Greetings,
Doing Reggae Radio for three decades, you do what you can to mix it up and stay out of ruts.
About six weeks ago, a listener Stephen – hit me up on Twitter asking me if I had heard of an obscure Reggae album by a traditional jazz flute player, Herbie Mann.
Indeed I had. My sister lives in Albuquerque. So we meet there for Christmas now, instead of me having to make a 600 mile drive through the frozen North to get to Montana.
Whenever I go anywhere, I pick up the Yellow Pages (now have to do it from their app.) Where are the Record stores?
ABQ has a good boutique shop called Mecca. Past downtown as you get to Old Town. I chat up the owner on soul reissues and what I call Mutant Dub: Dubstep, lounge, experimental ambient.
The tiny shop crammed with disks and cds lends itself to a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. Along the lines of the movie High Fidelity
Last Christmas I walk in and he greets me. Reaches behind the counter and pulls out a record. “Now that you’re here, maybe you want this”
It was a copy of herbie Mann “Reggae’. Once I saw the vinyl sleeve and knew it was vintage and not recent, all I had to say was put in on my pile.
1974. Love that era of Reggae and Rock. Everything was real music. Not synthed overdubs.
I tend to buy in waves and so I have a queue of about 100 priorities. Vinyl gets played first.
It took me about 6 months for this to jump from the crate to the turntable. Damn good on the riddims and the flute. Nothing soft or cheesy. I don’t know a lot about jazz. But I know an encyclopedia’s worth of Reggae.
When Stephen inquired about this. I dropped the 18 minutes of Side 2 during this week’s Vinyl is Vital segment. Smokey Robinson’s My Girl.
After Tosh and before Marley, that instrumental gem fit hand in glove with the Roots.
3 decades of Smile Jamaica – It’s Reggae when I say it’s Reggae. Gonna play Ella Fitzgerald covering The Cream inna rub a dub style this Saturday!
bless, robt
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-ly 29, 2017 Annotated Playlist: 1 min. 50 sec.
Set 1:
- Bunny Wailer – Rockers; In I Father’s House (Solomonic) ’80 JA vinyl
- Augustus Pablo feat. The Crystalites & Big Youth; Melodica Melodies (Trojan) ’81 UK vinyl dub album of the hour
- Ken Boothe – In the Summertime; Freedom Street (Beverley’s/Jet Set) ’70 – Mungo Jerry cover
- Wingless Angels – Rasta Army; Wingless Angels vol. II (Mindless) ‘96 – Keith Richards, Justin Hinds nyah group; 18 sec.
- The Equators – Police on My Back; Hot (Stiff) ’81 UK ska update of Eddy Grant & the Equals
- Prince Alla – Sensimilla; More Love (Jah Warror) 2002
- Christine Miller & Roots Hi Tek – The Light; 10” (Roots Hi Tek) 2009
Set 2:
- Peter Tosh – Rastafari Is; Honorary Citizen (Columbia/Legacy) Nov. 5, 1982 live the Roxy – Los Angeles
- Jay Tees – Come to Me; 10″ (Music Lab) ’81 JA female duo
Set 3: Best of Smile Jamaica 27+ Years
- Althea & Donna – Jah Rastafari; Uptown Top Ranking (Virgin Front Line) ’78
- Sylford Walker & Welton Irie – Give Thanks and Praise to Jah + Rolling Stone; Lambs Bread International (Blood & Fire) ‘79
- Wailing Souls – Jah Is Watching You; On the Rocks (Greensleeves) ‘83
- Benjamin Zephaniah – Rasta; Rasta (Workers Playtime) ’83 UK dub poet
- E.T & Randy’s All Stars – Ordinary Version 3; Rough Guide to Dub (Rough Guide) 2005 Dub compilation of the hour
Set 4:
- Mike Brooks – Rum Drinker; Classical Anthology (M-10) herbtune
- Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers – 666; Hey World! (EMI America) ‘86
- Christine Adelsi – Babylon Shores; 10” (King Earthquake) 2012 UK militant steppers
Set 5: Vinyl is Vital
Herbie Mann – My Girl; Reggae (Atlantic) ’74 – flute player covers Motown w/ the Tommy McCook Band; Request
<New Orleans Jazz flute + Motown Reggae; 90 sec.>
<Flautist Herbie Mann, Mick Taylor -gits; Albert Lee; Tommy McCook Band: 80 sec.>
Set 6:
- Bob Marley & the Wailers – Natural Mystic; Exodus (Tuff Gong) ’77 original
- Bob Marley & the Wailers – Natural Mystic (Ziggy rmx); Exodus 40 (Tuff Gong) 2017 remix
<Exodus – movement of Bob’s people; 2 min. 45 sec>
<Natural Mystic: Original & Ziggy’s rmx; 40 min.>
- Mikey Ras Starr – Jah Man of Calvary; Fire & Rain (Makasound) 70’s
- Judy Mowatt – I Am Not Mechanical; Only a Woman (Shanachie) ‘82
- Willi Williams & Brentford Rockers– Armagideon Version; Version Dread (Studio One/Tuff Gong) ’82 Studio One Dub Album of the Hour
Set 7:
- Rita Marley – A Jah Jah; Who Feels It Knows It (Shanachie) ‘80
- Dillinger – Crabs in My Pants; Cocaine (Charly) ’83 JA disco
- Tena Stelin – Intelligent Design; 10” (Dub Corner) 2007 UK mutant dub
<Putting the “fun” in Rasta fundamentalism – Tena Stelin, conspiracy theorist/UFOlogist; 40 sec.>
Set 8:
- Thievery Corporation feat. Lou Lou – Time and Space; Temple of I & I (ESL) 2017 DC dubbers w/ female vox: Mutant Dub Set
- Creation Rebel/New Age Steppers – Chemical Specialist (Cherry Red/ON U Sound) ’81 dub to Jah Woosh
- “Woodpecker Sound”
- Jeb Loy & the Oil Wells – Things that Made the U.S.; Wild Paarty Sounds vol. 1 (Cherry Red/ON U Sound) ’81 UK
- David Holmes feat. Sarah Cracknell – Gone (Kruder & Dofrmeister Session TM); This Films Crap Let’s Slash the Seats (1500) ‘98
Words of Wisdom:
Smile Jamaica 