Cody B
Cody B
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Roots Reggae 101

Posted about 5 years ago
Hello Moggers,I would love to see your picks for an Essential Roots Reggae ListI'll start with these (by no means is this meant to be my top 5, just a starting point)The Congos-Heart of the Congos (Blood and Fire)Singers and Players-Revenge of the Underdog (On-U Sound)Burning Spear-Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost (Mango 2fer)Yabby You- Jesus Dread 1972-1977 (Blood and Fire)Tribute to Jackie Mittoo (Heartbeat)
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Comments (16)

  1. CrashPryor
    CrashPryor says here's a couple: African Anthem - Mikey Dread True Democracy - Steel Pulse New Chapter of Dub - Aswad East of the River Nile - Augustus Pablo Burnin - the Wailers The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff Check It - Mutabaruka
    Permalink posted 12/19/2006
  2. Kid Charming
    Kid Charming says I would add this to the list: Satta Massagana — The Abyssinians
    Permalink posted 12/19/2006
  3. MarcoDisko
    MarcoDisko says Mmm, so many... These are a couple of my current favourites. Linton Cooper - You'll Get Your Pay Larry Marshall - Run Babylon
    Permalink posted 12/19/2006
  4. Arcadefunk
    Arcadefunk says the tide is high - the paragons rivers of babylon - the melodians money in my pocket - dennis brown ba ba boom - the jamiacans screaming target - big youth ....these are all some of my personal favorites....
    Permalink posted 12/19/2006
  5. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says I and I couldn't live without "Funky Kingston" by Toots & the Maytals.
    Permalink posted 12/19/2006
  6. ivylander
    ivylander says Lee "Scratch" Perry's 3-CD "Arkology" would be a critical addition, though there's some fat on it. Are compilations fair game on your list? Because early reggae is so much a singles medium, it's hard to find albums from that period by one particular artist that convey the depth and breadth of the music. There are so many collections that gather up great steaming slabs of reggae. Sadly, the best one I ever had is now lost forever. In the early Nineties I was in Montego Bay on my way out of town toward the mountains, and my Jamaican friend stopped in the suburbs at a little strip mall. Turned out there was a record store owned by none other than Derrick Harriott, the pioneering Jamaican music producer. Among the items on offer in his store were self-made (not necessarily his self, I realize) compilation cassette tapes of early reggae. rocksteady and ska. I bought several of them, which proved to be not only the perfect soundtrack for that time in Jamaica, but for my life for years thereafter. They ultimately got packed away, as cassettes did back then when the CD player took over the world. By the time we moved house a few years ago, at least one of the boxes had vanished. Still depresses the hell out of me. Sorry to get off track here, but the point is that the Harriott tape was the single best roots reggae compilation I ever came across.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  7. sistren
    sistren says Roots/Rockers Spear & The Black Diciples- Man In The Hills U-Roy- Dread In a Babylon Jacob Miller - Tenament Yard Peter Tosh- The Essential Peter Tosh Culture- Two Sevens Clash John Holt-Police in Helicopter Linval Thompson- Anthology- Black Uhuru- Liberation Carlton Livingston-Trodding Hugh Mundell- Rasta Have The Handle Denis Brown- Revolution Johnny Osborne- Truth and Rights Steel Pulse- Tru Democracy Midnight- Jubelees of Zion
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  8. ivylander
    ivylander says Great call on Two Sevens Clash.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  9. Sureshot
    Sureshot says I'm not sure if King Stitt qualifies as Roots Reggae but I love 'Fire Corner' and 'Herbman Shuffle'. Someone mentioned U-Roy earlier, his work is great.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  10. ivylander
    ivylander says Yeah, there's kind of a blurry line sometimes. Where does rock steady stop and reggae begin? How does ska fit into the equation? (You can certainly argue that it's very much present in all reggae, in the same way that blues are in rock. But does that qualify it as Roots Reggae? I'm not trying to be difficult, just honestly trying to puzzle this out.) If you're in a liberal frame of mind on this question, I'd think you would also want to include the jazzy ska folks (Skatalites, Baba Brooks, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook), the smooth harmony groups (Clarendonians, Paragons), and guys like Alton Ellis or Justin Hinds and the Dominos. Two groups that definitely belong in any mention of Roots Reggae are the Heptones and the Mighty Diamonds. "Right Time" is one of the most sublime reggae songs ever.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  11. Cody B
    Cody B says Ivy, For the purpose of the post rock steady and ska will now be included.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  12. Cody B
    Cody B says I'm definately looking for CD's so comps are fine,Mr.Ivy. Here are a couple more additions Bunny Wailer-Blackheart Man The Royals-Pick up the Pieces
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  13. ivylander
    ivylander says A few to get things started: "Rocksteady Soul," a a very fine collection of Duke Reid cuts from the Treasure Isle label. "Treasure Isle Meets Tip Top." Don't know much about this. A Jamaican woman I used to work with burned it for me. Lots of stuff I never heard from reasonably familiar names (U Roy, Marcia Griffiths, The Gaylads, The Melodians) "Roots of Reggae: Volume Two, Rock Steady." Pretty readily available, on Rhino.A very solid collection. Marcia Griffiths, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart: The Best Of Marcia Griffiths, 1969-1974." From Trojan, and unbelievably good. "Scandal Ska." A tie-in with the English movie from the Nineties about the Christine Keeler affair, but in truth an excuse for some out-of-the-way cuts from Roland Alphonso, Ernest Ranglin, Don Drummond, a very young Robert Marley and more. Desmond Dekker, "Israelites: The Best Of." The title tune belongs in any Roots Reggae survey, obviously. So does his follow-up, "It Mek." He was so great.... "Channel One: Hit Bound! The Revolutionary Sound" Nice collection of rarities on Rounder. "Original Club Ska." Maybe the classic ska collection. Anything from the "Intensified!" series.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  14. ivylander
    ivylander says Oh, sorry. One more. The four-CD "Deep Ska" set is a stone bargain. I ordered it last year from one of the garden-variety books-and-music Websites for something like 20 bucks. Lotsa good tunes. Also, look up a terrific MOG post from Mullytron not long ago on the subject of Trojan box sets.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  15. mullytron
    mullytron says I like the X-Rated Trojan Set, not because it's necessarily desert-island quality, but becasue it's so funny. Also been on a big Paragons kick. "Sparkle of My Eye" is a great, great love song.
    Permalink posted 12/20/2006
  16. Scotch
    Scotch says Ivylander covered it so well, there's not much I can add. Maybe some of them are obvious to the more worldly in the room: Any of the "Dynamite" compilations from Soul Jazz Records Naturally - Marcia Griffiths The Two Tone Compilation: A Checkered Past (It's not Reggae, and it's not first wave, most of it is very well known, but it's great) I could go on with great 2nd-wave acts, but I won't.
    Permalink posted 03/06/2008

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