#60's reggae

[sonicandvisualsurprises]

1968

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

The Wild Bunch 1995 Reggae / Roots Reggae / Rocksteady / Dub

First off, let me just say that I am in total awe of this crop of reggae instrumentals from the 60s and 70s here. So much music since has come with so much more fuss and technological advancements, and yet an unscalable pile of the stuff that came out after this doesn't seem to come close to how good a bunch of these simple tunes still are. In a broad sense, all these songs' formulas are pretty simple, but they really still just manage to click so damn well 😌.

From this comp's liner notes:

During the past eight years, Trojan have pioneered the 'Revival' Reggae scene. Our re-issue programme has preserved some of the best vocals ever recorded in Jamaica, but with the emphasis being placed on some of the island's many talented singers in recent years, the musicians have tended to be ignored. This current release reverses that trend by turning the spotlight onto the 'players of instruments', and in so doing we pay tribute to Kingston's legendary session men.

Now, because nearly all of these are straight-up instrumentals, they all pretty much operate in the same way, and each of them seem to have one thing in common that ends up either making or breaking the tune: the lead instrument. Because reggae riddims are inherently repetitive and steady, if left alone, they will naturally get stale. So, it takes a good melody of some kind to be laid atop that riddim in order to lend the song some much needed variety. And in a whole lot of these 27 tunes, that ends up coming to remarkable fruition.

It's hard to even really know where to begin with this album since there's so much goodness to be found within it, but the thick, whistle-ringing improvisational organ of Lloyd Charmer's "Ling Tong Ting" is an absolutely terrific place to start. Then the JJ All Stars get topsy-turvy with the audio channels on "Memphis Underground," by sending the melodic leads exclusively and *very prominently* through the left, and 90% of the riddim through the right; Herman Marquis' "Tom's Version," whose intro I'm pretty sure I've heard sampled in at least one hip hop tune before (Wu-Tang, maybe? It's honestly driving me crazy that I can't put my finger on it), then follows by doing a wonderful job of harmonizing its organ and trumpet, yielding this fully warm and satisfying haze; the legendary Augustus Pablo, who singlehandedly managed to transform the melodica from a mere plaything for children into an instrument with serious gravitas, shows why on a rootsy piece of dub called "Great Pablo;" and then towards the end, we get a bit of a surprise with a piece of gospel-reggae that's actually not an instrumental: the Harry J All Stars "Holy Moses," which is aided by a small set of female singers whose deployment of soul harmonies reminds of the backup singing that can be found on a bunch of Bob Marley hits.

But the closing title tune by the Music Doctors may be both the most remarkable and most fun track of them all, for the simple fact that it uniquely trades its leads between—not things like guitars, horns, and organs—but just bass and drums. And the bassist just seems to carefreely play this laid-back and very recognizable piece of melody from The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back;" it's so good!

So, a phenomenal collection of rare Jamaican reggae instrumental classics here, from the genre's premier label itself, Trojan. Yesterday, I posted about an excellent metal cassette from 1985 that's also called The Wild Bunch, and given how good that that album was, I really didn't think that this one could outdo it, but it very much did!

Highlights:

Selwyn Baptiste - "Mo' Bay" Boris Gardiner - "Memories of Love" The Dynamites - "Phantom" Sound Dimension - "Soul Food" Lloyd Charmers - "Ling Tong Ting" The Aggrovators - "The Sniper" JJ All Stars - "Memphis Underground" Lynn Taitt & The Jets - "Love Me Forever" Herman Marquis - "Tom's Version" The Tennors - "Copy Me Donkey" Winston Wright - "Heads or Tails" Augustus Pablo - "Great Pablo" Harry J All Stars - "Holy Moses" Music Doctors - "Wild Bunch"

[jasonzsongs]

The Jamaicans - Ba Ba Boom (c.1967)

[theunderestimator-2]

Bette Bright with Glen Matlock on bass at the Music Machine in London, as captured by Mick Mercer in 1979.

Bette Bright released a series of new wavey-pop/reggae singles, mostly covers of 60’s girl group songs, between '78-'79 with The Illuminations, a backing band that at the time included Henry Priestman, formerly of the Yachts, Rusty Egan, a former member of the Rich Kids and the DJ at the new romantic temple Blitz, along with Glen Matlock, already an ex-Pistol and a former Rich Kid as well.

