Tonight's trail begins at Studio One, where Horace Hinds aka Horace Andy and the Soul Defenders cut this rather brief version of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" -

That cut was not very successful, but in 1973 he remade the tune at Lee Perry's Black Ark studios, backed by a band described as the Lenroy Moffett All Stars. Lenroy Moffatt/Muffat/Moffet is a very obscure figure; he cut a few tunes as a vocalist, including "What It Takes" on Atra, and "I Love You Darling". He was a rather limited vocalist, with an "uptown style", so there is a suspicion that he funded the session rather than being a hands-on producer. It is this rhythm that interests me.

Later in 1973, as many will recall, came the massive oil price hike by OPEC that started a worldwide energy crisis. A small economy like Jamaica was hit hard, as can be heard in tunes like the Wailers "Arab Oil Weapon", and the A-side of this 45 by Winston Thompson aka Dr Alimantado. I've tacked on the B-side "Plead I Cause".

Next into the frame was producer/deejay Pat Francis aka Jah Lloyd aka Jah Lion, who released two cuts on his Teem label, "Sunshine Girl", and the rather more freaky sounding "No Tribal War" - both here.

Dr Alimantado was not finished with the rhythm though. He took his own "Oil Crisis" cut, snippets of the vocal of which can still be heard here, and in 1974 turned it into the utterly bizarre and wholly bonkers "Best Dresed Chicken In Town", apparently inspired in part by a popular commercial on local TV/radio, and released on the Sun and Stars label. Its B-side, "She Wreng Up" is not easy to find - the version I've added here was released on a long-deleted Ariwa LP from 1983, and features one or two frankly silly overdubs

Dr Alimantado, c. 1975