Chewing Pine

Money Troubles

Even for those of you that are gainfully employed, you got ‘em. They’re obviously not unique to industrialized nations, but when Jamaicans sing about ‘em, it almost seems alright.

The Pioneers – “Money Day” (Produced by Leslie Kong, 196X)

Larry Marshall – “Money Girl” (Studio One, 1968)

Mikey Dread - “Friend and Money” (Produced by Joe Gibbs, 197X)

Dennis Brown – “Money in My Pocket”, Top of the Pops (1979)

Dillinger (a.ka. The Loving Pauper) – “The Fool and his Money” (Produced by Bunny “Striker”  Lee, 1977)

The Itals – “Material Gain” (Engineered by Sylvan Morris, 1983)

Thanks to Firebladder1 and all of his records.

Johnny Osbourne – Truths and Rights (Heartbeat, 2008)

Johnny Osbourne, like many of his countrymen, emigrated to Toronto during the ‘70s. Osbourne’s relocation came after a short stint as lead singer of The Wildcats in 1967 and upon his arrival in Toronto, the singer fell in with other transplanted Jamaican musicians that coalesced around Thunder Sound Studio. During his time in there, Osbourne released a number of singles as well as recording an album with Ishan People.

Moving back to Jamaica in ‘79, Osbourne began recording for Coxsonne Dodd what would become Truths and Rights. Much in the same way that Blue Note afforded Madlib the luxury of raiding its vaults for his 2003 Shades of Blue, Dodd was able to make use of the previous fifteen years of music that Studio One had amassed for the singer to croon over.

Very frequently, Osbourne is referred to as one of the progenitors of dancehall. And while future release may lean more towards that genre, Truths and Rights sounds like nothing more than a roots record. Not to dismiss the album, but for having such an overtly political title, there’s still lover’s rock (“Can’t Buy Love”) and songs touching on musical affinities (“Sing Jay Stylee”).

Jamaica’s musical tastes follow the country’s historical changes. Musicians in the ‘50s called for independence. As the ‘60s progressed music moved away from love songs and ballads to embrace political and religious themes dealing with equality, while the ‘70s continued this lyrical bent only to include an international tinge as time wore on.

Truth and Rights utilizes music from the past and works to incorporate more immediate socio-political and religious issues. “Eternal Peace,” for instance, calls upon the elders of Jamaica to work with younger generations to promote a more unified nation. Even with his tone of reformation, there are a number of very clear antecedents to Osbourne’s recording. But forgiving that, the music that flies from this slab serves as a very clear indicator of the political and social tenor of a nation. Either way though, if you have Freddie McGregor and Sugar Minott as backing vocalists, it can’t turn out too bad.

The Gladiators – The Studio One Singles (Heartbeat, 2007)

To comment upon this group in an unbiased manner is ostensibly impossible for me. To extricate the sounds that I hear – the harmonies, the rhythms – from a time that, in my mind, is linked to them, simply can’t be done.

Whatever period of one’s life gets replayed incessantly in the mind, if you’re a music devotee at least, there’s a theme song that goes along with the images. I know others have made this same heartfelt and exuberant connection. But that just points to the fact that this music possesses the power to hold a literal and emotional meaning.

The reason that these meanings are possible most likely stems from the intense belief that this trio, whose only consistent member was Albert Griffiths, had the ability to enrich a mass of people who felt marginalized. Touching upon secular and spiritual life, Griffiths worked to give voice to points of culture that he felt were either misunderstood, ignored or exploited.

Since this disc is made up of singles, as the title clearly states, a quarter of the tracks represented here are versions, or dubs. Being arranged in such a fashion as to have each dub accompany the vocal track serves to exemplify a showcase style that Wackies exhibited, in contrast to a relatively recent reissue of the Mighty Diamonds’ Deeper Roots, which separates the versions.

Every vocal and every dub – save for “Don’t Fool the Young Girls” and its version – is rootsy and free from blemishes. The one exception wouldn’t be as blatant a departure from quality if it sat along side other artists or lesser tracks. Basically a weak Gladiator’s workout still surpasses a great deal of other Jamaican music.

If the listener is familiar with either the group’s first studio effort, Trenchtown Mix-Up or their Live at Sunsplash - split with Israel Vibration – these offerings occasionally sound a bit slower than the later recordings. It’s not a re-tread; it’s just a re-arranging of classics that might not have been heard in any other way.

