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scalyboy said:
I just listened to the dub side. Liking how the bass is foregrounded in the mix; I always tell people who say dub bores them, cos it has no vocal melody line - "listen to the bass - that's your melody". And sometimes it's the drums an all!
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...the biggest problem for people bored by it is that they aren't listening to it anywhere near loud enough... its music deliberately built spartanly so it doesnt clash at volume...
 
Both are represses, the original was on a blue and white checked Romeo label, it went for £249 in June! The red label one came in the 80's, very crisp pressing, the Rootical Dubber is quite noisy and not as loud iirc. The red repress already goes for up to £40, but is the one to have assuming you don't find the original lying about for a fiver :)

btw it's Horace Martin on vocals.

300719325476.jpg
 
Some of the other 7" represses on that Rootical Dubber site are quite tasty too...been listening to the 1 minute demos...

ringo said:
Both are represses, the original was on a blue and white checked Romeo label, it went for £249 in June! The red label one came in the 80's, very crisp pressing, the Rootical Dubber is quite noisy and not as loud iirc. The red repress already goes for up to £40, but is the one to have assuming you don't find the original lying about for a fiver :)

btw it's Horace Martin on vocals.

300719325476.jpg
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scalyboy said:
Some of the other 7" represses on that Rootical Dubber site are quite tasty too...been listening to the 1 minute demos...
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Yes, Africa Awaiting It's Creators got a repress on that label too didn't it, and maybe even one of the legendary Trevor Byfield tunes - Burning Bush I think.

btw there's a repress out of Trevor Byfield's "Tell Me That You Love Me" - normally sells for upwards of £300 because of it ridiculously mental dub, you should all check it out :D
 
ringo said:
Yes, Africa Awaiting It's Creators got a repress on that label too didn't it, and maybe even one of the legendary Trevor Byfield tunes - Burning Bush I think.

btw there's a repress out of Trevor Byfield's "Tell Me That You Love Me" - normally sells for upwards of £300 because of it ridiculously mental dub, you should all check it out :D
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as well as unity i ordered this, also on the unity riddim


A few of their represses were sold out unfortunately
 
ringo said:
According to Roots Knotty Roots production on "Tell Me That You Love Me" turns out to be one of my favourite producers, Lawrence "Jack Ruby" Lindo who produced so many of Burning Spear's classics after he parted from Studio 1.
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he didnt do Garveys Ghosts did he?
 
need to check out more of his work.... know the name, but not conscious of whats what.... any pointers welcome ringo ;)
 
ska invita said:
need to check out more of his work.... know the name, but not conscious of whats what.... any pointers welcome ringo ;)
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For LPs these are all good (though not heard the Kiddus I or Boothe LPs, still on my wants list):

  • Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey (1976)
  • Burning Spear - Garvey's Ghost (1976)
  • Burning Spear - Harder Than The Best (compilation of recordings from 1975–1977)
  • Burning Spear - Man in the Hills (1976)
  • Justin Hinds & the Dominoes - Jezebel (1976)
  • Justin Hinds - Just in Time (1978)
  • Kiddus I - Graduation in Zion (compilation 1978–1980) - produced some tracks
  • Ken Boothe & Tyrone Taylor - Two of a Kind (1987)
  • Various Artists - Black Slavery Days (The Sound of St. Ann's) (recorded 1975, released 1981)
  • Various Artists - Jack Ruby Hi Fi (1981)
  • Various Artists - Jack Ruby Presents the Black Foundation (compilation of 1970s recordings)
  • King Tubby & Errol Thompson - The Black Foundation in Dub (dubs of the above album)
On 45 there are loads of great tunes, many on Island or his own Wolf & Fox labels.

Spect you know the Spear stuff. I'd start with Black Slavery Days, an LP I play all the time :) Then Jack Ruby HiFi. The Black Foundation LPs should still be widely available, the rest a bit trickier.
 
ringo said:
According to Roots Knotty Roots production on "Tell Me That You Love Me" turns out to be one of my favourite producers, Lawrence "Jack Ruby" Lindo who produced so many of Burning Spear's classics after he parted from Studio 1.
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Ah! Jack Ruby! one of my all-time favourite dubs is - I think - one of his: Joe Higgs' 'More Slavery'...does this sound like one of his?
 
ska invita said:
...the biggest problem for people bored by it is that they aren't listening to it anywhere near loud enough... its music deliberately built spartanly so it doesnt clash at volume...
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Interesting point - it is music that seems to have created expressedly to be listened to at loud volume...whilst I do listen to a lot more reggae at home or on phone, the same tunes sound completely different (and better) when you feel the bass etc at a sound system. The spatial element comes into play, whereby the bass is physically heard and felt in one place, whilst trebly sounds - like vocal or hi-hat - are heard as if coming from a completely different location in the venue.

