An upful, radiant, chugging version of the McFadden & Whitehead, by way of Harry J, strung out on flute and Syndrums.
Superb, under-the-radar, late-seventies roots. Beautifully sung, punchy, serious-minded; but under-stated and natural.
‘The world is getting dread… dreader dread… so stand up, and look up… for the time is so hard… harder times to come.’
Crucial bunny.
Heavy lovers, a Kush Dan I production.
Rock ‘n rolling Reid. With a Little John.
Wicked early-eighties Wackies, unsteady and moody, with a Hudson connection.
Irresistible mid-eighties dancehall vibes from Music Mountain Studios.
Early-eighties UK roots fire originally rolling out of Peckham in South London, on the Kim label, by way of Jay Dees record shop in the High Street.
Both sides are deep, reverberating, hypnotic, zonked, dread, Wackies-style murder.
The CD adds the Majority Rule album, also from 1978.
Family Man and Jimmy Riley had worked together in the late sixties — a Hippy Boy and a Unique — way before this terrific collaboration in tough, anguished sufferers, woozy with the natural mystic, around the same time as Cobra Style. Signature Wailers music-making seals the deal, with classy, burning horns.
Ritchie McDonald from the Chosen Few rides Glen Brown’s stunning Dirty Harry rhythm.
Dark, haunted, portentous singing — a dream-like blend of Barry White and Keith Hudson — over some of the heaviest, most concussive reggae music of all time.
On the flip, Tommy McCook props up the body and kills it again.
Almighty, off-the-scales roots. Completely unmissable.
“Tune into the king of sounds and blues, that you will never refuse, you gots to pick and choose before you lose. On the Pantomine label. Crossroads, Caledonian Place, you know where. Do it to it, Gods Sounds, y’know.”
Sublime, masterful singing — poetic, polyphonic, evocative sufferers — over a stately and atmospheric Java excursion, more sombre than mystical. Super-soulful. Ace.