Clubberlang
Well-known member
I ain't gonna pretend to be all special and shit. The Heart of the Congos blew my mind and got me to completely immerse myself in non-ska Jamaican music. And Perry produced just an insane amount of great material in that era (I think I have 4 or 5 rich comps of that period in addition to 5?6?7? amazing LPs he produced.) So Perry. If I was gonna vote a second choice, it'd probably be Yabby You though.
Clubberlang
Well-known member
Who isn't actually on the list so I guess it would be Augustus Pablo.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Tough one. Lee Perry wins it for me by dint of the fact that I have so many of the man's recordings that I can appreciate the sheer range of his output, from lover's rock (Susan Cadogan) to otherwordly experimental dub (take your pick): not true for all the rest of those named, unfortunately.
But Keith Hudson is special (there's a moment in 'Shades of Hudson' where he pitch bends the beat in the middle of the song in such a funky way that it sends shivers up my spine every single time), not least for the sheer darkness of his style, and Bullwackie scores highly for anticipating Rhythm and Sound by nearly two decades.
And an RFI: Absolutely adore Shooter Dub by KT/Santic allstars, which I presume was produced by Leonard Chin. Can anyone recommend any other good stuff by him?
But Keith Hudson is special (there's a moment in 'Shades of Hudson' where he pitch bends the beat in the middle of the song in such a funky way that it sends shivers up my spine every single time), not least for the sheer darkness of his style, and Bullwackie scores highly for anticipating Rhythm and Sound by nearly two decades.
And an RFI: Absolutely adore Shooter Dub by KT/Santic allstars, which I presume was produced by Leonard Chin. Can anyone recommend any other good stuff by him?
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
And I second Yabby You - is there any producer's style that is more immediately distinctive in the reggae canon?
redcrescent
Well-known member
Oh, man. For sheer variety and mad musical genius, it'd have to be Black Ark-era Lee Perry, closely followed by Bunny Lee. I really rate Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, though, for his bone-dry, brutally minimalist production work with the Roots Radics/High Times Band. Same goes for Linval Thompson, who has done an amazing amount of amazing things (one of my all-time favorite tracks is Wayne Wade's "Poor and Humble", especially if followed by Scientist's dub, "Cloning Process", off Scientist meets the Space Invaders - top class). Lots more, obviously, to add to those already mentioned: Tommy Cowan, Joe Gibbs/Errol Thompson, Jammy (producing), Mikey Dread, George Phang... whoa! "World's loudest island", indeed.
john eden
male pale and stale
Seems that the poll is mutliple choice so I voted for Gibbs, Brown and U
Forgot to vote for the Hoo Kim Bros tho - Channel One, mate!
Niney, Jammy and this obscure guy called Coxsone Dodd would also get a look in for me...
Lee Perry has worn off on me a bit, I think... that first flush of "oh wow! weird!" and all that...
Forgot to vote for the Hoo Kim Bros tho - Channel One, mate!
Niney, Jammy and this obscure guy called Coxsone Dodd would also get a look in for me...
Lee Perry has worn off on me a bit, I think... that first flush of "oh wow! weird!" and all that...
matt b
Indexing all opinion
john eden said:
coxsone didn't really like roots though did he?- he tolerated it (sat on abysinnians, burning spear, the royals etc)
john eden said:
quite often for 'classic underwater vibe', you could replace 'muddy mess'. however, you can't have a bad word to say for the man who produced 'down here in babylon'
john eden
male pale and stale
matt b said:
Doesn't matter whether he liked it or not - I love what he did!
matt b said:
That's one of my all-time favourite tunes, so you are right, but I'll often pass over listening to a Perry album in favour of something else these days. It means it will be all the better when I get back into it later...
D
droid
Guest
john eden said:Niney, Jammy and this obscure guy called Coxsone Dodd would also get a look in for me...
And Id add Derrick Harriot to the list as well..
this scratch dissing will not wash, for every ostentatiously wierd mooing cows fest there's something as light and sublime as that absurdly underrated george faith album.
i haven't really heard much glen brown, bar that one with tubbys on blood and fire, which didnt really floor me. what do people recommend?
oh and i would have hudson second as well, 'sinners' is possibly my favourite 70s roots reggae track- so amazingly tense and angry, i don't think i've ever heard a song with so much contained rage...
i haven't really heard much glen brown, bar that one with tubbys on blood and fire, which didnt really floor me. what do people recommend?
oh and i would have hudson second as well, 'sinners' is possibly my favourite 70s roots reggae track- so amazingly tense and angry, i don't think i've ever heard a song with so much contained rage...
Grievous Angel
Beast of Burden
Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker
I still think any argument to leave out Tubby from this list is, given the comments made here, specious.
Nevertheless, in terms of producers , and limiting oneself strictly to roots, I'd probably go for Perry, simply for his work with the Wailers . It's all about tunes. I'm very definitely on an "up" curve with Perry; around the time of Open The Gate I'd got bored, but now I'm well into CD1 of Arkology, Congos etc.
If we're relaxing the boundaries of the question, then surely it's Coxsone?
I still think any argument to leave out Tubby from this list is, given the comments made here, specious.
Nevertheless, in terms of producers , and limiting oneself strictly to roots, I'd probably go for Perry, simply for his work with the Wailers
. It's all about tunes. I'm very definitely on an "up" curve with Perry; around the time of Open The Gate I'd got bored, but now I'm well into CD1 of Arkology, Congos etc. If we're relaxing the boundaries of the question, then surely it's Coxsone?
Woebot
Well-known member
2stepfan said:I still think any argument to leave out Tubby from this list is, given the comments made here, specious.
Nevertheless, in terms of producers , and limiting oneself strictly to roots, I'd probably go for Perry, simply for his work with the Wailers
If we're relaxing the boundaries of the question, then surely it's Coxsone?
Strictly speaking Tubby isn't a producer though is he. He's a mixer. He took riddims from all of these producers and mixed them.
As for Coxsone, well yes he did turn out some roots classics, but by and large he'd run out of steam. I mean, he was such a slouch when it came to Winston Rodney (who hung around for ever trying to get Dodd to pick him up) and besides those two Spear LPs, the Willie Williams LP and a slew of singles, he didnt have much truck with rasta.