Growing In My Backyard

Sun is shining, bass is booming, rhythm is rocksteady...must be be another Sunday reggae and dub session.

Hometown rockers Talisman get things off to a superb start with the 11-minute 12" mix of Dole Age, originally a vinyl side in 1981, introduced to a whole new audience (me included) with the excellent 2011 compilation The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983. An essential purchase.

From there, it's a mix of 20th and 21st century sounds. The latter is represented by all-female combo Tight Spot with an unreleased song discovered and released by Happy People Records on 7" vinyl in 2021. An album highlight of the same year was Clarion Call by Xan Tyler and Mad Professor, delivering sharp lyrics with sweet rhythms. Rhoda Dakar delivers a David Bowie classic with aplomb, offering up a dubbed out version on the flipside. And three legends come together, with Horace Andy teaming up with Sly & Robbie for a modern dub colossus.

There's a brief stop in the 1990s to witness Benjamin Zephaniah and The Hazardous Dub Company with a cautionary tale that sadly resonates three decades later.

Back then to the 1970s and 1980s, a veritable who's who of reggae, lovers rock and dub legends, with Bob Marley & The Wailers versus a pre-'Scratch' Lee Perry, Louisa Mark, Tapper Zukie, Sylvia Tella and King Tubby dubbing up Yabby You. 

 

In 2021, Happy People also offered up a deep cut vinyl 7" by G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars. Remembered as the first white group to attempt an authentic reggae sound on record, their self-titled debut in 1974 closed with a version of Bob Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door. Sound familiar? Well, this guy had a hit with an 'inspired' version less than a year later...

Ending the selection the only way possible, Black Uhuru sing the praises of Sinsemilla, the title track of their third album from 1980 and the record that crossed over to a global audience. Michael Rose, Sharon 'Puma' Jones and Derrick 'Duckie' Simpson telling it how it is, Sly & Robbie laying it down. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

1) Dole Age (12" Mix By Talisman & UK Scientist aka Richard Grassby-Lewis): Talisman (1981)

2) Air Tight (Version By Spero Anthony): Tight Spot (2003)

3) Like Birds: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor (2021)

4) Spell (Album Version By Lloyd Charmers & Maxi Million): Sylvia Tella (1981)

5) The Man Who Dubbed The World (Cover of David Bowie): Rhoda Dakar (2022)

6) I'm Alive Dub: Horace Andy + Sly & Robbie (2006)

7) Allies (Album Version By Dr. Love & Dennis Rootical): Benjamin Zephaniah & The Hazardous Dub Company (1995)

8) Firey Dub (Version By King Tubby): Yabby You (1977)

9) Rush I Some Dub: Tapper Zukie (1977)

10) Sun Is Shining (Dub) (Version By Bob Marley & Lee Perry): Bob Marley & The Wailers (1971)

11) Keep It Like It Is (Album Version By Clement 'Bush Ranger' Bushay): Louisa Mark (1981)

12) People (Who Killed People) (Album Version By Gerald Thomas Moore & Tony Braunagel): G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars (1975)

13) Sinsemilla (Album Version By Sly & Robbie): Black Uhuru (1980)

1971: Soul Revolution Part II ('Rhythm' Version): 10

1975: Reggae Blue: 12

1977: King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You): 8

1977: Tapper Zukie In Dub: 9

1980: Sinsemilla: 13

1981: Breakout: 11

1981: Dole Age EP: 1

1981: Spell: 4 

1995: Back To Roots: 7 

2006: Dubbin' It Up: 6

2021: Clarion Call: 3

2021: Time Heals Everything EP: 2

2022: The Man Who Sold The World EP: 5

Growing In My Backyard (57:45) (KF) (Mega)