Tracklisting:
01 – Fling It Gimme
02 – Sonia
03 – Solas
04 – Dub Ina Babylon
05 – Version Ina Babylon
06 – A Prayer To Thee
07 – Version Of Prayer
08 – Boy In Long Pants
09 – Part Two
10 – Bongo Red
11 – Bongo Version
12 – Beautiful Locks
13 – Sufferation Version
14 – Roots Natty
15 – Rearrange
16 – Mister Baldwin
17 – M. Baldwin Part. 2
18 – Big Boo Boo Day
19 – Version
20 – Pretending
21 – Don’t Fool The Young Girls
22 – Version
23 – Happy Man

Lee Perry – Chicken Scratch (Heartbeat, 2007)

Originally released more than a decade ago, Chicken Scratch possesses an indisputable ability to make a tangible cross section of Lee Perry fans cringe. Of course, only those fans who can not appreciate a good ska beat will feel that way. Unfortunately, that proportion of fans probably makes up the bulk of Perry listeners. Deep roots, echo chamber sound effects and crashes are expected from any Perry release, regardless of how early the recordings may be. Chronologically, these tracks represent some of the earliest sides from this would be Jamaican musical giant.

Backing him throughout these offerings are graduates of the Alpha Boys School: better known as the Skatalites. Supplementing the historical aspect of Perry’s career, the Skatalites early on in their short lived initial phase were a house band, albeit one of the best ever assembled. And here we are given the chance to listen in on the prototypical motions of the group. “Feel Like Jumping” should be familiar to anyone who has entertained the notion of purchasing a pork pie hat, considering the music is also used for “Fat Man” by Derrick Morgan. Similarly, “Tackoo” is also the Alton Ellis tune “Ska Beat”, from Skatalites and Friends at Randy’s. Given these recycled rhythms, it’s interesting to hear Perry make use of a familiar tune and experience his oddly pleasing voice, though he may not adhere to the singing standards of either Ellis or Morgan.

Again, for those looking for dub, it won’t be located here. What is similar between this and later work by Perry, or anyone else from the island, is the inclusion of religiously themed lyrics. Between “Rape Bait” and the groaning proclamation at the beginning of “Roast Duck” are songs like “By Saint Peter”. Traditional themes of sixties Jamaican music are explored as well: like family trouble and having problems with those damnable rudies.

Outstanding, this release is not. And in-fact, if this happened to be led by another personage, there ostensibly would be little interest. Even with the additional tracks that supplement the re-release and the strength of the solitary standout, “Hand to Hand”, there are incalculable better ska discs to spend that i-Tunes gift card on.

The Abyssinians – Satta Massagana (Heartbeat, 2007)

As far as re-releases go, very frequently, the packaging is ignored. In the case of Satta that has been avoided. The cd cover most would associate with this disc is a close up of Bernard Collins, Donald Manning and Lynford Manning, who make up the vocal trio that are the Abyssinians. Across the cover of this new Heartbeat edition, the trio is shown near what appears to be an underground waterfall. Whether or not the image is authentic is secondary to the fact that it adds to the mystique of the men that it aims to represent.

Packaging aside, this set has expanded the ten tracks that make up the original “Satta” to include an additional 8 songs, including a vocal and a dub version of “Leggo Beast”. Forgetting the supplementals, “Declaration of Rights” begins the disc and urges, much in the same way Tosh and Marley do, to “Get up and fight for your rights my brothers”. Immediately predating the Clash’s “Know Your Rights” on Combat Rock, the song makes clear the political and social stance of the group.

A religious fervor, starting with the next track “The Good Lord”, and continuing through “Forward Unto Zion” is blatant and could not be more apparent as the group croons “Send us home to Zion city/For we drink milk and honey”. Further allusions to the Torah, the Book of Jeremiah specifically, abound as in “Abendigo” where three men are “condemned to be burned in the furnace” as a result of remaining stalwarts of their faith.

If one fault can be pointed out, and there may only be one, during “Y Mar Gan” the keyboard production, while being a few years ahead of its’ time, sounds less organic that on any other track.

The ’76 debut of the band remains a classic within the roots catalog, and even if you think you aren’t familiar with this vocal trio, you’ve probably heard the “Satta” rhythm more times than you can count, which as it turns out, isn’t such a bad thing at all.

V/A – Studio One: Rub-a-Dub (Soul-Jazz, 2007)

(This originally appeared in the Spring ‘07 issue of Skyscraper)

The songs that make up this album, when originally released, contributed to Jamaicans creating rap. There wasn’t a funky jazz band backing up any of these singers. And the concept of “band” is rather removed from the precedings on this slab. But the record industry in Jamaica, after rock-steady hit, spawned versions or dubs. Each one of these versions would be used repeatedly, by different singers, to different effect. Production became increasingly important, so most of these tracks are either a band playing an old composition or an instrumental record, augmented with other worldly noises and a vocalist chanting or singing atop of it. Every reggae compilation is generally split into well known names and the folks who only released a few singles and never a proper album. Len Allen Jnr., who falls into the later category, here is the standout with “White Belly Rat”. The Coxsone Dodd produced track sounds more as if it was birthed by Lee Perry, but the startling, ghostly vocals are unlike anything else on this release. The Horace Andy track, “Happiness”, is a pleasant contribution. But seeing as there’s nary a misstep on Studio-One comps, the inclusion of only one middle-of-the-road song is not surprising. This Soul-Jazz comp, regardless of how numerous they have become, serves to explicate a significant change in a music that would impact the globe.