkley, called African Museum. Working out of his record shop of the same name on Chancery Lane in Kingston town itself. Gregory carried on working with various other producers throughout his career,work that helped fund his own label. One of these producers was Tappa Zukie.

Tappa Zukie (b.1956 , David Sinclair, Kingston, Jamaica.) was also raised in the rough and tough areas of Kingston Jamaica, and very much like Gregory Isaacs found music as a way out of the tough environment in which he was surrounded. Music seemed like the only way out of a life of crime and gang culture. A path that Tappa Zukie found and by the mid 1970’s was establishing himself as a named star on the DJ Roots circuit. Back home in Jamaica he was also getting a name for his production work for other local singers such as Prince Allah and the group Knowledge. To release his own productions, like Gregory Isaacs, he formed his own label called `Tappa Records’. These two artists working

together was a match made in heaven and resulted in this set of songs.

Nine of these songs originally saw the light of day in 1988 released on Tappa Zukie’s `Tappa Records’ initially called ‘Red’. We had added some additional material also produced by Mr Zukie around the same time to expand that release and make their work together more of a complete story. The CD edition of this release carries the version sides to ‘Tickle Me’ and ‘One Man Against The World’. The title track of this release seems to suit Mr Isaacs stance perfectly. A great set of songs worked by two of the great names in reggae. Songs that we think deserve to be put out again to enjoy.

This follow up album to Tapper Zukies `Bunker Buster’ set, sees Tapper again rally calling his fellow reggae singers to work up some great songs. This group of tunes lean towards a more soulful sound, yet still holding that reggae feel we know and expect from Mr Zukie. The title itself `A Soulful Chant I’ we felt suited this set of songs perfectly .

The roll call of great singers starts with Prince Alla adding his distinctive feel to the opening track `Children Don’t Cry’. `Heaven On Earth’ features Junior Ross on vocal duties. `Poverty’ is richly enhanced by one of Jamaica’s greatest vocal bands, Silvertones. Tapper himself follows with the thoughtful `Man-A-Man’ and another great reggae trio the Viceroys counter with `Help Me’. Dennis Walks guides us with `I Wanna Go’ and Junior Ross appears again with the timeless `Be On The Right Track’. Mr Zukie points the way on `People of Love’ and Prince Alla insures us that right will always overcome wrong doing with `Good Over Evil’. A favourite of ours `That Was The Day’ again song so majestically by the Viceroys leads us into the Silvertones `Magic Touch’. Little Roy leads us out with `Youth In The Ghetto’.

Hope you enjoy the set.