"This was around the time that Blondie broke big in the UK, so suddenly lots of singles were being released by women who sounded like Debbie Harry for a quick cash-in, but I don’t think that this was the intent with this one. Also around this time... Bette appeared on the cover of Record Mirror. She also toured around this time and was certainly starting to grab an increasing amount of people’s attention, it now only seemed to be a matter of time before she would finally have some chart success. This was followed in November 1981 by the album “Rhythm Breaks The Ice”, also featuring a few original songs, but it wasn’t a hit. By this point, Bette had started to date Graham “Suggs” McPherson, the frontman of Madness, and in 1981 they got married. They have had two children, and almost 40 years later they are still together..." adamnostalgia.wordpress.com/

(via)

[cleopatrachampagne]

i know i’m far from an expert on history but it always bothers me to see bob marley’s portrait hanging in my local weed shop. like, i’ve loved reggae music since i was young, well before i ever smoked weed, i know listening to music is pretty rad when stoned, and i admit i understand that a lot of prominent figures and concepts idolized by the hippies and revolutionaries of the 60’s and 70’s in the usa eventually became synonymous with drug use, esp marijuana, due to smear campaigns against counterculture so maybe it is a kind of defiance to display it proudly? but while i understand the admiration a lot of disillusioned young people in the usa in the 60’s and 70’s would have felt for the people fighting the class war in jamaica and the reggae music emerging with lyrics about said war but still pushing for peace, for one love, as they worked to topple inequity and corrupt systems while redefining perspectives on race, oppression and intergenerational trauma but how did bob marley become “the weed man” in the cultural consciousness when he was a spokesperson for political change and class revolution? is it only that way in the us? do other countries and cultures see him as more than a stoner icon with his face on rasta memorabilia sold at jacked up prices to college kids who have never even heard of the rastafari revolution, the pan-african movement or the jamaican civil war, idk why but it really does bother me to see a strong voice for peace and change reduced to a face plastered on drug paraphernalia and stoner t-shirts. like… damn. that’s the death of a revolutionary in the capitalist tradition, i suppose. bob marley’s portrait hanging above the bud hut cash register, “grunge” clothing sold by fast fashion corporate hellholes, t-shirts with kurt cobain’s suicide note written on them being sold for 800 bucks a pop, eat the rich stickers for sale on amazon of all places, santa muerte being sold as a goth accessory or a “hardcore” generic tattoo in the us stripped of what she symbolizes to me and many other latina/o people who were raised with mexican neopaganism and folk catholic traditions, sanitized street art commissioned by some silicon valley suit that is purely aesthetics with no heart, no soul, nothing related to the authenticity of artistic vandalism, just imaginary street cred points for a rich dick. i get the same feeling in my stomach seeing the “aesthetic” whitewash of counterculture, the clownery of “alt” culture on apps like tiktok, the cashing in on the suffering of the oppressed for a quick buck and the tragic victory of cementing hippies and beatniks and freedom fighters in the minds of the following generations as degenerate druggies (thanks nixon and crew) that i get when i hear that pop remix of “the hanging tree” and it’s a lot to take in while i’m just trying to buy a box of strawberry cough prerolls.

[sensitive-neuvi-enthusiast]

Hey there❤️❤️ happy valentines bby!!! I saw that your slots were still open for the be mine? valentines event, and I was wondering if I could get a match up?

My zodiac sign is Gemini (moon: Leo, rising: cancer)

My favorite music... mmmhh is a little difficult to point down i gotta be honest. I think I'm quite curious when it comes to music. So i would say, I like to explore many different genres. But currently it's between electronic/ambient music, 70's soul and reggae, and a LOT of 60s music like beatles, beach boys etc.

My favorite jjk character... aggh! Either Nobara, Megumi or Maki (i love them all lots)

And my ideal date would be.. I think something where you can really just be in the moment with one another. Talking, laughing, being quiet without it being awkward. Like driving in the car at night listening to each others favorite songs, taking stupid pictures and trolling the drive thru employee at McDonald's.

