Keep The Fire Burning Inside

Some heavyweight grooves to make you move, courtesy of 14 reggae and dub legends.

All of these songs originate in 1975, although I can't be certain that the individual versions used here date from that year. 

Such is the task of trying to date releases when many Jamaican 7" singles bore very little info, let alone the year of release. I guess they weren't considering that half a century later, saddoes like me would be trawling the internet, trying to track down the merest snippet of info about a song. "Internet"? What's an "internet"?!

No matter, what binds them all together is a bass, skank, skunk and a trunk full of quality tunes. Some of the finest voices to ever grace vinyl, from Pat Kelly to Susan Cadogan to Gregory Isaacs to Bim Sherman to Louisa Mark and U-Roy.

Augustus Pablo appears twice, the second appearance via Baby I Love You So, my introduction to the great man via the cover version by Colourbox in 1986.

And Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey is one of the greatest albums of all time.

1) 555 Crown Street (Single Version): Augustus Pablo

2) There's A Song (Sing About Love): Pat Kelly

3) King Tubby's Badness Dub: King Tubby

4) Carry Go Bring Come (Discomix): Justin Hinds & The Dominoes

5) Fever (Live) (Cover of Little Willie John): Susan Cadogan

6) Darkest Night: James Eastwood

7) Dreadlocks Love Affair: Gregory Isaacs

8) Resting Place: Burning Spear

9) Danger (Album Version): Bim Sherman

10) Jah Jah Jehoviah: Ronnie Davis

11) Baby I Love You So: Jacob Miller & Augustus Pablo

12) Blue Boots (Album Version): Eric Donaldson

13) All My Loving (Cover of The Beatles): Louisa Mark

14) Joyful Locks: U-Roy

1975: Marcus Garvey: 8

1990: Crucial Cuts II: 9

199x: Classics: 2

1998: Breakout (bonus tracks): 13

1998: Trojan Dub Box Set: 3

2003: Cool Ruler: The Definitive Collection: 7

2004: The Bunny 'Striker' Lee Story: 14

2005: Tom Middleton Presents Crazy Covers Vol 1: Cosmosonica: 5

2005: Trojan Roots Reggae Box Set: Forward Jah Jah Children: 10

2006: The Essential Augustus Pablo: 1, 11

2007: Sun Is Shining (Mojo magazine promo CD): 6

2009: Emmett's 10/09 Playlist (Art Decade blog): 12

2015: Reggae Discomixes: 22 Essential Extended Mixes: 4

Keep The Fire Burning Inside (46:28) (GD) (M)

Don't Want To Mess Around

I have a couple of gig reviews to post, but they're taking on a life on their own and need some more work so they'll make an appearance later in the week.

 

My fall back, as ever, is reggae and dub and I hope you'll agree that it's stepped up and delivered. Five decades of riddims and rhymes taking in some musical heavyweights and contemporary inspirations. Derrick Morgan technically manages to sneak in two appearances, the second via a dub courtesy of Augustus Pablo. 

Sadly, some of these great artists are no longer with us, though many are and continue to produce great sounds. I'm seeing one of them next month, so expect a gig review here...when I've caught up on the backlog!

 

1) Revolution (Single Version): Dennis Brown (1983)

2) I Was Appointed (Album Version): Junior Murvin (1977)

3) Great Musical Battle: Derrick Morgan (1973)

4) Cleopatra King Size: Jah Wobble & ft. Temple Of Sound (2002)

5) The Gorgon Of Dubs & Horns: Tommy McCook & The Aggrovators (1975)

6) Rough Rider Dub: Augustus Pablo (????)

7) Virus Return: David Harrow (2020)

8) My God: African Head Charge (1990)

9) Super Charge: Jackie Mittoo (1977)

10) Own Man: Lee Perry & The Upsetters (1975)

11) D.U.B. D.U.B. (12" Version): UB40 (1984)

 

1973: Great Musical Battle EP: 3 

1975: Cookin': 5

1975: Revolution Dub: 10

1977: Police & Thieves: 2

1983: Revolution EP: 1

1984: Riddle Me EP: 11

1990: Songs Of Praise: 8

2002: Shout At The Devil: 4

2003: Champion In The Area: 9

2004: The Bunny 'Striker' Lee Story: 6

2020: Virus Dubs: 7

Don't Want To Mess Around (45:36) (KF) (Mega)

Daylight Dubbing

To mark Daylight Saving in the UK, with the clocks going back at 2.00am this morning (the cat woke me promptly at 3.00am), here's some Daylight Dubbing, courtesy of Augustus Pablo.