I go to some Northern soul dos, too, and it seems to me that the tunes there don't sound so markedly different when heard loud - more exciting, yes, but not significantly different. Could it be that 60s soul records were designed to be listened to at home, on little record players, whereas reggae, bluebeat, ska and whathaveyer were designed - from the very origins of the music - to be played at a dance?

Or do reggae sounds just have better speakers than the soulies'? ;)
 
scalyboy said:
I go to some Northern soul dos, too, and it seems to me that the tunes there don't sound so markedly different when heard loud - more exciting, yes, but not significantly different. Could it be that 60s soul records were designed to be listened to at home, on little record players, whereas reggae, bluebeat, ska and whathaveyer were designed - from the very origins of the music - to be played at a dance?
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60s soul was mixed for radios i think, so it was all about the mids and tops... even more so for 50s rock and roll - means its sounds great on a phone - the 21st century transistor radio!

I think Im right in saying that it wasnt till the 70s (disco) that tracks from the US were mixed for soundsystems
 
All reggae 45s are mixed and also mastered when cut to vinyl specifically to sound good on sound system. Until the 80's and after that nobody in Jamaica had a record player and reggae wasn't played on commercial radio, so in a dance on a sound system was the only place to hear the records.
 
ska invita said:
60s soul was mixed for radios i think, so it was all about the mids and tops... even more so for 50s rock and roll - means its sounds great on a phone - the 21st century transistor radio!

I think Im right in saying that it wasnt till the 70s (disco) that tracks from the US were mixed for soundsystems
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Next time I'm at a soul do I'll have to compare the sound in the classic Northern room (60s generally) with the 'modern' or 'Blackpool Mecca' room (often no more modern than the 70s!)
 
scalyboy said:
Next time I'm at a soul do I'll have to compare the sound in the classic Northern room (60s generally) with the 'modern' or 'Blackpool Mecca' room (often no more modern than the 70s!)
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i think 70s was much more advanced in terms of studio mixes - people had hi-fis at home, clubs had better soundsystems, new technology came in to studios (bigger desk and more mics for a start) etc, so a much warmer, rounder sound in 70s soul compared to 60s soul - some of which was done with a one mic in the middle of the room vibe.

Really interesting to read about Phil Spector's Wall of Sound recording techniques - specifically designed to work over AM radio and come out of a tranny
 
ringo said:
For LPs these are all good (though not heard the Kiddus I or Boothe LPs, still on my wants list):

  • Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey (1976)
  • Burning Spear - Garvey's Ghost (1976)
  • Burning Spear - Harder Than The Best (compilation of recordings from 1975–1977)
  • Burning Spear - Man in the Hills (1976)
  • Justin Hinds & the Dominoes - Jezebel (1976)
  • Justin Hinds - Just in Time (1978)
  • Kiddus I - Graduation in Zion (compilation 1978–1980) - produced some tracks
  • Ken Boothe & Tyrone Taylor - Two of a Kind (1987)
  • Various Artists - Black Slavery Days (The Sound of St. Ann's) (recorded 1975, released 1981)
  • Various Artists - Jack Ruby Hi Fi (1981)
  • Various Artists - Jack Ruby Presents the Black Foundation (compilation of 1970s recordings)
  • King Tubby & Errol Thompson - The Black Foundation in Dub (dubs of the above album)
On 45 there are loads of great tunes, many on Island or his own Wolf & Fox labels.


Spect you know the Spear stuff. I'd start with Black Slavery Days, an LP I play all the time :) Then Jack Ruby HiFi. The Black Foundation LPs should still be widely available, the rest a bit trickier.
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I want them, but by G-d some of these are expensive. Are Blood & Fire still doing re-releases? :) or have they gone out of the CD business - the online shop looked a bit funny the last time I looked, and IIRC there have been no new (re-)releases for a while :confused:
 
scalyboy said:
I want them, but by G-d some of these are expensive. Are Blood & Fire still doing re-releases? :) or have they gone out of the CD business - the online shop looked a bit funny the last time I looked, and IIRC there have been no new (re-)releases for a while :confused:
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Pretty sure blood & fire as a reissue program reached the end of the line some years ago now - though happy to be corrected if I'm wrong!

Seem to remember hearing it was the Yabby U 'Jesus Dread' vinyl box set that put the brakes on the label - ive got one and it's bloody beautiful but it must have cost an absolute mint to put together.

Steve Barrow sells a lot of vinyl on eBay these days and manages to command some very high prices at times on records which frequently sell for much less in other seller's auctions - a perk of being a well-established and respected reggae historian, I guess!

Only just found this thread... Nice picks here - the Danny Hensworth 'money man' is one of my favourite deep roots tunes , got a very crackly original press!

Will post up a scratch tune when I'm at a computer, can't work out how to embed YouTube from tapatalk on my phone...
 
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