Or like some classic thing where you dress up and go to the theater and see a ballet or something (just feeling real fancy❤️)

I hope you have a wonderful day❤️ and I hope this wasn't too much. Tysm🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🫶

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Be Mine ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ Your Match: Nobara

You two just make sense! Giggling and laughing with one another. Pulling pranks or even teasing eachother. You're always going to the movies or going shopping, arms interlocked as you each have your respective slushie. You two just get eachother and we think that's special!

[engineer-gunzelpunk]

Heavy Harry playlist... some tunes for an Antipodean Behemoth (cw: some coarse language)

If in some utterly bizarre alternate universe where he ever was in the Thomas & Friends model series (or in some totally unrealistic fantasy scenario, they do an episode set in Oz which doesn't suck and has Thomas interacting with some local steam engines other than Shane, a gunzel can always dream...) , this would be his theme music.

Or at least his working music.

Full version of the Wake In Fright soundtrack (the weird theremin going boing boing would be his leitmotif)

The following songs are the kind of music my OC Harry likes and listens to:

The important thing is the song, "Going Down" by Coloured Balls, but the visual gives a good impression of the sort of thing my OC version of Harry was doing in the 70s when he started being able to walk around hahahah!

Lore time:

(OC Harry is a Sharpie, the local 60s and 70's Melbourne equivalent to old-school British Skinheads, except they wore close-cropped mullets and listened to this type of rock rather than Reggae and Oi... sometimes they were confused in the media and the subcultures sorta became more or less the same by the 80s... depending on who you ask.)

And this one which is only named for him, why I am not sure...

[lindsaywesker]

Deaths In 2023

January

1: Fred White (67, American drummer, Earth Wind & Fire)

3: Alan Rankine (64, Scottish musician/producer, The Associates)

6: Gianluca Vialli (58, Italian football player/manager)

10: Jeff Beck (78, English guitarist, The Yardbirds/The Jeff Beck Group/Beck Bogart & Appice)

11: Yukihiro Takahashi (70, Japanese singer/drummer, Yellow Magic Orchestra)

12: Robbie Bachman (69, Canadian drummer, Bachman Turner Overdrive)

Lisa-Marie Presley (54, American singer/songwriter, daughter of Elvis, mother of Riley Keough)

16: Gina Lollobrigida (95, Italian actress)

18: David Crosby (81, American singer/songwriter, The Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash & Young)

27: Sylvia Sims (89, English actress, ‘Ice Cold In Alex’)

28: Barrett Strong (81, American singer/songwriter, co-wrote ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’/‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone’

Tom Verlaine (73, American musician/songwriter/producer, Television)

Lisa Loring (64, American actress, ‘The Addams Family’)

February

2: Calton Coffie (68, Jamaican singer, Inner Circle)

3: Paco Rabanne (88, Spanish fashion designer)

8: Burt Bacharach (94, American songwriter, co-wrote ‘Walk On By’/‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’/‘A House Is Not A Home’/‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’)

10: Hugh Hudson (86, film director, ‘Chariots Of Fire’)

12: David Jolicoeur a.k.a. Trugoy The Dove (54, American rapper, De La Soul)

15: Raquel Welch (82, American actress)

16: Chuck Jackson (85, American soul singer, ‘Any Day Now’/‘I Keep Forgettin’’)

18: Barbara Bosson (83, American actress, ‘Hill Street Blues’)

19: Richard Belzer (78, American actor, ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’/’Law And Order: Special Victims Unit’)

Dickie Davies (94, British television personality, ‘World Of Sport’)

23: John Motson (77, English football commentator, ‘Match Of The Day’)

March

2: Steve Mackey (56, English bassist/producer, Pulp)

Wayne Shorter (89, American jazz saxophonist, Weather Report)

3: Carlos Garnett (84, Panamanian jazz saxophonist)

Tom Sizemore (61, American actor, ‘Saving Private Ryan’)

5: Gary Rossington (71, American guitarist, Lynyrd Skynyrd)

8: Topol (87, Israeli actor, ‘Fiddler On The Roof’/’Flash Gordon’)

10: Junior English (71, Jamaican reggae singer)

12: Dick Fosbury (76, American high jumper)

13: Jim Gordon (77, American drummer, Traffic/Derek & The Dominoes)

14: Bobby Caldwell (71, American singer/songwriter)

15: Greg Perry (singer/songwriter/producer)

16: Fuzzy Haskins (81, American singer, Parliament/Funkadelic)

