Reggae and dub

which aspect do you want to explore?

rocksteady, ska, loversrock, dub, roots, jamaican soul, funk, disco, crossover, british 80s, classic dancehall, modern dancehall, ragga jungle, new dub, etc.... ?

I d recommend quality compilations : trojan makes nice ones http://www.trojan-records.com/

You could do worse than investigate the back catalogues of Pressure Sounds, Blood & Fire and Soul Jazz.

I would think a bare minimum would be:

a) Heart of the Congos by the Congos
b) King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
c) Soul Jazz's "Studio One Story"

I would also strongly recommend getting a copy of Barrow and Dalton's Rough Guide to Reggae.

anything with Soul Jazz on it, particularly the _00% Dynamite series, is pure quality...

for me, the classic artist albums are Heart Of The Congos and East Of The River Nile, but others will probably disagree (and ain't that what we're here for)...highly melodic/melancholic, each one a Jamaican Pet Sounds...

beat me to the punch!

Pressure Sounds !! i thought they went under or something?

there's a jacob miller comp ' who say jah no dread', which collects his 7" for pablo on it- song followed by dub (mixed by king tubby)- i can't think, off the top of my head, of a better single artist introduction. beautiful songs followed by some of the greatest dubs ever (one or more of which are on king tubby meets rockers uptown').

other than that (whatever!) you either need to be more specific, or get some of the comps by labels already mentioned- there's just too great a weight of awesome stuff to look for.


there's also a '100 best reggae cds' by barrow & dalton you can get too, which is a (very) slimmed down version of the rough guide*, which summarises the top available releases.

basiacally, once you start, you're fucked and the bank will hate you.


*get the latest version as it has been updated a number of times.

Compiled by Steve Barrows, this 4cd boxset is perfect introduction from ska to dancehall, from '60 to early '90 (and was my first jamaican purchase!), except that now is out of print, but i have still seen copies in shops, so if you are lucky:


The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough [Box set] (island records)


Disc: 1
1. Oh Carolina - The Folkes Brothers
2. Boogie in My Bones - Laurel Aitken
3. Midnight Track - Owen Gray
4. Easy Snappin' - Theophilus Beckford
5. Housewives Choice - Derrick Morgan, Patsy Todd
6. Forward March - Derrick Morgan
7. Miss Jamaica - Jimmy Cliff
8. My Boy Lollipop - Millie Small
9. Six and Seven Books of Moses - The Maytals, The Maytals
10. Simmer Down - The Wailers
11. Man in the Street - Don Drummond
12. Carry Go Bring Come - Justin Hinds & Dominoes
13. Guns of Navarone - The Skatalites
14. Al Capone - Prince Buster
15. Hard Man Fe Dead - Prince Buster
16. Tougher Than Tough - Derrick Morgan
17. Girl I've Got a Date - Alton Ellis
18. Happy Go Lucky Girl - The Paragons
19. Dancing Mood - Delroy Wilson
20. Train Is Coming - Ken Boothe
21. Take It Easy - Hopeton Lewis
22. Ba Ba Boom - The Jamaicans
23. 007 (Shanty Town) - Desmond Dekker
24. I've Got to Go Back Home - Bob Andy, Bob Andy
25. Queen Majesty - The Techniques
26. Loving Pauper - Dobby Dobson
27. Don't Stay Away - Phyllis Dillon

Disc: 2
1. Israelites - Desmond Dekker
2. 54-46 That's My Number - The Maytals, The Maytals
3. Reggae Hit the Town - The Ethiopians
4. Wet Dream - Max Romeo
5. My Conversation - The Uniques
6. Bangarang - Stranger Cole, Stranger Cole, Lester Sterling
7. Return of Django - The Upsetters
8. Liquidator - Harry J All-Stars
9. Rivers of Babylon - The Melodians
10. Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff
11. Young Gifted and Black - Bob & Marcia
12. Wake the Town - U-Roy
13. How Long - Pat Kelly
14. Double Barrel - Ansel Collins, Dave Collins, Dave & Ansel Collins
15. Blood & Fire - Winston Niney Holness
16. Cherry Oh Baby - Eric Donaldson
17. Better Must Come - Delroy Wilson
18. Money in My Pocket - Dennis Brown
19. Stick by Me - John Holt
20. Teach the Children - Dennis Alcapone
21. $.90 Skank - Big Youth
22. Everything I Own - Ken Boothe
23. Westbound Train - Dennis Brown
24. Move Out of Babylon - Johnny Clarke
25. Curly Locks - Junior Byles

