Haunted House for Hallowe'en

Windel "Field Marshal" Haye is one of the most obscure figures in late seventies reggae. He cut three tunes for Studio One in 1979, one called "Flood Victim" on a remake of "real Rock", one called "Herb and Roots Style"on a new rhthm, that namechecked the then popular funk instrumental "Granny Scratch Scratch", and this being the other. The money he made from his brief time in the studio paid for a one way ticket out of Jamaica. He no longer records and is believed to be a Christian now.

His style was in the Lone Ranger/Brigadier Jerry mould, involving a sly wit - this tune references Ranger's vampire related hit "Barnabas Collins", itself based upon the vampire from "Dark Shadows". Ranger himself first cut it on the "You Don't Care" rhythm, then recut it in 1979 on the "My Conversation" rhythm, originally cut on the Uniques by Bunny Lee; this tune rides Cornel Campbell's cover of that song. There are two 12" cuts available, this one, and an eight minute long one with a rather uninspired dub.

The shorter cut is better, although this vinyl has a scratch at the start.

For those who are interested, this is Lone Ranger on Studio One, on Slim Smith's "You Don't Care" (itself borrowed from Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions' "You'll Want Me back", a hit for Major Lance) rhythm.

EDIT: I see that Lone Ranger's Techniques label cut, produced by Winston Riley on the "Conversation" rhythm that was a hit in 1979 was actually posted this time last year - see http://mog.com/Baudolino/blog/225515