Today's selection is by way of compensation to Ernie at 27 Leggies for last Sunday's crushing disappointment of posting a mixtape side titled Roots 'n' Culture that was completely devoid of dub and reggae.
No red herrings here, with plenty of bass-heavy rhythms amongst the genre-hopping bakers' dozen of tunes. At least one tune from each of the last six decades and, as far as I can tell, all appearing here (in these versions at least) for the first time.
Lee 'Scratch' Perry is hidden in plain sight, collaborating with Bob Marley on the opening song and reappearing as the Upsetter on the penultimate track.
There are a trio of tunes from 1982, quite by accident, featuring UB40, Rico ably accompanied by The Specials and one of the greatest voices of all time, Bim Sherman.
As you may have guessed, International Beat was a spin-off from The Beat, their debut album produced by none other than Ranking Roger.
The 21st Century is well represented by Richard Norris, Adrian Sherwood and Prince Fatty, plus Wrongtom remixing Staines skankers Hard-Fi.
There are a couple of covers, with Rico and The Special AKA taking on the title track of Japanese jazz musician's Sadao Watanabe's 1979 album Morning Island.
For Me You Are by Prince Fatty, Hollie Cook and Horseman has a rather more complicated history. The song was originally titled Bei Mir Bistu Shein and written by Jacob Jacobs and Sholom Secunda in 1932 for a Yiddish language comedy musical, I Would If I Could, performed by Aaron Lebedeff and Lucy Levin.
Five years later, Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin got their hands on the song, wrote English lyrics, Germanised the song title spelling and created a global hit for The Andrews Sisters with Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (Means That You're Grand)
The name of Prince Fatty's 2012 remake is an approximation of the original Yiddish to English song title translation, To Me You're Beautiful.
Phew, history lesson over, time to enjoy the music!
1) Keep On Skanking: Bob Marley (1972)
2) Golden Morning Song: Bim Sherman (1982)
3) Better Do Better (Wrongtom Wild Inna 81 Version): Hard-Fi (2006)
4) Rock Steady: International Beat (1989)
5) Foundation Style: Richard Norris (2024)
6) Two Versions Of The Future: Adrian Sherwood (2006)
7) I Won't Close My Eyes (Remix): UB40 (1982)
8) Jah Vengeance / Jah Bible: Yabby You & Trinity (1980)
9) For Me You Are (Single Version) (Cover of Aaron Lebedeff & Lucy Levin / Andrews Sisters): Prince Fatty ft. Hollie Cook & Horseman (2012)
10) Tapper Roots: Tapper Zukie (1979)
11) Easy Dub: Alpha & Omega (1994)
12) Rumplesteelkin: Upsetter (1973)
13) Easter Island (Cover of 'Morning Island' by Sadao Watanabe): Rico ft. The Special AKA (1982)
1973: Rhythm Shower: 12
1979: Tapper Roots: 10
1980: Jah Jah Way: 8
1982: Across The Red Sea: 2
1982: Jungle Music EP: 13
1982: UB44: 7
1989: The Hitting Line: 4
1990: The Best Of Bob Marley 1968-1972: 1
1994: Safe In The Ark: 11
2006: Becoming A Cliché: 6
2006: Better Do Better EP: 3
2012: Prince Fatty Versus The Drunken Gambler: 9
2024: Oracle Sound Volume Three: 5
That's more like it! I'll have a proper listen later but any mix that includes Trinity and Tapper Zukie has to be good.
ReplyDeleteI listened to a lot of reggae during the last weeks but your compilation is ace.
ReplyDeleteI am listening to it whilst making chocolate marmalade cake. When I was listening to UB40 42 years ago would the 14 year old me think 'What a saddo'...
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