Rodigan, toghetter with the guys behind Trojan records and Chriss Blackwell are those who brought the music outside the Jamaican scene and made it mainstream and created a big income stream for the people of the jamaican ghetto's, that's why they got that huge credit with the jamaicans.I know all that except who recorded the Stalag.
The joys of having had access to BFBS Radio which had a weekly show hosted by the great David Rodigan.
Even my Jamaican friends here say that Dave is the greatest reggae DJ there is even though he is as white as a fishbelly and dances with all the grace of a drunken stork. There is only one radio DJ who comes close to Dave and that is a guy from the JBC but even though Dave is based in the UK he got all the latest releases first.
The first time I've seen Sly&Robbie live they were part of Peter Tosh's Word, Sound & Power band and later with Black Uhuru, Taxi Gang etc but you never were left with any doubt who the real stars of those shows were!
The tickets and posters actually read: 'Sky & Robbie present...'
Chriss Blackwell is a native born (white) Jamaican (with an english id) btw, and already in his student years (1958) he released music (in Jamaica) on his Astronaut label (that was shortly later renamed to Island records)...
I went to a Wailers concert a couple of months ago. Bob Marley has been dead for almost 42 years, but the band still exists, albeit with none of the original members. It turned out that they have a Dutch lead singer at the moment, it was quite a surprise when he addressed the public in Dutch.
Never felt that way about A. Barrett. In fact i think it was why i like dub so much, the repetitive basslines... sort of continuity with what i liked into Ministry's 'The mind is a terrible thing to taste' or 'Psalm69'.
nope, he started in ska times (before rocksteady), his first nr 1 hit (As the Wailing Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) in Jamaica was this one in 1964, produced by Lee Perry for Studio One (Lee was working as producer for Studio one still), and with the Skatalites as backing band.About Bob Marley,
He started in 'Rock Steady' iirc. Which could explain too why there is strong rock influences in his later effort.
Thanks to you UK peoples to have spread the words all over Babylon!
And the rock influences were from Chris Blackwell, who tried to make the reggae more accessible for a white audience by doing (subtile) overdubs with rock musicians in the UK on the jamaican recordings Bob Marley supplied (recorded at the Black Ark or Randy's 17 studios, always with Lee Perry as producer/engineer). Lee Perry made demo mixes of those tracks, and they were remixed by people in the UK under supervision of Chris Blackwell and Bob Marley to sound like they sound today. But of each tune there is also a jamaican mix, made by Lee Perry, for the local market (pressed on single like the used in Jamaica, and with a dubversion on the back). Those are hard to find today, and extremely expensive when you find those 7 or 10" vinyl singles. They were on the Tuff Gong label of Bob himself or on Black Ark labels of Lee Perry (but mostly Tuff Gong).
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That "family man" in jamaica means he is taking care of all his children, and the "baby mothers" (like they call it there) of his children. I'm rather sure it's not only with one girl altough i don't know the specifics. Rasta's find that important, while many others make children and dissappear later and don't look after them anymore. Being a family man is a title of honour for rasta's (and today also for many others) there, as you take your responsibility as a father, whoever the mother is, not that you're monogamic.
Peter Tosh met Bunny and Bob at Joe Higgs who gave free lessons in '62 and organized them into a vocal group.
Tosh taught them to play instruments turning them from a vocal group into a proper band and introduced them to Rastafarianism. Bob re-joined later after he returned from living in the USA for 2 years in '67. After their record contract with JAD was sold to Island Chris Blackwell (or as Tosh called him 'Chris Whiteworst') pushed Bob into the front because Bob was more digestable to a white audience being mixed race, less political and less confrontational.
Eventually Bunny and Peter got fed up and left.
The only Wailers tune in my playlist is Stop That Train with Peter on lead vocals.
Tosh taught them to play instruments turning them from a vocal group into a proper band and introduced them to Rastafarianism. Bob re-joined later after he returned from living in the USA for 2 years in '67. After their record contract with JAD was sold to Island Chris Blackwell (or as Tosh called him 'Chris Whiteworst') pushed Bob into the front because Bob was more digestable to a white audience being mixed race, less political and less confrontational.
Eventually Bunny and Peter got fed up and left.
The only Wailers tune in my playlist is Stop That Train with Peter on lead vocals.
I'm an absolute fan of the guy: first heard him in Massive Attack around 93 iirc. WTF? Is it a girl or a man? Is it natural tremolo?
WHO IS IT? Lol.
Both my kids LOVEs him and start to dance whenever they recognise him. I'm proud of it ( hey they dislike Alien Jourgensen... legacy is not always where you think it'll happen. lol)!
WHO IS IT? Lol.
Both my kids LOVEs him and start to dance whenever they recognise him. I'm proud of it ( hey they dislike Alien Jourgensen... legacy is not always where you think it'll happen. lol)!
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Still one of the best nights out I had was after I moved to Birmingham was a do organized by The Twelve Tribes in Handsworth.
