Roots from the edge

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I started this thread over on ILM a while back, and got precious little response. Maybe it's a bad question, or perhaps people over here will be more qualified to give answers - in the wake of the reggae producers thread, I tend towards the latter. Let's see:


"Finding myself a little bored by searching out 'seminal' roots reggae, only to find it 80% of the time adhering to the same overall sound with minor variations (I love that sound, but.....), I'm on the prowl for more singular examples of reggae in the roots era, tracks that are strikingly different from the sonic norm, or suggest some unexplored furrow of 70s/early 80s Jamaican music.
My preliminary suggestions(apologies if they verge on the obscure):
The Vulcans - Star Trek
The Upsetters - Long Sentence

Both synth driven science-fiction instrumental reggae;

The Upsetters- Bird in Hand
Ricky and Bunny - Bush Weed Corn Trash

Both with a sound that sounds way more devotional/earthy/spiritual (forget the subject matter of the second track)than the oft-quoted Abyssinians or late Ethiopians. Yabby You is another good one in this vein.

King Tubby and Harry Mudie - various dubs

STRINGS!!

Impact Allstars - Easy Come Dub
Santic Allstars - Shooter Dub

Crazy FX and synth driven dub that provides relief from the (albeit brilliant) 'normal' King Tubby sound."
 

Diggedy Derek

Stray Dog
Keith Hudson's Flesh Of My Flesh Blood Of my Blood sounds like very little else- drums have almost dissipated, it's pushed along by chugging organs and horns. Very strange indeed! His Rasta Communication, done when he moved to New York, is radically different to this but also very unusual- clean and tastefully mixed, almost like those Bob Marley rock-esque albums, but with so many instruments and layers it's like a reggae symphony orchestra.
 

mms

sometimes
oh man, hudsons' play it cool play it right is fucking well out there,
the wackies all stars african roots things are pretty mental as well, bubbling water vocals etc
creation rebel starship africa as well.
i really like the moogy things lee perry did as well .
those prince fari cry tuff dub encounters esp 1 and 3, 3 has beresford and toop fucking about over it and it's delicate, like a bird on a bassline.
 

owen

Well-known member
'nightmare' by herman's all stars is mind boggling- sounds very like joe meek going rocksteady and is as good and odd as that implies.
 

owen

Well-known member
oh and 'bird in hand' has always reminded me of smile, for some reason, i think its the (wordless?) harmonies
 

john eden

male pale and stale
The Ijahman Levi Album on Island with Hail I Hymn on it is supposed to be somewhat proggy, I think it features some big name prog bloke on it also.

I've got that Vulcans LP and the moogs on it annoy the piss out of me after a few tracks! :eek:

There's an odd version of Liquidator by Bongo Herman with bird calls on it...
 
Last edited:

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
My instincts were right..some great answers already.

'Flesh of My Flesh' is the one that starts with 'Hunting', right? That's a weird song indeed. Very good, mind.

'Bird in Hand' always seems to me like it should have evolved from some traditional devotional Jamaican music - certainly, as you say, the wordless swirling harmonies are astonishing, but I'm at a loss to explain the lineage here.

Is the Allstars suffix (Impact, Santic, Herman's etc) just a reference to a producer's in-house band?
 

matt b

Indexing all opinion
baboon2004 said:
'Bird in Hand' always seems to me like it should have evolved from some traditional devotional Jamaican music - certainly, as you say, the wordless swirling harmonies are astonishing, but I'm at a loss to explain the lineage here.?

for another take on such evolution check cedric 'im' brook's 'light of saba' -nyabinghi/reggae/jazz (even some afrobeat) mix. really good.



nice article on nyabinghi here
 

mms

sometimes
matt b said:
for another take on such evolution check cedric 'im' brook's 'light of saba' -nyabinghi/reggae/jazz (even some afrobeat) mix. really good.



nice article on nyabinghi here



lovely album that.

talking of evolution of ja music, anyone heard of an artist called margarita? i've got a tune called woman a come, a wonderful mento kinda tune, on a ska comp. she's singing in a strange kinda influenced style
would be really excited if anyone knew anything about her and any other stuff.
 

sufi

lala
Hard to find, but check out "From the Heart of the Congo", Lee Perry production of two congolese singers called (I think) Seke Molenga and Kwame Kawongolo - it was them that did the vocal on "Bird in Hand". The whole LP is great but track called Nakoya really stands out. What else?

Best Dressed Chicken in Town - everyone knows
Pantomine Rock - Glen Brown plays plinky guitar (a lot of his other productions also qualify)
Give I Some Work - Knowledge sing, Robbie Shakespear plays the cello
Theme Signal - D.A.T.C. Orchestra featuring either Steelie or Cleevie on grand piano
Ethiopian War - Roland Al on the Tesfa label, nyabinghi meets lounge jazz

Steve C posting as Sufi
 

Woebot

Well-known member
baboon2004 said:
'Bird in Hand' always seems to me like it should have evolved from some traditional devotional Jamaican music - certainly, as you say, the wordless swirling harmonies are astonishing, but I'm at a loss to explain the lineage here.

'Bird in Hand' is supposed to be a cover version of a Bollywood tune!!!!! I've never heard the original but dissensus member iueke has, and says that it too is something special! Who'd have thunk it.....

My oft touted track that is way off the beaten track is Pablove Black Bagga and the Allstars: After Christmas. This is the most unusual christmas record EVER, just chants and tinkling bells and this supreme rolling quasi-oriental groove (not terribly reggae-sounding). I have it on a Studio One twelve and it's about 20 ecstatic minutes long. Apparently Jah Shaka always used to play it in the seventies (right through the year, not just at the festive season ;) )

Also, on a similar tip, a few (and I mean a few unfortunately) of Jackie Mitoo's tracks for Coxsone Dodd ("After Christmas" prolly qualifies as one of his) are also extremely weird: "Hairy Mary" for one "Change the Mood". Also one can't but mention Lennie Hibbert's "More Creation" in this context.

It's funny to note that the more folk tend to get deeper into Reggae, the more "essentialist" the kind of tunes they choose to rate are. "Essentialist" in the sense of embodying the most perfect typical style of Reggae; Glen Brown as a producer is rather like this, "Pure Deep Reggae". On the other hand it's a shame everyone doesn't go looking for the "out" tunes. Maybe this stems from peoples slightly ambivalent perception of Lee "Wacked Out" Perry, who's a god in my book.
 
Last edited:
Top