Spent 4/20 having breakfast with a friend. He said, “You almost sound disappointed that asteroid missed hitting Earth yesterday”.
<Asteroid Attack vs 4/20 Smile Jamaica>
I replied that I just am so cranky about corporate media vs. fake news that when the “Mainstream” Media is telling us that asteroid was gonna miss, my natural skepticism kicked in.
Why should I trust the same bunch who told me Hillary Clinton had a 98.3% chance of winning the Presidency
My friend replied, ‘You need to cut back on your fake news intake. It’s making you paranoid.”
<One’s man’s propaganda is Smile Jamaica’s first option news source>
I scoffed. Never! RT, Al Jazeera, Zero Hedge. Fiya bun New York Times, Washington Post and CNN.
I finished my coffee, paid the check and headed home to celebrate the “near miss” by sifting through the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives for a Vinyl Only 420 special on Apr. 22nd.
Better re-calibrate your aim next time, Aliens!
bless, robt
Smile Jamaica Playlist: Jah-pril 15, 2017; 69 sec.
Set 1:
Freddie McGregor – Africa Here I Come; Studio One Roots (Soul Jazz/Studio One) ‘80
Impact All Stars – Java; Java Java Dub (Impact!) ’72 Dub Album of the Hour
The Marvetts – Man From Calvary; Man From Galilee (Tabernacle) ’68 JA gospel w/ female vox
<Jamaican gospe; 41 sec.l>
General Echo – Round the World; Teacher fi di Class (Pressure Sounds) ‘79
Phillip Fraser – Blood of the Saint; Blood of the Saint (Silver Kamel) ‘82
Black Slate – Legalise Collie Herb; Amigo (Ensign) ’80 UK herbtune
Sylford Walker & Welton Irie – Lambs Bread + Lambs Bread Inernational (Blood and Fire) ’79 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
Happy Easter with some high energy Jamaican gospel
Set 2: Wailers Family Tree
Peter Tosh – Don’t Wanna Get Busted; Talking Revolution (Pressure Sounds) acoustic live at KZEL studios 1978 Eugene Oregon – herbtune
<Peter live on KZEL, Eugene, Oregon; 40 sec.>
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Exodus; Exodus (Tuff Gong) ’77 riddim shower (1): vox
<Bob’s Exodus from Jamaica to London; 21 sec.>
I Roy – Commandment I (Exodus); Ten Commandments (Virgin) ’80 UK yellow/picture sleeve vinyl; riddim shower (2): dj
Is Reggae music gospel music? Yes and no. What attracted me to Reggae back in the mid 80s was certainly the Rastafari themed music from stalwarts (pronounced stal-a-watt in Jamaica) like Marley, Tosh and Spear.
Of course there is plenty of non-religious Reggae: love songs, pop and soul covers.
I doubt Reggae would have had such cultural saturation in the West on the backs of novelty hits like “Fattie Boom Boom” and “Israelites” or AM covers with a shuffle beat. Something about Reggae’s heavenly message attracted interested Westerners looking for something exotic and non-mainstream.
In the 70s lots of people in the West opted out of Christianity, (especially Catholicism and Judaism), and went for something new. Some went to cults. Others went for Reggae: Movement of Jah People while also protesting against the “system.” Or the corrupt and greedy “shit-stem” as Peter Tosh called it. Socialism with a small “s”.
Tired of doing the Judeo-Christian bit? Choose: Jim Jones or Haile Selassie
You don’t have to be a Rasta to sing or enjoy Reggae. But the conventional wisdom is that Reggae is identified as a counter cultural exploration of worship of His Imperial Majesty as a Black Jesus. West Africans ripped from the continent, put down in Jamaica in bondage and expected to worship their master’s white god.
Rebelling against that physical and mental slavery, while still preserving Christian traditions, led to Rastafari in Jamaica: Look to a black king crowned in East Africa. The return of Jesus who will lead blacks out of “Babylon” (The West, Jamaica, UK, America, etc.) to “Zion” (Africa or better still Ethiopia.)
I’m not a Rasta. My roots are in Northern Europe and Iran. I consider myself a Rastafari empathizer. Someone who understands and appreciates the religion as a devoted observer. Not a devotee.
The Smile Jamaica formula: 50% Rasta music; 20% Mutant Dub; 20% Seven Leaf; 9% UFOs; 1% Lovers Rock
I grew up a twice a year Methodist: Christmas Eve and Easter. The only time the Nelson family really went to weekly Sunday service was the two years my Dad was on the City Council in Fort Benton Montana.
Not that I haven’t been trying to be a “missionary” for the secular consumption of Reggae music. I celebrate Jah for the inspiration in thousands of Reggae tunes that fill my soul with joy. But I am careful not to endorse HIM out of respect for true believers. I don’t want to be a part of what Jacob Miller complained about: Too much commercialization of Rastafari!
Yours truly, Bobbylon, is a Rasta empthazier. I ‘n’ I look to the heavens for Ancient Aliens. Not Skygods
The reason I bring this up: I had an interview with Jamaican Reggae singer Etana. So I do what I normally do before a phone interview: go on Wikipedia and read up on the artist’s entry.
