In 1956, CLEMENT SEYMOUR DODD (AKA SIR COXSONE), who two years earlier had founded the Downbeat sound system, recorded BUNNY AND SKULLY. This was apparently the first time a local band was recorded in Jamaica. This year, Heartbeat Records is marking “50 years of Jamaican music” by spiffing up its catalog of Dodd’s many recordings. Dodd started his first label in 1959 and in 1963 founded the first black-owned Jamaican studio, Studio One, which has been called the Motown of Jamaica. The list of Studio One’s and Dodd’s many landmarks and accomplishments from then until Dodd’s death in 2004 would fill a very large book. To note a few, Dodd hired a young LEE PERRY, discovered BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS, and issued the first BURNING SPEAR album after Marley brought him to the label. And Studio One rhythm tracks are still used on many “new” hits; it’s possible to imagine that the dancehall genre might not exist without these backing tracks.
Some of the recent Heartbeat Studio One albums are compilations. I’ll look at three of those in my next post. Right now I’ll consider single-artist releases. FREDDIE MCGREGOR had been recording for Studio One since the ‘60s (born in 1956, his first single was released in ‘66!), but didn’t have an album on the label until 1980, by which time the Philly soul-influenced singer had become a Rastafarian (and already had a NINEY THE OBSERVER-produced album). But Bobby Bobylon, which mixed new material and updated ‘70s recordings, increased McGregor’s profile and has been considered a classic ever since. Now its original ten tracks are joined by eight bonus tracks never before on CD, and what was originally a 35-minute album now is nearly twice that length. Four of the bonuses are extended mixes, but three are earlier singles. “I Man a Rasta” is the earlier 7-inch version of the album’s “I’m a Revolutionist.” The last two bonuses, “Rastaman Camp” and the extended mix of “Bobby Bobylon,” are the only tracks that reprise album material. McGregor’s sweet singing makes romantic material such as “Go Away Pretty Girl” irresistible, but he adds a little muscle to his tone and puts across the more serious Rasta songs with quiet assurance. Song titles such as “Wine of Violence” and “I’m a Revolutionist” may suggest stern lectures, but McGregor’s silky voice remains seductive and the musical arrangements have a mellow lilt. This isn’t just McGregor’s finest album in a long and distinguished career; it’s one of the greatest reggae albums ever.
DELROY WILSON was a child star who scored hits in the ska, rocksteady, reggae, and lovers rock eras. The Best of Delroy Wilson: Original Eighteen Deluxe Edition expands a 1969 twelve-song compilation LP. It thus contains 1964-70 material, concentrating on rock steady. Wilson’s voice, the perfect combination of tenor smoothness with a dab of soulful grit, floats over the quintessential rock steady tracks laid down by Studio One’s house band of the time, the SOUL VENDORS, whose organist/arranger, JACKIE MITTOO, is the second star of this disc. It’s impossible to complain about the music that’s here, but at 66 minutes, this disc had room for more fine Wilson tracks, whether going deeper into his rock steady successes (“Dancing Mood,” “Once Upon a Time,” “I’m Not a King,” etc.) or balancing the picture with early ska favorites – regardless of their presence on Heartbeat’s various-artists compilations. However, if the absence of that material means that Heartbeat plans to reissue Wilson’s other Studio One albums, then hooray! The booklet notes are below the standard for this series of releases, basically just a bio covering his whole life. Still, nobody interested in rock steady should be without this disc.
JOHN HOLT first recorded at Studio One as a member of THE PARAGONS, the vocal trio for which he wrote “The Tide Is High” (yes, the song BLONDIE covered), though that song—done for DUKE REID’s Treasure Isle—is not among the three Paragons tracks (all stereo mixes on CD for the first time) on I Can’t Get You Off My Mind: 18 Greatest Hits!, a new compilation of 1968-72 music that catches the end of The Paragons and the beginning of Holt’s long solo career. Though Holt is a generally good songwriter (though the Flintstones-referencing opening track, “OK Fred,” doesn’t get the disc off to a good start in that regard) and talented, soul-tinged singer, he hasn’t always exhibited the best taste in either material or arrangements. But with Dodd at the helm, the latter are consistently fine, and wisely there are only a few covers here (a passable “My Sweet Lord” and two fairly annoying NEIL DIAMOND songs not quite redeemed by the infectiously chugging rhythm tracks). Anybody with the slightest interest in Jamaican music has heard The Paragons’ “Change Your Style” (AKA “Hooligans”); their “Have You Ever Been in Love” and “My Satisfaction” are also highlights of this collection. The other 15 tracks are under Holt’s name alone. “A Love I Can Feel,” his most famous song, isn’t here, but “Happy Go Lucky Girl,” the title track, “Stranger in Love” with its tasty ERNEST RANGLIN guitar work, and many others that rank at the same level. The music (a mix of rocksteady and reggae) is great, often featuring the distinctive work of MITTOO AND THE SOUL VENDORS. (Be warned that Holt’s view of women in “Fancy Make Up” borders on misogyny.)
Among other Heartbeat/Studio One releases this year are a two-disc Bob Marley and the Wailers compilation, One Love at Studio One 1964-1966. You can probably guess that that set’s pretty cool, too.
[Part II to follow]
