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The Upsetter

Blood and Fire are well gone, sadly. Pressure Sounds is putting together a new collection of Yabby U tunes but it is on hold for a month or so while his wife sorts out the probate.
 
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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@ringo and ska, you've probably seen this before but I'll put it here anyway:

First 5 mins features Jack Ruby doing road-side auditions...can you recognize any of the 'prospects'? (I can't)

The rest of the film well worth watching - I'd only ever seen brief clips before, notably Lee Perry at the controls inside the Black Ark. Also featured: Heptones; inside Joe Gibbs' studio; Jimmy Cliff; Joe Higgs; Mighty Diamonds on stage (in 'militant' army surplus gear!) doing 'Right Time'; inside Randy's record store; Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus; Abyssinians; U Roy on stage; Jacob Miller & Inner Circle...etc etc!
 
shifting gears said:
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.
...
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That's a real pity cos their 'products' were consistently high-quality - the packaging, artwork, liner notes, everything. I realise they must have been more expensive to produce than the average CD/LP but I'd assumed there was a sufficiently large worldwide 'roots reggae' market...what a shame. Thank G-d Pressure are still going!
 
saw this earlier this year, but wasnt conscious of Jack Ruby so missed it was him - still lots to get to know closely for me... nice to be kept busy!
great footage in this whole thing... top documentary
 
Bit of excitement in Upsetter land as the never released track Play On Mr Music, shown being recorded in this documentary ( Roots, Rock, Reggae)...


...has now surfaced

though im not quite clear exactly where its come from, but who cares! sounds great
 
ska invita said:
Bit of excitement in Upsetter land as the never released track Play On Mr Music, shown being recorded in this documentary ( Roots, Rock, Reggae)...


...has now surfaced

though im not quite clear exactly where its come from, but who cares! sounds great
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!! Ooh!! Great find. Been searching for that for a long time. Excitement !!
Wonder where it came from? Buried somewhere in Lee Perry's seemingly-endless pile of old tapes?

Going to convert that straight away to MP3...and while we're on the subject, I've been feeling a bit guilty about the amount of wonderful old reggae I've been getting onto my phone for free, via Youtube-MP3 converters (although knowing the dodgy state of JA licensing/copyright back then, there's no assurance that if I bought re-press vinyl no money would make its way to the original artists)

Question...Does anyone know of any Jamaican or other charities that help old reggae/rocksteady/ska musicians? Closest I could find was making a donation to the Alpha Boys' Home, or Gregory Isaacs Foundation, but neither, whilst laudable, seem quite right in terms of helping ex-musicians.
 
Something to do with a DVD documentary that came out, and was on there somewhere, but it sounds like it need editing together? ive gleaned that from a couple of youtube comments...

scalyboy said:
Question...Does anyone know of any Jamaican or other charities that help old reggae/rocksteady/ska musicians? Closest I could find was making a donation to the Alpha Boys' Home, or Gregory Isaacs Foundation, but neither, whilst laudable, seem quite right in terms of helping ex-musicians.
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I dont know about that, but have to salute your sentiment... the Alpha Boys donation does sound like a great cause.
Broke ex-musicians is a serious issue... cant imagine anything really exists, as who is to say who would deserve the money?
 
ska invita said:
Something to do with a DVD documentary that came out, and was on there somewhere, but it sounds like it need editing together? ive gleaned that from a couple of youtube comments...



I dont know about that, but have to salute your sentiment... the Alpha Boys donation does sound like a great cause.
Broke ex-musicians is a serious issue... cant imagine anything really exists, as who is to say who would deserve the money?
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http://www.bethlesser.com/support/

Author Beth Lesser endorses this lot

The Jamaica Association Of Vintage Artistes & Affiliates (JAVAA)
Oakton Park. Entertainemnt. Complex;
57 Hagley Pk. Rd.
Kgn. 10
Tel /Fax: (876) 908-4464
E-mail: javaa_jm@yahoo.com
 
Not bad, musically it's right up there with their other Black Ark material, but lyrically it's quite weak. Can't touch classics like Crying Over You and Mr President. There's no message there, no fire, Sibbles has nothing to say, though I must confess to a personal dislike of any song featuring the themes "I like reggae music / Play Mr Music" etc. Smacks of lazy song writing, especially coupled with the unimaginative filling of a few lines about smoking ganja.