Her album I Rise starts off with a gospel cover of a brilliant Bob Marley cover tune: Selassie is the Chapel. Itself an update of an old American gospel tune. Covered by Elvis.
Etana’s entry mentioned her recording genres thusly: Reggae, Gospel.
Reggae Singer Etana. Gave me the Hairy Eyeball for calling her a Reggae AND Gospel singer. Mea culpa!
While introducing her to the radio listeners, I casually mentioned Etana was a Reggae and Gospel artist coming to town. She interrupted me and corrected me. She was most certainly NOT a Gospel singer. Her music was not geared to religiosity.
No worries. I did political interviews for 9 years. You don’t have to agree with me to have a conversation.
But when you lead off your album with a Rasta cover of a full on gospel song you can see where I might have been mistaken!; 21 sec.
By the way, I am not religious either. What earthlings worshipped as Skygods were Ancient Aliens colonizing Earth to mine gold to take back to their homeworld, Nibiru, beyond our galaxy.
Set your I watch alarm to 2900AD. That’s when the Anunnaki return to Earth.
Skygods came from here. The 12th Planet. Do not scoff!
In fact Etana the Reggae Singer, meet Etana the Sumerian King
Etana was an ancient Sumerian king of the city of Kish. According to the Sumerian King List, he reigned after the deluge. The list also calls Etana “the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the foreign countries”, and states that he ruled 1560 years.
Ascended to Heaven in a Chariot of the Gods (Erich Von Daniken)
Read this book. It makes sensi to me!
Here is what I have for you during the next 3 hours of Roots Reggae, Dubwize and Gospel; 18 sec.
Annotated Playlist (photos, captions, Reggae History Lessons, soundbytes)
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: May 30, 3015:
Set 1:
Wayne Jarrett – Saturday Night Jamboree; 12” (Dub Irator) ‘80
Bullwackies All Stars – Recording Connection; Black World (Wackies) ’79 Dub Album of the Week
Afrikan Simba + Echo & Prince Livijah – Free Up the Herb + Here Comes the Herbsman; 10″ EP (Reality Shock) 2007 UK; 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcment
“Mother don’t cry. I’ll be alright. I’m going to a better place”
Set 2: Best of 25 Years of Smile Jamaica
Naturalites – Picture on the Wall; Rub-a-Dubble vol. 1 (CSA) ’85 UK
<How Smile Jamaica made this song International: 1; 64 sec.>
<Smile Jamaica and the Oral Tradition; 29 sec.>
Althea & Donna – Sorry; Uptown Top Ranking (Virgin Front Line) ’78 female dj duo
Dennis Brown – So Jah Say; Words of Wisdom (Shanachie) ’79
African Head Charge – Gospel Train; Songs of Praise (ON U Sound) ’90 Mutant Dub/African music hybrid
Not to be confused with the cheap beer. Storytelling: Listen to the bytes above to hear how Smile Jamaica made Picture on the Wall a big Reissue Hit in the SoCal Island community
Set 3: Tribute to Bob Marley
Sister Carol – Dedicated to Bob Marley; Black Cinderella (Heartbeat/Jah Life) ’84
<Rastas would prefer livicate to dead-icate; 16 sec.>
Lone Ranger – Tribute to Bob Marley; On the Other Side of Dub (Heartbeat/Studio One) ’81 bonus track
<No Reggae without Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One Label; 22 sec.>
Culture – Psalm of Bob Marley + Dub of Bob Marley; Good Things (RAS) ’89
Coxsone Dodd – founder of Reggae Music with his Studio One record label; 1932-2004. Thank you!
Set 4: Jamaican Jukebox – 7″ 45 RPM
Jah Blue – Charles Manson; 7″ (Roots International) ’79 JA, not a tribute!
<Charles Manson – Helter Skelter “black people beware”; 56 sec.>
Six Degrees of Smile Jamaica. Lost Tosh acoustic artifact – From Minnesota, to Smile Jamaica to Sacramento to Los Angeles to UK CD
Set 7:
Everton Blender – Bob Marley; Piece of the Blender (Heartbeat) ’96
Trinity – Vampire; Dancehall 2 (Soul Jazz)
<Reggae History Lesson: Dancehall, Jamaica: 1980-1985; 10 sec.>
Too good to wait for Jah-loween 2015
Set 8: Mutant Dub Roots Dawtas
Afro Omega – Show Me the Dub; CD Single (Afro Omega) SLC dubbers
Zion Train – Why Should We Have to Fight; Homegrown Fantasy (China) ’95 UK
Red I feat. Camoi – Lost in Space; Jahdgement Day (Red I) ; 2012 Phillipines dub
Grace Jones – Well, Well, Well + Verison – Hurricane (Wall of Sound) 2011; soul does mutant dub
Alpha & Omega – The Roots; Watch & Pray (A & O) ’88 UK trance dubbers
<Leonard Nimoy – RIP; We return to Space when we die; 17 sec.>
Space Pioneer Leonard Nimoy. Live long and Prosper. Vulcan livication inna Irie meditation
Smile Jamaica is hosted by Robert Nelson on 90.9 FM KRCL in Salt Lake City, Utah (Saturdays, 4-7 p.m. MT). Ark-ives available weekly here at the Smile Jamaica blog.
Smile Jamaica 