All but one of the tracks on today's selection come from The Essential Augustus Pablo, a 2CD set from 2006 that actually lives up to the 'essential' tag. The exception, the version of Nora's Dean wonderfully titled 1975 single Scorpion In His Underpants, comes from another essential collection, 2004's 4CD set The Bunny 'Striker' Lee Story.

Much of the music featured here either appeared as single A-sides or version B-sides  on Jamaican 7" singles in the mid-late 1970s, with a few by other artists featuring or produced by Pablo.

It's still dark outside as I finish writing this but an hour in the company of Augustus Pablo and friends and I feel bathed in Caribbean sunshine.

1) 555 Dub Street: Augustus Pablo (1975)

2) Skanking Easy: Augustus Pablo (1972)

3) East Of The River Nile (Single Version): Herman ft. Augustus Pablo (1971)

4) Up Waricka Hill: Augustus Pablo (1974)

5) I Am Alright (Single Version By Augustus 'Gussie' Clarke): Gregory Isaacs & Old Boys Inc. ft. Augustus Pablo (1973)

6) King David's Melody: Augustus Pablo (1979)

7) Let's Get Started (Single Version By Augustus Pablo): Tetrack (1978)

8) Islington Rock: Augustus Pablo (1978)

9) Memories Of The Ghetto: Augustus Pablo (1978)

10) The Sting aka The Scorpion: Augustus Pablo ft. Nora Dean (1975)

11) Black Gunn: Augustus Pablo (1974)

12) Crucial Burial: Augustus Pablo (1979)

13) Bells Of Death: Augustus Pablo (1972)

14) Our Man Flint (Single Version By Lee 'Scratch' Perry): Augustus Pablo & Lloyd Young (1973)

15) El Rocker's: Augustus Pablo (1974)

16) Pablo's Satta: Augustus Pablo (1975)

17) King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown: Augustus Pablo (1975)

18) Fiat 125 aka Cowtown Skank Version: Augustus Pablo (1973)

19) Unfinished Melody: Augustus Pablo (1977)

Daylight Dubbing (59:08)

555

Three very different variations on the theme of 555 by Delakota, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Augustus Pablo.

 

Delakota were short-lived: a single album, One Love, and a clutch of singles between 1998 and 2000. Formed by Cass Browne and Morgan Nicholls after their previous band The Senseless Things ended in 1995, the sound incorporated dance music, indie rock and use of movie samples to great effect. 

 

Their releases attracted an impressive roster of remixes by Fatboy Slim, Freddy Fresh, Adam & Eve (aka The Beloved), Tim Goldsworthy, Sound 5, Joshua Falken (aka Kieran Hebden) and David Holmes. I featured the latter in a previous Dubhed Selection and wrote about when Delakota repaid the favour to David Holmes in a guest post for The Vinyl Villain.

 

555 was one of four Top 100 UK hits for Delakota, crashing in at #42 for one week only in February 1999.

Charlotte Gainsbourg is famously the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin and has forged an impressive career as an actor and singer/songwriter, the latter including some inspired collaborations with the likes of AIR, Jarvis Cocker, Neil Hannon, Beck and SebastiAn. I'm a huge fan of her work and Charlotte was the focus of a Dubhed Selection in December 2021.

 

5:55 is the title track of Charlotte's second album (her first as an adult), which managed a single week at #78 in the UK album charts in September 2006. A few promos did the rounds in 2006 with an official vinyl 7" release of a pair of remixes by Metronomy and Black Ghosts that didn't trouble the charts in any way. 5:55 a wonderful, piano-driven song with words and music by the aforementioned AIR and Jarvis Cocker and the legendary Tony Allen on drums.

Last but certainly not least is the mighty multi-instrumentalist and melodica maestro, Augustus Pablo. 555 Crown Street was released on 7" vinyl on the Rockers International label in Jamaica around 1975. I was shocked to find that I've only featured Augustus Pablo here once before, and that with a Version on the flip of I-Roy's Cow Town Skank 7". This criminal oversight will be rectified with an Augustus Pablo Dubhed Selection in due course.

For this post, I've found a YouTube clip which pairs the full 7" with 555 Crown Street and it's Version on the B-side. As good a five minutes as you're likely to hear all day.

Where The Man A Forward To?

From 1973, a classic Bunny Lee production showcasing I-Roy aka Roy Samuel Reid, with a version from Augustus Pablo on the flipside.

 

Cow Town Skank: I-Roy / Pablo Skank: Augustus Pablo (1973)