17: Lance Reddick (60, American actor, ‘The Wire’/’Oz’/’John Wick’ films)

23: Keith Reid (76, English songwriter, Procol Harum)

Peter Shelley (80, English singer/songwriter/producer, ‘Gee Baby’/’Love Me Love My Dog’)

28: Paul O’Grady a.k.a. Lily Savage (67, English comedian)

Ryuichi Sakamoto (71, Japanese musician/composer, Yellow Magic Orchestra, composed theme to ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’)

29: Charles Sherrell a.k.a. Sweet Charles (80, American bass player/singer, The JBs, ‘Yes, It’s You’)

April

5: Booker T. Newberry III (67, American singer, Sweet Thunder, ‘Love Town’)

6: Paul Cattermole (46, English singer, S Club 7)

8: Michael Lerner (81, American actor, ‘Barton Fink’)

12: Jah Shaka (75, Jamaican sound system operator)

13: Dame Mary Quant (93, English fashion designer)

14: Mark Sheehan (46, Irish guitarist, The Script)

16: Ahmad Jamal (92, jazz pianist)

17: Ivan Conti (76, jazz drummer, Azymuth)

22: Barry Humphries a.k.a. Dame Edna Everage (89, Australian comedian/actor)

Len Goodman (78, English TV personality)

25: Harry Belafonte (95, American musician/actor/civil rights leader)

27: Wee Willie Harris (90, English rock & roll singer)

Jerry Springer (79, English-born, American TV host)

28: Tim Bachman (71, Canadian guitarist, Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

May

1: Gordon Lightfoot (84, Canadian singer/songwriter, ‘If You Could Read My Mind’)

3: Linda Lewis (72, English singer/songwriter, ‘Rock-A-Doodle-Doo’)

18: Jim Brown (87, American football player/actor, ‘The Dirty Dozen’)

19: Pete Brown (82, poet/singer/lyricist, ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’/’White Room’/’I Feel Free’)

Andy Rourke (59, English bass player, The Smiths)

24: Bill Lee (94, American jazz musician/composer, Spike’s dad, scored ‘She’s Gotta Have It’/‘School Daze’/’Do The Right Thing’

Tina Turner (84, American-born, Swiss singer/actress, ‘River Deep Mountain High’/’Nutbush City Limits’/’What’s Love Got To Do With It?’)

26: Reuben Wilson (88, American jazz organist, ‘Got To Get Your Own’)

June

1: Cynthia Weil (82, songwriter, ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’’/’Here You Come Again’)

6: Tony McPhee (79, English guitarist, The Groundhogs)

12: Treat Williams (71, American actor, ‘Hair’/’Prince Of The City’)

14: John Hollins (76, English football player, Chelsea/Arsenal/England)

15: Glenda Jackson (87, English MP/actress, ‘Women In Love’/’Sunday Bloody Sunday’)

27: Julian Sands (65, English actor, ‘A Room With A View’)

29: Alan Arkin (89, American actor, ‘Catch 22’/’Little Miss Sunshine’)

30: Lord Creator (87, Trinidad-born, Jamaican singer/songwriter, ‘Kingston Town’)

July

3: Vicki Anderson a.k.a. Myra Barnes  (83, American soul singer, Carleen’s mum)

Mo Foster (78, English songwriter/musician/producer)

5: George Tickner (76, American guitarist, Journey)

16: Jane Birkin (76, French/English actress/singer, ‘Je t’aime … moi non plus’, banned by the BBC in 1969)

21: Tony Bennett (96, American singer, ‘I Left My Heart In San Francisco’)

22: Vince Hill (89, English singer, ‘Edelweiss’)

24: Trevor Francis (69, English football player, Birmingham City/England)

26: Randy Meisner (77, musician/songwriter, Poco/The Eagles, ‘Take It To The Limit’)

Sinead O’Connor (56, Irish singer, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’/songwriter, ‘Mandinka’)

30: Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman (70, American actor/comedian)

31: Angus Cloud (25, American actor, ‘Euphoria’)

 August

4: John Gosling (75, English keyboard player, The Kinks)

7: DJ Casper (58, DJ/artist/songwriter, ‘Cha Cha Slide’)

William Friedkin (87, American film director, ‘The French Connection’/’The Exorcist’)

