Suffering...

Hello people,

Very long pause with this blog, sorry for that!
I have been travelling with my family for a time, back to my mother's land in Argentina, enjoying a superb summer in the middle of Northern winter, how nice is that?

So, back to sharing some of the boxes treasures.

Today post is a quite obscure 7" from the early 80's (1980 or 1982, not sure as you'll notice on the label the date has been corrected by hand).
Reggae is a "sufferer's" music and the tune is an illustration of that (also check the earlier fabulous Kingstonians tune "sufferer", and many, many more on that topic). It is called Suffering and it's an effort from the not very prolific (under his own name) singer Paul Freeman : 4 singles on discogs, 2 self produced on that same Sun Shine Records imprint.
It seems, according to their Wiki page, that Freeman joined the band Knowledge at some point, another sufferer classic band!

Lyrics are not very original (no food to eat, no clothe to wear, suffering down in the ghetto...) but the riddim is heavy early 80's stuff.
Slow drumming, heavy bass and nice organ ornamentation here and there makes it a perfect example of that era best riddims.

Hope you like it as I do, and if you have any information about the singer or the band performing on that session, please share your culture!

To download both sides, just cut/paste the link below the label photos in your browser and click the "download" button.

https://mfi.re/download/jyywpckb4zcoa4k/Paul_Freeman_-_Suffering_-_Sunshine_Records_7.zip


Peace to one and all,

Ben

Untamed

Hello people,

A quick one again, but what a tune!
Tonight feature has been long enough in my want list and I was very happy to finally get my hand on a good original copy of it.
This is a self production by the great, still quite unknown, Mighty Abijans.
For a full review of the band's output, I invite you to have a look at the nice post Digikiller did when reissuing almost all of their discography recently, see here : http://digikillerrecords.blogspot.fr/2014/03/untamed-history-of-fashioneers-mighty.html

I also urge you, if you like it as much as I do, to go and get yourself a copy of it, to support the artists and those who reissue these top notch tunes.
Here is a link directly to reissue label :
http://dkr.bigcartel.com/category/swing-bird

Well enough promotion for the repress, this is the original bizness and it's a tough 7" nugget. As Honest Jon's put it : "defiant, sublime roots on a dreadnought rhythm, with full dub. Jaiq Sterling, Leonard Billings, Kingsley Irons and Glenford McLeggan with the Roots Radics at Channel One, in the early 1980s. Killer."

Here is what I understand of the lyrics, corrections are welcome!

Ever since I been born
Loneliness and poverty
Have been the ...and friends everyday
So no bother with your pitty
For I no licky licky
And no bother with your lasso
For I no su su su so (I no whisper)
Untamed!
And you can't (kill we?) 
When you're down and need a friend
Ain't no one to take your hand
Leave it to the dog(?)
And there's a lot to take in
Fullfill I...no heart fe get
But I was born in the wild open
The sun, the rain and cold
Them pression can't take me in

So no bother with your pitty

For I no licky licky

And no bother with your lasso

For I no su su su so (I no whisper)

Untamed! (I'm wild so wild)

...

At the end a DJ seems to take over but then the song vanishes quickly (would be interesting to get the DJ version...does anyone know if it is the same that appears on the 12" issued later on N1 Rock label?).

Discogs mentions a 12" issue on Swing Bird but I have never seen even a picture of it, does it exists?

Version is classy Roots Radics, best Channel 1 period, with guitar (with heavy effect) and organ  in and out of the mix, some cool percussions in the back, well balanced dub!

Top draw stuff!

Share The Mighty Abijans - Untamed - Swing Bird 7''.zip - 15 MB

As always, click on the download link under the labels (I say blue but I just noticed that it finally appears red on the blog...) to listen to the full song and version.

More to come soon hopefully,

Peace to y'all

Ben

Goombay sounds for my Pap's

Hello people,

As winter is coming (according to Game of thrones and to the snow in my yard) and news from earth are not that good, let's try to have some fun with music from Bahamas.

George Symonette was the king of that specific kind of calypso from Nassau (more info about the style here :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goombay).
This LP is a good reflect of the fun and good humor carried by that style, and is also a "madeleine de Proust" to me, as my dad used to play an old tape of it.
I have been searching for this one for a long time now and was very pleased to finally got my hand on it for a few bucks, thanks to Paperstax NY based auctions.

The copy is in very good condition and sounds great even though it was issued in 1956!

As you can expect from calypso, the songs are a mix of "earthy humor", to quote the backcover text, and sexually orientated jokes like the favorite tune of mine Freckles (first tune on B side).

Hope you like it , summer vibes to enjoy your winter, perfect to sip a good aged Caroni rum by an open fire when it's cold outside, trust me.

Share George Symonette and his Goombay sextette - Goombay Rhythms.zip - 67 MB

As always, click on the blue link above to DL the whole album, sit back, relax and have a good listening.

Specially livicated to my old man, bon anniversaire Papa!

Peace,

Ben

Reggae gone Int.

Hello People,

 A quick one tonight, one tune I love from a great early eighties album.
This tune is very representative of what I think is a specific kinda thematic you will find in reggae music : a song that celebrates reggae music itself, or a substyle of it, or the feelings this music inspires.

