Laurel Aitken The High Priest Of Reggae

By the dawn of the seventies, Laurel Aitken was well and truly established as the UK’s top Jamaican singing star. Over the years following his move from Jamaica in 1960 he had acquired a strong and faithful following in Britain and well beyond, but the recent Reggae explosion increased this many times over. Eager to exploit Laurel’s astounding popularity, Pama Records fought off competition from esteemed rivals, Trojan and Doctor Bird, to acquire rights to issue his material, the bulk of which subsequently saw release on their newly launched Nu Beat imprint. By the Spring of 1970, he had provided Pama with series of best-selling singles, and the hugely popular long-player, Scandal in a Brixton market, but with demand for his works showing no signs of diminishing, the company decided to collect a dozen of his most popular sides to date for what became the aptly titled collection, The High Priest Of Reggae. Despite selling in huge numbers at the time, the LP soon became a rarity and this, added to the enduring appeal of Aitken’s work has resulted it becoming one of the most sought after Reggae long-players around. Now, after four decades of waiting for its re-release, fans can finally obtain the LP, with the added incentive of 4 bonus tracks from those 69 sessions. Dust off your pork pie hats and fedoras and enjoy the 'madness'.