9: Robbie Robertson (80, Canadian musician/songwriter/singer, The Band)

Sixto Rodriguez (81, American singer/songwriter, subject of 2012 documentary ‘Searching For Sugar Man’

13: Clarence Avant (92, owner of Sussex Records/Tabu Records, film producer, ‘Jason’s Lyric’)

Magoo (50, American rapper, Timbaland & Magoo)

16: Jerry Moss (88, music executive, the ‘M’ in A&M Records)

17: Bobby Eli (77, guitarist, MFSB/songwriter, ‘Love Won’t Let Me Wait’)

Gary Young (70, American drummer, Pavement)

19: Ron Cephas Jones (66, American actor, ‘This Is Us’)

24: Bernie Marsden (72, English guitarist, Whitesnake/songwriter, ‘Here I Go Again’/’Fool For Your Loving’)

29: Jamie Crick (57, English radio broadcaster, Jazz FM)

31: Gayle Hunnicutt (80, American actress, ‘Dallas’)

September

1: Jimmy Buffett (76, American singer/songwriter, ‘Margaritaville’)

4: Gary Wright (80, American singer/songwriter, ‘Dream Weaver’/’Love Is Alive’)

Steve Harwell (56, American singer/rapper, Smash Mouth)

8: Mike Yarwood (82, English comedian/impressionist)

13: Roger Whittaker (87, Kenyan-born English singer/songwriter, ‘Durham Town’)

16: Sir Horace Ove (86, Trinidadian-born, English film director, ‘Pressure’)

Irish Grinstead (43, American R&B singer, 702)

25: David McCallum (90, Scottish actor, ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’/’N.C.I.S.’/musician)

28: Michael Gambon (82, English actor, ‘Harry Potter’ movies)

30: Russell Batiste Jr. (57, American drummer, The Meters)

October

2: Francis Lee (79, English football player, Manchester City/England)

8: Burt Young (83, American actor, ‘Rocky’)

11: Rudolph Isley (84, American singer, The Isley Brothers/songwriter, ‘That Lady’)

12: Michael Cooper (71, Jamaican musician, Inner Circle/Third World)

14: Piper Laurie (91, American actress, ‘Carrie’/’The Hustler’)

19: DJ Mark The 45 King (62, DJ/musician/producer, ‘The 900 Number’)

20: Haydn Gwynne (66, English actress, ‘Drop The Dead Donkey’)

21: Sir Bobby Charlton (86, English footballer, Manchester United/England)

24: Richard Roundtree (81, American actor, ‘Shaft’)

28: Matthew Perry (54, American-Canadian actor, ‘Friends’)

November

12: Anna Scher (78, founder of the Anna Scher Children’s Theatre)

19: Joss Ackland CBE (95, English actor, ‘White Mischief’)

22: Jean Knight (80, American soul singer, ‘Mr. Big Stuff’)

25: Terry Venables (80, English footballer, Chelsea/Tottenham Hotspur/England manager)

26: Geordie Walker (64, English guitarist, Killing Joke)

29: Sticky Vicky (80, Spanish dancer and illusionist)

30: Shane MacGowan (65, English-born Irish singer, The Pogues/songwriter, ‘Fairytale Of New York’)

December

1: Brigit Forsyth (83, Scottish actress, ‘Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?’)

5: Denny Laine (79, English musician, The Moody Blues/Wings, songwriter, ‘Mull Of Kintyre’)

7: Benjamin Zephaniah (65, English poet/writer/actor, ‘Peaky Blinders’)

8: Ryan O’Neal (82, American actor, ‘Love Story’/’Barry Lyndon’/’Paper Moon’)

Nidra Beard (71, American singer, Dynasty)

11: Andre Braugher (61, American actor, ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’/’Brooklyn Nine-Nine’/’Glory’)

Richard Kerr (78, English singer/songwriter, ‘Mandy’)

15: Bob Johnson (79, singer/songwriter/musician, Steeleye Span)

16: Colin Burgess (77, Australian drummer, AC/DC)

17: Amp Fiddler (65, singer/songwriter/producer)

