MUSIC: REGGAE: TIGHTEN UP VOL.1 DELUXE EDITION (Trojan 2008, 2 discs)

 

I'm not a huge reggae fan, I'm not even a big one, but I do like the occasional fix. Just now and again, you understand. Truth be told, I prefer the ska rhythm, but I like reggae enough to buy a compilation now and again and I've ended up with a small but varied collection of ska and reggae, and pretty much all from the Trojan label. In fact if I've any on any other label I'd be surprised.

This collection dates from the second half of 1968. The original version was a cheapo collection of 12 singles released during that period and proved so popular they released a total of vinyl albums in the series.  I missed it at the time preferring samples such as The Rock Machine Turns You On and probably wouldn't have noticed it if it had been thrust in front of my face. Rock, at the time, was God. 

It's since been recycled in various versions until this one which amps up the number of tracks to 48 by including a load of B-sides and other singles from the same period. The original (and this extended edition is no different in tone) was a determinedly popularist piece aimed at the white audience whose knowledge of Jamaican music was probably restricted to Millie's My Boy Lollipop and, as such, contains a fair quota of highly accessible covers. Try these: Kansas City, Spanish Harlem, Ob-la-di Ob-la-da (the only version of this horrendous song I've not hated, up to and  including the Beatles original -hi, Ian P!), Angel of the Morning, Soul Limbo, (Booker T & the MGs, thankyouverrymuch), Jerry Goldsmith's In Like Flint  (hi Barry!), and a load more including bizarrely I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman.

Curiously, most of the artists are people I've never heard of, though this is no reflection of the quality of the music. Indeed the most famous names are the producers like Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, and Byron Lee (producing himself with the Dragonaires). 

This is very lightweight early reggae and all the better for it. Great fun, and rounded off with an informative booklet. There's another deluxe volume which is going on my Amazon wish list for another time.

MUSIC FLASHBACK 2003: Discovering Reggae

I'm starting to sort stuff out for my trip to Lanzarote in a week's time. No, not clothes, I can do that at the last minute. I'm talking books
and cds.

My friend Ian, who I'm going with, likes long lie-ins whereas I like to get up early. This means my mornings are spent as follows: get up, eat breakfast, perform ablutions, go and sit on the patio till around ten, go for a half hour swim, sit on the patio for another hour until Ian finally emerges. And while I'm sitting on the sunny patio, I drink coffee, read books and listen to music on my discman*.

Books so far selected include a couple of Harlan Cobens, a Jefferson Parker, James Barclay's Dawnthief (which Ottokars were pushing at 99p so I thought I'd give it a try), a Simon R. Green fantasy I read a few years ago, an early Peter Hamilton book (on its 3rd trip to Lanzarote, maybe this time**), a book on Buddhism, and Fool Moon*** (alt.world horror thriller I impulse bought on Amazon) by Jim Butcher. No graphic novels, I read them too quickly to make them worth their weight.

Music taking the trip this time include: The Grateful Dead (which one, which one?), a Lightnin Slim cd (which one which one?), the REM & Zevon best ofs, Lucinda Williams Essence, Fairport Convention The BBC Sessions, a couple of Uncut compilations, maybe a couple of other cds, and the two which arrived from Amazon today.

The first is the Stephen Stills Columbia fillet which is one of those cds of which reviewers can say "if you only have one album by ........ then make it this one". Seven tracks from Stills, eight (i.e. most of) Illegal Stills, six from the third I'd never even heard of and which aren't bad, and a couple of fillers from the 1968 Supersession album with Al Kooper. If you only have one... Ah, been there already.

Oookay.

Last one will come as a surprise to those who know me as it's from a genre I've had little or no apparent interest in -reggae. A few weeks ago a book on reggae arrived in the library with a ten track cd which I took home and copied and rather enjoyed. Recently I came across something the label Proper Records and I checked their catalogue which included stuff from the Trojan label. After digging a bit deeper and seeing it on Amazon for £10.99,**** I ordered the Trojan 2-cd set "Young Gifted & Black: 50 classic reggae hits!". It's a slightly misleading title as it's really 50 classic Ska, Rocksteady, & Reggae hits and spans the period 1960-1978.

And, after only playing the first cd I can say it damn fine, man. What surprised me was the number of tracks I remember from hearing back in the 60's and 70's, and also the number of songs later covered by other (black, white, US and British) artists. Here's a list (and I may be omitting some) of UK hits, cover versions, and covered originals: Oh Carolina, (Shaggy), Madness (do I need to spell it out?*****), My Boy Lollipop (ah 1963), I'm in the mood for love (as I'm in the mood for ska), 007 -a shanty town, Rudy a message to you (Specials), Angel of the morning, Israelites, The Tide is high (Blondie, a close copy & I'm embarrassed to say I thought it was original to them), Many rivers to cross, Rivers of Babylon, Youcan get it if you really want, Love of the common people, Cherry oh baby, Everything I own, Help me make it through the night, Hurt so good,Fatty bum bum (Bad Manners), Uptown top ranking, and finally something I'll be drinking quantities of in Lanzarote, Red red wine.

The booklet has introductions by Don Letts and Robin Campbell and I've just put in bids for a couple of Trojan box sets on Ebay******. Ooo-oh, the Is-raelites, chaka chaka...

* This was before MP3 players became all pervasive. The following year I owned a Zen-something with 30Gb hard disk and played slightly above a whisper at the loudest.

** Not this time either. Still not read it.

*** Fame and a crap tv series lay several years in the future.

**** By now probably available for 5p plus postage.

***** Yes, apparently I do, because years after writing that I can't remember what the song was.

****** Won them and bought another 3/4 Trojan box sets which are in a box somewhere in my garage.

POST SCRIPT.

I did indulge myself for a while and learned I preferred Ska best of all the variants of Jamaican music. But it never became more than a small part of my musical tastes; something I dip into now and again.