Disc: 3
1. Country Boy - The Heptones
2. Welding - I-Roy
3. Marcus Garvey - Burning Spear
4. Right Time - The Mighty Diamonds
5. Natty Sing Hit Songs - Roman Stewart
6. Ballistic Affair - Leroy Smart
7. Tenement Yard - Jacob Miller
8. War Ina Babylon - Max Romeo
9. Police & Thieves - Junior Murvin
10. Two Sevens Clash - Culture
11. I'm Still Waiting - Delroy Wilson
12. No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley
13. Uptown Top Ranking - Althia and Donna
14. Number One - Gregory Isaacs
15. Bredda Gravalicious - Wailing Souls
16. River Jordan - Sugar Minott
17. Armagideon Time - Willie Williams
18. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - Black Uhuru
19. Fort Augustus - Junior Delgado
20. Joggin' - Freddie McGregor
21. Sitting and Watching - Dennis Brown

Disc: 4
1. Night Nurse - Gregory Isaacs
2. Mad over Me - Yellowman
3. Diseases - Michigan & Smiley
4. Water Pumping - Johnny Osbourne
5. Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng - Frankie Paul
6. Here I Come (Broader Than Broadway) - Barrington Levy
7. Ring the Alarm - Tenor Saw
8. Under Me Sleng Teng - Wayne Smith
9. Tempo - Anthony Redrose
10. Boops - Super Cat, Supercat
11. Greetings - Half Pint
12. Punanny - Admiral Bailey
13. Hol' a Fresh - Red Dragon
14. Rumours - Gregory Isaacs
15. Cover Me - Ninjaman, Stewart, Sylvester "Sly Stone" & Sal, Tinga Stewart
16. Legal Rights - Lady G, Papa San
17. Wicked Inna Bed - Shabba Ranks
18. Bandolero - Pinchers
19. Yuh Dead Now - Tiger
20. Bogle - Buju Banton
21. Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus & Pliers
22. Oh Carolina - Shaggy


Then the Steve Barrows book is essential.
Seconded "heart of the congos", all dinamite and studio one from soul jazz, and too many releases from blood and fire, pressure sound and trojan to list now. Many of the themed various artists compilations recently issued by Trojan are great introduction, go to their website and look around. Good luck................................ i hope you are rich!!!

Lee Scratch Perry - Arkology 3CD box is prett fucking essential in my book, and good trojan boxsets i've heard are Rare Groove, suede head, Dub vols1 & 2, rude boy, DJ, revive, rocksteady... rare groove being the best one. i'm quite curious about the trojan beatles boxset, has anyone here heard it, what's it like?

yeah Soul Jazz comps are a good place to start. I personally started with Lee Perry. Dub was what got me into reggae.

I've just, um, illegally downloaded the trojan - ska, dub, dancehall roots, and ragga box sets. just about swimming in it right now. all very nice.

john eden said:

I would think a bare minimum would be:

a) Heart of the Congos by the Congos
b) King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
c) Soul Jazz's "Studio One Story"

Click to expand...

I'd add Brand and Pick A Dub to that list. Keith Hudson is my favorite roots producer by far, massively underrated.

john eden said:

I would also strongly recommend getting a copy of Barrow and Dalton's Rough Guide to Reggae.

Click to expand...

Bass Culture by Lloyd Bradley is another top book on reggae and the culture it came from. Let down a bit by it's sniffy attitude to digital reggae & dancehall, but knowledgeable & well written.

Man ah Warrior - Tapper Zukie
Best Dressed Chicken in Town - Dr. Alimentado
2 Sevens Clash - Culture

is a list any good? explain why the record is worth getting in order to help asgar

While we are on the topic, what about good really deep dub records? I've always been into the dub vibe but don't actually have much of the music- King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown and Pole and... thats about it. I'll look into the Trojan comp.

Yeah, Two 7's Clash. Classic. Arkology Box Set. King Tubby box set. Or the Lee Perry one with the spliff-smokin' super-ape on the cover (Return of the Super-Ape?)

am i the only one that thik's those x00% Dynamite comps are corny?


for dub, lately i've been digging King Tubby Meets the Upsetter at the Grass Roots of Dub, but i wouldn't call it a starter album...

for that, i'd say "scientific dub" by scientist, as it's the 2nd dub LP i ever bought and still one of my favorites...

honestly, buy anything on Blood and Fire, they don't have a bad album in their catalog!

Blood & Fire are very good but I wouldn't say that everything on there is top notch. I got this Inner Circle & Fatman Riddim Section CD and it's very boring.

I think you would be very satisfied with Wackies Sampler Vol. 1
http://www.discogs.com/release/458206

Wackies has some really unique sounds going on. "This World" is one of my favorite reggae songs.

petergunn said:

am i the only one that thik's those x00% Dynamite comps are corny?

Click to expand...

no.

mainly because they jump around a great deal and don't include any information about the artists/producers/context- an issue with most soul jazz releases, unfortunately.

doesn't mean they're not worth getting for the uninitiated/ lazy