[knives-and-lint]

tagged by by @deadgirlsupremacy oh hey, Lucy. 🤘

last song I listened to: Jamaica Ska by Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires. I listen to a lot of 60's ska/rocksteady/reggae mixes on youtube playlists. Because for some reason it's really hard to find this music on physical release around me. 🤷‍♂️

currently watching: the last thing i really watched with intention, was They Cloned Tyrone on Netflix. Which, I cannot say enough good things about and this is me telling everyone to watch it. (also Audrina said Reservation Dogs S3 is out? Now I MUST watch that.)

currently reading: I think I finally gave up on Vampire Weekend. But I have Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard waiting in the wings. And he has yet to let me down for an engrossing literary crime experience.

current obsession: my bike? i just got a bunch of fun accessories for it and am going to tune it up and ride the rest of the weekend. been itching to do so since it all came in the mail this week.

tagging @nuttmeg13 @rahnesinclair @scienter and whoever else wants to.

[krispyweiss]

Jackson Browne at Palace Theatre, Columbus, Ohio, June 3, 2023

With a fat songbook so packed with quality deep cuts and hits that he can’t possibly play all - or even most - of them, Jackson Browne walked on stage unannounced and by his lonesome June 3 in Columbus and kicked off his U.S. tour with …

… a solo-electric cover of Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick.”

It was an unexpected, gutsy and successful move that immediately won over the nearly sold-out Palace Theatre. It elicited warm applause as Browne sang Zevon’s prayer and immediately established his 74-year-old voice is much younger than its chronological age:

Don’t let us get sick, don’t let us get old/don’t let us get stupid, all right/just make us be brave and make us play nice/and let us be together tonight

It set the tone for a loose evening that found Browne engaging with the audience, teasing his guitar tech and heaping well-deserved praise upon the members of his freshly pared-down group.

After the Zevon number, Browne brought out his powerhouse “half-full band” - Greg Leisz (Watkins Family Hour, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros) on lap steel, acoustic and electric guitars; his wife, Mai Leisz, (David Crosby) on bass; drummer Mauricio Lewak; and singers Chavonne Stewart and Alethea Mills (who doubled on percussion) - and got right down to business with the show proper, which was generous across 60- and 90-minute sets.

Saying “I wanna play them all,” but knowing he couldn’t possibly do so, Browne, who accompanied his bandmates on acoustic and electric guitars and piano, did cover 49 years of music making, crafting a setlist that spanned from 1972’s “Doctor My Eyes” to 2021’s “Downhill from Everywhere,” a warning about the oceans’ fragile health and one of many highlights of the evening.

The reggae-tinged “I Am a Patriot” was another. Though released in 1985, the song seems to have intuited where the United States was headed. And Browne added some new lyrics - I ain’t no xenophobe, he sang - to place it even more firmly in the context of 2023.

Band members came and went to suit the songs. Stewart and Mills - who sang beautifully on occasional co-leads and in harmony with Browne, with whom they’ve developed an almost-familial blend - left their riser and joined the songwriter down front for “Until Justice is Real.” Greg Leisz and Browne played as a steel-and-piano duo on “Walls and Doors” and the (half) full band dug into “Running on Empty” so deeply that Browne kicked his leg high in the air and turned to stare down Leisz as he offered his take on the solo made famous by David Lindley, who died earlier this year.

Being the first night of the tour with a new band and a new set, there were a few hiccups. A muffed note here. Some not-quite-honed arrangements there. The occasional false start and botched lyrics. And Leisz’s pedal-steel guitar sat lonely and untouched all evening long, suggesting Browne was calling audibles as the night unfolded.

Someone wanting to hear the records in a concert hall might say these things were evidence of Browne losing his edge. Someone out for the without-a-net experience (put Sound Bites in this camp) might revel in the not-set-in-stone nature that led to such surprises as Browne deciding the first set wasn’t long enough and tacking “For Everyman” on to the end and causing Mai Leisz to run back on stage after assuming break time had come.

The same thing happened to Greg Leisz at show’s end, when Browne opted to play “The Load-Out”/“Stay” and the multi-instrumentalist - who wowed Browne and the concertgoers all evening long - struggled to get his lap steel situated on time. He made it with less than a bar to spare and Browne rewarded Leisz by calling on him to extend his solo, which he did to rapturous applause.

See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.