I got an idea that it might be something special when I saw all the coaches from all over the UK in the parking lot.
A wonderful experience with kids running around and great food. Their nights were colour coordinated and that night was themed in pink with Rastas walking around in pink 3 piece suits! Didn't have anything pink, the best I could must was a black t-shirt with the company logo covering the chest and luckily the maker was called 'Think Pink!', the dude at the entrance just laughed and said he liked my style.
Inside it was set up as a sound clash with a DJ at either end of the hall. Dennis Brown turned up at some point.
It's right up there with the opening night of the SO36 in Berlin(West) with David Bowie in attendance but in typical Berlin fashion at the time nobody gave a toss, he had to queue up for his drinks like everybody else.
I got an idea that it might be something special when I saw all the coaches from all over the UK in the parking lot.
A wonderful experience with kids running around and great food. Their nights were colour coordinated and that night was themed in pink with Rastas walking around in pink 3 piece suits! Didn't have anything pink, the best I could must was a black t-shirt with the company logo covering the chest and luckily the maker was called 'Think Pink!', the dude at the entrance just laughed and said he liked my style.
Inside it was set up as a sound clash with a DJ at either end of the hall. Dennis Brown turned up at some point.
It's right up there with the opening night of the SO36 in Berlin(West) with David Bowie in attendance but in typical Berlin fashion at the time nobody gave a toss, he had to queue up for his drinks like everybody else.
I agree, and he is still recording and touring. His last album was released on On U Sound about a year ago and it's another gem. There is also a dub album from it.
On U-Sound.
I missed sessions with Adrian Sherwood in the first big studio i worked in... some month sooner and i could had been present during the mix of one of Elephant Sound System's album ( formerly known as 'Treponem Pal' - a french industrial band which evolved into dub like most of this guy at that time).
The better of this kind of mutating bands being Mike Harris's project Scorn ( founder/former drumer of Napalm Death, member of Painkiller with B.Laswell and John Zorn).
Talking about Laswell the New-Yorker's way:
Another New-Yorker ( it's considered 'illbient' but to me it's dub):
I missed sessions with Adrian Sherwood in the first big studio i worked in... some month sooner and i could had been present during the mix of one of Elephant Sound System's album ( formerly known as 'Treponem Pal' - a french industrial band which evolved into dub like most of this guy at that time).
The better of this kind of mutating bands being Mike Harris's project Scorn ( founder/former drumer of Napalm Death, member of Painkiller with B.Laswell and John Zorn).
Talking about Laswell the New-Yorker's way:
Another New-Yorker ( it's considered 'illbient' but to me it's dub):
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Favourite concert recording
This is mine, start to end just awesome. Loyd Parks does an amazing job on the old basslines. He has gone on to replace Robbie in a new band with Sly
Even with his playing, the human touch from note to note is beautiful. I really enjoy their kind of playing. I love sequencers, but in reggae, the bassline is the loudest singer and quickly gets boring if played like a robot. Weird thing is, Robbie did covers of some wailers dubs, and they sound just as sequenced
Even looking back through this thread, it's the vocalists that get all the credit. I really feel that the Taxi Gang did not get the recognition that they deserved. But they always stayed in the background, pushing their vocalists forward
This is mine, start to end just awesome. Loyd Parks does an amazing job on the old basslines. He has gone on to replace Robbie in a new band with Sly
Even with his playing, the human touch from note to note is beautiful. I really enjoy their kind of playing. I love sequencers, but in reggae, the bassline is the loudest singer and quickly gets boring if played like a robot. Weird thing is, Robbie did covers of some wailers dubs, and they sound just as sequenced
Even looking back through this thread, it's the vocalists that get all the credit. I really feel that the Taxi Gang did not get the recognition that they deserved. But they always stayed in the background, pushing their vocalists forward
Speaking of vocalists
When I drove a Taxi in Sydney, The rank in front of Mens Gallery was my favourite. One of Sydney's biggest nightclub was across the road from it. Coming up Pitt Street, I would switch to this song and turn up the volume. My Taxi had a sub and Robbies bassline would echo off the concrete canyon that is Pitt Street
You pull up on the last vacant spot on the rank and work your way forward or have customers walk down the rank to your car
When I drove a Taxi in Sydney, The rank in front of Mens Gallery was my favourite. One of Sydney's biggest nightclub was across the road from it. Coming up Pitt Street, I would switch to this song and turn up the volume. My Taxi had a sub
and Robbies bassline would echo off the concrete canyon that is Pitt StreetYou pull up on the last vacant spot on the rank and work your way forward or have customers walk down the rank to your car
Get up, stand up, War, Crazy baldhead, Survivors, Buffalo soldier, Zimbabwe, Africa unite, Babylon system with lyrics like:
"The Babylon system is the vampire,
Sucking the children day by day.
Building church and university,
Deceiving the people continually.
Me say them graduating thieves and murderers,
Look out now - they are sucking the blood of the sufferers"...
I never would have guessed Bob Marley was less political and less confrontational.
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