Splash it out (see here : ...) was a celebration of the dancehall parties you found at that time, this one is about reggae spreading all over the world, a style of music finally enjoyed everywhere.

There are quite a few tunes about that topic (Reggae exprence from the Adoms treo for example).
The title of tonights feature is explicit, it's a tune from Delton Screechie's Suffering in the ghetto LP called Reggae gone int
The LP was issued in 1982 as Moa Ambessa MALP 002, a very young label at that time.
The lyrics are not complicated or very interesting but the mix is crazy stuff, the engineer should had fun on the console doing this one !

Share Delton Screechie - Reggae gone international.mp3 - 9 MB

Hope you like it, please play this one loud with lots of bass.

More to come soon,

Peace,

Ben

Super heavy stuff (Yabby You, Tommy McCook and UF30E...)

Hello people,

I am spending some time alone at home,  both girls are asleep, so I enjoy some reggae 7'' and digitalize some of my collection for future posts.

To match with the old school roots mood, I pulled out of the bar a very old Demerara rum from Vellier selections, rare and precious, with mysterious name : UF30E...

This is what remains of an experiment conducted when planting a special sugar cane variety at Uitvlugt on the Field (UF) on their 30 East (30E) plantation zone in 1985. They distilled the cane separately from the rest of the crop (Uitvlugt distillery was still active then) and put it to age on the spot (Guyana).

Luca Gargano from Velier bought what was left of it (3 barrels) after 30 years and bottled the precious nectar at cask strenght (60.7%).
I had the chance to buy one of the 814 bottles ever produced (with an angel's share of more than 90%, there is not much left in the barrel after all that time under the tropics...) and I am sipping some while working for you, cheers!

This is a hell of a drink, with all the nuts flavors due to long aging in wood, but plenty fire as it is not diluted. This liquid stands the test of time like no other : ripped banana, burnt sugar, precious spices explodes in your mouth and stand there for a long moment.
If you can spot one, I recommend you acquire it, you would do yourself a favor, this is a must!

To match the level of the drink, here is a superb instrumental roots 7'' I was willing to transfer to digital for a long time.

I had the chance to get it for not much $$$ as it is mislabelled.

Actually this is the great Tommy McCook doing is version of Yabby You "Jah Vengeance". This is called "Revenge" and it is one of my favorite Yabby You (aka Vivian Jackson) output as producer.

Tommy blows is saxophone in a jazzy mood, beautiful trumpet respond, the whole horns section repeats the theme with that laidback drumming paterns...Roots perfection!

To be complete, B side is a quite effective King Tubby's dub. Deep mixing skills, instruments playing hide and seek, some ghost voices (harmonies) if you listen carefully. 

Reverb and Echo use demonstration from the master to render this superb dub piece, love it, can listen to it ten times in a row... 

Share Tommy McCook - Revenge - Mislabelled Prophet 7''.zip - 13 MB

As always, click on the blue link below the labels to listen to the tune or download it.

I sincerely hope you like it as much as I do.

Peace to you all, 

Ben

Jah is my light

Hello there,

Just a quick one to let you know i am still there...
Not much info on this artist I'm afraid, just two 7'' on that same imprint according to Discogs, from 1978, the best period for roots.
It also seems these are the only output from that label, produced by a certain Carl Wolf.
I love the "little birds" sounds during the intro, nice nyabinghi drumming also on the dub side, quite well mixed.
Pretty rare and enjoyable, such as the label design itself.
The lyrics are pure Rasta inspiration as the title shows, speaking of the beauty of mother Africa, and the powers of Jah.
It seems that the dub side has some cracking, hope you won't mind.
Enjoy and don't hesitate to share if you know more about the artist or label.
Peace to ya all,
Ben

Share Walyn Rickets - Jah is my light 7'.zip - 16 MB

Unity Stars - Africa

Hello people,

Just a quick post tonight for a tune I like since long but only recently got an original copy in my box.

Sir Collins was a London based sound system operator and producer since the early days of British reggae scene (he launched his Collins down beat label in 1967!).

The tune featured tonight came on another imprint in 1976 and is classic super roots material.
Slow pace, nice drumming, slavery repatriation themed lyrics, echo put to good use, all ingredients are there.

What makes this number special to me is the clarinet solo and ornaments on side A, and the thematic difference between the two sides.

Side A is about remembering the slavery days (basically : they take us from Africa, "can't you remember" somehow like Burning Spear's Slavery days) when side B is about repatriation : "Africa oh Africa is calling, take off all your baggage, get on that freedom train. We gonna start with Ethiopia where we all will be free...".
Side B is more like part 2 of the tune than a straight version, it's therefore relevant to hear both, which you will find by cut/pasting the dropbox link below the label scans.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4asr8jstyi5wa5m/Unity%20Stars%20-%20Africa%20-%20Nice%201%20label7%27%27.zip?dl=0

As always, if you can, please buy records to support the artists. Sir Collins has reissued this nice piece which you may find here (hum, it seems that the reissue itself is now expensive also...) :

http://www.discogs.com/Unity-Stars-Big-Dread-Unity-Stars-Africa-Africa-Is-Our-Home/release/3816979

As always, it's nice to share this with you all and it's also nice to hear what you think, so please feel free to comment, add more info, or whatever!

Love to each and everyone,

Ben