Grade card: Jackson Browne at Palace Theatre - 6/3/23 - A-

6/4/23

[howlingmoonradio]

May 4th Playlist

I suppose we could have gone with a Star Wars theme of some sort for tonight’s episode, but too much of that available elsewhere and besides, we never were much for SW anyway. You know who is though, my wife and she’s also a huge Royal Family aficionado, and has big plans this weekend around the Coronation of King Charles. So instead we are going to use that event as inspiration for tonight’s mix of great 60′s black soul, ska, blues and reggae from the UK. It made sense to us...

Side A Howling at the Moon-Hank Williams Coronation Street-Top Grant London Here We Come-Rico’s Combo New Direction-Millie Watch the Stars-Dorris Henderson & John Renbourn Sunshine-Shirley Bassey Rora Rora Majo Omo Pupa-Flash Domincii & Supersonics Everything is Go-Cab Kaye I Ain’t Mad at You-Howie Casey and the Seniors

Side B All Night-Screaming Jay Hawkins Keep Your Hands Out of My Pocket-Otis Spann Get Your Head Happy-Champion Jack Dupree Bartender-Laurel Aitken and Bluebeats Rock Me Daddy-Mabel Hillary Green Onions-Shake Keane Spinning Wheel-Maxine Nightingale You’re My Girl-Eldridge Devlin Please Think of Me-Rubert and the Red Devils Coronation Street-Geoff Love Orchestra 

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

100% Dynamite! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady & Funk in Jamaica 1998 / 2015 Reggae / Reggae-Soul / Reggae-Jazz / Funk / Rocksteady

Got a terrific batch of tunes for you all today, provided by top-quality UK label Soul Jazz Records, an outfit that's best known for re-releasing all kinds of crate-dug, dusty funk, soul, and jazz music from the 60s and 70s. Basically, when it comes to the super cool niche that specializes in plumbing the extensive and obscure depths of various musically rich bygone eras, Soul Jazz's slew of compilations are often regarded as being among the best.

And something else that Soul Jazz has specifically been afforded the opportunity to excel at is Jamaican music. In 1998, they were able to launch their acclaimed Dynamite! series, a collection of compilations that someone like Island Records founder Chris Blackwell has referred to as the "University of Reggae." National legend Coxsone Dodd, who ran one of the country's most renowned record labels and recording studios, Studio One, gave Soul Jazz access to their archives, and it's allowed them to put out a near-constant stream of Studio One material since the late 90s.

So, this here is the comp that happens to kick that whole relationship off. First released in 1998 as a set of 14 tracks, it was reissued again in 2015 with five more songs added. And it simply does not disappoint. Two things that you can always come to expect from 60s and 70s Jamaican music are tremendous instrumentals as well as covers of popular songs that are shaped, bent, and made to fit the country's own distinct musical aesthetic. And this compilation supplies that pairing in droves—though not exclusively—by jumping from songs like The Marvels' 1972 reggae rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady," or Bunny Clarke's 1975 version of William DeVaughn's all-time soul classic, "Be Thankful for What You Got" (🎶Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean, gangsta Whitewalls🎶 ), to hypnotic instrumentals from the likes of Lennie Hibbert and his vibraphone-laced "Real Hot," and Jackie Mittoo's keyboard-and-organ-funk groove, "Stereo Freeze."

Now, I mentioned Chris Blackwell labeling this whole series as the "University of Reggae" before, but if you look at the tracklist here, this album doesn't really seem to represent your typical 101 class. There's no Marleys, no Wailers, and no Peter Tosh. I'd contend that most of these songs, while they're made by popular Jamaican artists—though not household names among the reggae-uninitiated—they don't tend to be among their most well-known hits. Some of these were released as A-sides on singles, but most of them appear to be non-singles and deep cuts off of different LPs.

So, for the most part, this isn't really one of those surface-level, already-done-dozens-of-times greatest Jamaican hits types of comps; nothing appears to be *especially* obscure, but most of these fantastic selections aren't what you'd expect to be on a reggae comp either. But then again, this whole strategy is what has gone on to make Soul Jazz Records such an exceptional label for three whole decades in the first place.

Either way, while I wouldn't consider this a Jamaican music starter pack, if you don't really know the first thing about it, this set will show you, to an extent, what it was capable of sounding like in two of its most impactful and formative decades, as it took cues from the US, with funk, R&B, soul, and jazz, and also concurrently developed its own unique sound through a succession of ska, rocksteady, and then eventually, reggae.