Nice to hear, albeit slightly pitched down, but I can see why Scratch didn't put it out at the time.
 
ringo said:
Not bad, musically it's right up there with their other Black Ark material, but lyrically it's quite weak. Can't touch classics like Crying Over You and Mr President. There's no message there, no fire, Sibbles has nothing to say, though I must confess to a personal dislike of any song featuring the themes "I like reggae music / Play Mr Music" etc. Smacks of lazy song writing, especially coupled with the unimaginative filling of a few lines about smoking ganja.

Nice to hear, albeit slightly pitched down, but I can see why Scratch didn't put it out at the time.
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Maybe because my first exposure (like others) to it was by seeing the in-the-studio foootage, I'd thought of it as an improvised jam, a spontaneous composition, which explained the lighweight lyrics. I still love it though, the musicianship is fine, and I am always a sucker for songs where the musicians appear to be enjoying themselves (Mikey Dread springs to mind)
 
scalyboy said:
Maybe because my first exposure (like others) to it was by seeing the in-the-studio foootage, I'd thought of it as an improvised jam, a spontaneous composition, which explained the lighweight lyrics. I still love it though, the musicianship is fine, and I am always a sucker for songs where the musicians appear to be enjoying themselves (Mikey Dread springs to mind)
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Yep, I reckon it was spontaneous. Agree about seeing musicians enjoy themselves, and I'm aware that my own prejudice regarding lyrical content is not a widely held one :)
 
scalyboy said:
Maybe because my first exposure (like others) to it was by seeing the in-the-studio foootage, I'd thought of it as an improvised jam, a spontaneous composition, which explained the lighweight lyrics. I still love it though, the musicianship is fine, and I am always a sucker for songs where the musicians appear to be enjoying themselves (Mikey Dread springs to mind)
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ringo said:
Nice to hear, albeit slightly pitched down, but I can see why Scratch didn't put it out at the time.
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yeah i agree with all of that - what really makes it interesting for me is hearing it untreated in the studio compared to a mixed version...
 
ringo said:
Yep, I reckon it was spontaneous. Agree about seeing musicians enjoy themselves, and I'm aware that my own prejudice regarding lyrical content is not a widely held one :)
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I think it's that line: "the chalice is burning, the cameras are rolling..." that makes it sound just made-up-on-the-spot for the benefit of the 'Roots, Rock, Reggae' camera crew. Only those who were present in the studio know for sure. But we can agree it's not the Heptones' finest lyrical hour...

If, as you suggest Ringo, the reason he didn't release it at the time was because of the weak lyrics (quite plausible IMHO), do you know whether Scratch ever used the instrumental for someone else to voice over it?
 
ringo said:
Yep, I reckon it was spontaneous. Agree about seeing musicians enjoy themselves, and I'm aware that my own prejudice regarding lyrical content is not a widely held one :)
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Oh I don't know, I can see where you're coming from. In my case, it's lyrics about weed that get my goat - as if reggae and smoking were synonymous...Youtube comments can be very aggravating in that respect :mad:

Another pet peeve (although this is harder to identify) is 70s material where the lyrical content seems to be rehashing tired Rasta platitudes without genuine belief or feeling...I guess Rasta and Rasta-oriented lyrics were the in-thing, hence waggonists...having said that I can't think of any examples at the moment :facepalm: - only the opposite, people who you can tell were dead sincere in their belief, e.g. IMHO Fred Locks, Prince Allah.

