Jamaican reggae hits in Reggae Music

"Trojan Box Set: Jamaican Hits [Box]" (07/09/2002) Reggae Various Artists, Sanctuary (USA)Recorded between 1960 & 1973. All tracks have been digitally remastered. A few years ago the Trojan label put out a two-volume series of two-disc box sets titled The History of Trojan Records. They were beautifully packaged and included extensive liner notes, and sold at full-line price. The latest instalment in the mid-priced Trojan Box Set series provides an economical alternative to those earlier twofers for those who have to indulge their love of reggae on a budget. Starting with some of the earliest reggae recordings in 1960 and ending as reggae came into its classical period around 1973, this no-frills box provides an excellent overview of reggae history at three-for-two pricing. The chronological arrangement is handy, and the tune selection, while not perfect, is very good: indisputable classics include "Housewives Choice" by Derrick Morgan Patsy Todd, the deathless "Honor Your Mother and Your Father" by Desmond Dekker, the Maytals' "54-46 That's My Number" and the very dread "Trenchtown Rock" by Bob Marley and the Wailers. There are a couple of clunkers (good luck listening all the way through the borderline-atonal "Satisfaction" by Carl Dawkins), but no more than a couple, and for a 50-track program that's a very good batting average. Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson

"Love Is All I Had: A Tribute to the Queen of Jamaica" (11/23/2004) Reggae Dillon, Phyllis, Sanctuary (USA)Personnel: Phyllis Dillon (vocals). Liner Note Authors: Mike Atherton; Michael Atherton. A reluctant pop star if ever there was one, Phyllis Dillon balanced a recording career in Jamaica with a job in the U.S. working in a bank. Love Is All I Had is the most comprehensive collection of her work to date, packed to the brim with a staggering 29 cuts of vintage rocksteady and early reggae, all cut with Duke Reid for his Treasure Isle imprint. The earliest songs from Love Is All I Had date from 1967 (with the exception of Dillon's 1966 self-penned debut, "Don't Stay Away"), and exude an innocence common in the best sides from the Shirelles, Lesley Gore, and exponents of the girl group sound. Dillon's cover of Bettye Swann's "Make Me Yours" is such a song, while her original "It's Rocking Time" would help to define the rocksteady era itself. Although she will always be associated with rocksteady, Dillon recorded some great reggae as well. While her take on the Grass Roots' "Midnight Confessions" and role-reversing cover of Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby" as "Eddie Oh Baby" haven't aged too well, her pulsing cover of Marlena Shaw's "Woman of the Ghetto" remains a dancefloor classic. No matter what she's singing, though, it's hard not to fall in love with her voice, making even touristy cuts like the randy "Don't Touch Me Tomato" worth hearing. ~ Wade Kergan

"Real Cool: The Jamaican King of the Saxophone '66-'77" (04/05/2005) Reggae McCook, Tommy, Sanctuary (USA)Personnel: Tommy McCook (saxophone); Ernest Ranglin, Lyn Taitt (guitar); Herman Marquis (saxophone); Gladstone Anderson (piano); Neville Hinds, Winston Wright (organ); Jackie Jackson (bass guitar); Hugh Malcolm, Arkland "Drumbago" Parks (drums). Authors: Tommy McCook; Herman Chin-Loy; I-Roy; Lloyd Brevett; Rico Rodriguez. Tenor saxophone player Tommy McCook was a pivotal member of Jamaica's legendary Skatalites in the mid-'60s, a band that, although they were together for only 14 months, completely defined the instrumental template for ska, mixing in big band jazz sensibilities with Latin and samba rhythms and buru drumming to create the first of Jamaica's many distinct pop styles. But McCook's influence on the island's music doesn't end with the disbanding of the Skatalites in 1965. He moved quickly on to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio, where he assembled the the Supersonics, a session band that had a big hand in slowing down ska and morphing it into Jamaica's next rhythmic phase, rocksteady, which is where this two-disc anthology picks up the story in 1966. Membership in the Supersonics, as with most of the island's studio aggregations, was loose and fluid, but generally included guitarists Lyn Taitt and Ernest Ranglin, organists Winston Wright and Neville Hinds, pianist Gladstone "Gladdy" Anderson, drummers Hugh Malcolm and Arkland "Drumbago" Parks, bassist Clifton Jackson, plus the best horn men the island had to offer, all led by McCook on tenor sax (and sometimes flute). As the slower, cooler rhythms of rocksteady took hold, McCook, always a gifted arranger, was able to take full advantage of the musicians at his disposal, and crafted soulful and jazzy backdrops to the countless vocal rocksteady hits that issued from Treasure Isle. Reid eventually realized the stand-alone value of these backing tracks, and most of the first disc of Real Cool is made up of them (the disc kicks off with a couple of manic Caltone ska cuts before giving way to rocksteady), including the title track, "Real Cool," "Soul Serenade," "Second Fiddle," the moody (and unlikely) "Ode to Billy Joe," and the delightfully jazzy "Ranglin on Bond Street." The Jamaican music scene has always been a restless one, and McCook and company moved on in the mid-'70s to work with other producers, most notably Bunny Lee, whose dub-influenced cuts are featured on the second disc of this anthology, along with occasional sides produced by Winston Niney Holness ("Palm 9 to Keep in Mind"), Alvin Ranglin (the funky "Bad Cow Skank") and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Cloak and Dagger"). As such, the second disc probably is the stronger of the two, with light-as-air jazz-dub selections like "The Right Track" drifting by in the eerie, druggy spirit of the times. Through it all there is McCook's steady sax work, thick and solid, but never willfully intrusive, and his remarkably versatile arrangements, which would go on to be re-versioned repeatedly. Real Cool makes a perfect compliment to Trojan's Skatalites & Friends, which could be viewed as the ska prequel to this set. Together these two generous compilations pay tribute to the handful of brilliant jazz musicians who orchestrated the rhythms and the feel of Jamaica's greatest pop era. ~ Steve Leggett