An amazing compilation of old school Jamaican fare, from a...dynamite...label whose output is always worth checking out. And to push this lame pun even further, I am totally...blown away...by this first installment in this long-running series. I admittedly don't have a sizeable collection of Jamaican comps, but this is definitely the second best one I've ever come across, and by far the most eclectic. 

(The best one I've ever heard is the Shanachie label's The Power of the Trinity: Great Moments in Reggae Harmony, by the way. On both Spotify and YouTube.)

Highlights:

Toots & the Maytals - "Night and Day" The Marvels - "Rock Steady" The Upsetters - "Popcorn" Bunny Clarke - "Be Thankful" Tommy McCook - "Green Mango" Lennie Hibbert - "Real Hot" Johnny Osbourne - "We Need Love" Horace Andy - "My Soul" Jackie Mittoo - "Stereo Freeze" Cedric "Im" Brooks - "Give Rasta Glory" Dub Specialist - "Granny Scratch Scratch" Bunny Brown - "I Love the Way You Love" Phyllis Dillon - "Woman of the Ghetto" Lloyd Robinson - "Cuss Cuss" Sound Dimension - "Drum Song" Ken Boothe - "Is It Because I'm Black?"

[alexadd77]

The Maytals - Never Grow Old Lp 1964 (2016) Slop'n'Mash - Europe Limited edition 500 Copies with 4 extra tracks.

El debut de los Maytals originalmente editado por Studio One un solido trabajo que se cuenta entre los mejores de la banda, todo un discazo de Ska Jamaicano de los 60's.

Mi edicion al parecer es un bootleg aunque con buen sonido, manteniendo el diseño original en portada y contraportada e incluyendo cuatro temas extras. Asi que de momento nos conformaremos con el 😀

#maytals #themaytals #33rpm #reggae #jamaica #ska #lp #tootsandthemaytals #classicalbum #album #vinylcollection #blackmusic #vinylcollectionpost #torens #vinyllovers #vinylcover #artwork #record #recordcover #recordcollection #recordcollector #music #hit

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[passingthetime]

Hello! This is your Santa for this year :) how are you doing?

I've been taking a look at your blog and I saw that you really like art and that you'd like to paint more, are you an artist?

Also, how would you describe your music taste? I know this is a hard question, so you can just recommend some songs as well if you feel like.

I hope you're having a nice day! I will be signing as 🫖 in case you have another Santa

Hi!! ☀️

Lovely to "meet" you! I'm doing great (though down with a bit of a cold), how are you doing?

I'm not sure I'd call myself an artist - I am striving to be one though! I've just recently discovered a new style I love creating in, so we'll see what comes of it. Do you also like art?

Hmm... For about four years or so it was really easy to describe, I used to listen to classic rock pretty much exclusively. Various subgenres of that - be it psychedelic rock, blues rock, proto-punkbor NWOBHM - but always classic rock.

Now I am more eclectic in my music taste, a lot of Latin rock came in from various decades between the 60s and today. Also cumbia and salsa and the like a bit. Not to mention ska and reggae or just contemporary world music...

What is your music taste like? Do you listen to mostly classic rock? If yes, what subgenre(s)/band(s) do you like most; if not, what else?

[staxoftrax]

NOVEMBER 29th NEW ARRIVALS!!

So I brought in my boxes of new arrivals a day early this week as I will be in the store both Friday & Saturday this weekend. I'm hoping to run into some old friends and music buddies. I did bring in the cool Christmas LP's that I've gathered through the year like the pictured Supremes album and the classic Phil Spector Christmas LP. Also more great Reggae & International records from my friend's collection like the pictured highlights Fela Kuti - Zombie, the great Ethiopians Trojan label UK comp, the killer Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile, and an original Indian label copy of a Ravi Shankar LP. Also pictured are some very cool 60's Specialty label R'N'B faves by Don & Dewey and Clifton Chenier. Also in the mix were two Brian Eno Ambient records (one pictured) and an original Led Zeppelin Three album. And lots more so stop in tomorrow or Saturday to see what's up. And next week as well as I have 2 batches of new purchases in the vinyl pipeline!

Thanks - Josh Ferko / Stax of Trax Records