Am I making any sense?
 
scalyboy said:
I think it's that line: "the chalice is burning, the cameras are rolling..." that makes it sound just made-up-on-the-spot for the benefit of the 'Roots, Rock, Reggae' camera crew.
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good point!

scalyboy said:
Another pet peeve (although this is harder to identify) is 70s material where the lyrical content seems to be rehashing tired Rasta platitudes without genuine belief or feeling...
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if you consider how many records got cut, its almost inevitable there'd be a fair amount of by the numbers days - cant win them all
 
ska invita said:
if you consider how many records got cut, its almost inevitable there'd be a fair amount of by the numbers days - cant win them all
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True, true. And I suppose I ought also to factor in the extreme poverty, whereby music might be one of the only ways out - who can blame artists for giving it a bit of the "I&I/roots/peace n love/spliff/Babylon" if they thought it might help their tune hit the charts?
I think that's why I find Joe Higgs' lyrics so refreshing - some unexpected & original themes there.
 
Agreed Scaly - when Rasta lyrics became fashionable many Rastas got quite upset. For many Rasta has nothing to do with the entertainment business. Makes sense, many sound systems could only perform at a venue with the OK from the local area leader, so there is an immediate association with gangsters. Many old time reggae people repeat the line "reggae a badman business". Plenty of artists have also been gangsters, most notably Ranking Dread but lots more. And how many others were just interested in music, or girls, or trying to earn some money to survive? Almost all were expressing Rasta sentiments at one time because that was fashionable and sold records. Not surprising it wasn't well received by the true believers.

Love Joe Higgs :cool:
 
ringo said:
Agreed Scaly - when Rasta lyrics became fashionable many Rastas got quite upset. For many Rasta has nothing to do with the entertainment business. Makes sense, many sound systems could only perform at a venue with the OK from the local area leader, so there is an immediate association with gangsters. Many old time reggae people repeat the line "reggae a badman business". Plenty of artists have also been gangsters, most notably Ranking Dread but lots more. And how many others were just interested in music, or girls, or trying to earn some money to survive? Almost all were expressing Rasta sentiments at one time because that was fashionable and sold records. Not surprising it wasn't well received by the true believers.

Love Joe Higgs :cool:
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Very interesting Ringo. Yes, Ranking Dread is an extreme example, but the 'badman-reggae connection' could be said to go back to Duke Reid and his pistols...Was it Tappa Zukie or Big Youth who used to be a JLP enforcer? Prince Far I was a hard nut too, wasn't he, used to be a doorman IIRC? Who else is there?
 
scalyboy said:
the 'badman-reggae connection' could be said to go back to Duke Reid and his pistols...
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but badman-reggae is different to badman-rasta (in theory), for reggae as a sound makes no claims towards 'righteous' behaviour


ringo said:
For many Rasta has nothing to do with the entertainment business.
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Saw this posted the other day - an appeal to disassociate all Bobo Shanti-ites from reggae music

 
ska invita said:
but badman-reggae is different to badman-rasta (in theory), for reggae as a sound makes no claims towards 'righteous' behaviour
Saw this posted the other day - an appeal to disassociate all Bobo Shanti-ites from reggae music
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"Reggae is death - Rastafari is life..."
Blimey. Pretty uncompromising!
 
scalyboy said:
Very interesting Ringo. Yes, Ranking Dread is an extreme example, but the 'badman-reggae connection' could be said to go back to Duke Reid and his pistols...Was it Tappa Zukie or Big Youth who used to be a JLP enforcer? Prince Far I was a hard nut too, wasn't he, used to be a doorman IIRC? Who else is there?
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The list is endless, purely because party partisan politics was such a huge part of Jamaican music during the 70's and into the 80's that it was hard to escape. Tappa used to hang about with Ranking Dread, Errol Dunkley etc in Hackney and had a fearsome reputation. All sorts of artists met their end that way, such as Henry Junjo Lawes, who was shot in Harlesden in a crack related incident. George Phang who ran the Powerhouse label from the 80's on and produced hits like Half Pint's Greetings was an area don right up until the Dudus troubles a couple of years ago, not sure if he took his place again afterwards. Of those who survive Leroy Smart was an infamous bad man.

Some details of recent runnings here:

http://www.bloodandfire.co.uk/db/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42205&p=300157&hilit=passa#p300157

Duke Reid's reputation as a tough cookie is slightly different in that we was a former copper who liked to shoot his guns a lot. Coxsone's Downbeat was always known as a badman sound, and the third of those big sounds was Prince Buster's - a former boxer with a strongarm reputation.
 
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