Roots Archives Forum

ACEtone wrote:just listened to Vol 2.
Great, but with one problem I forgot about.
The 2nd side of the pressing I have has the label extending into the last track! and it is one of the best - twilight zone - which was reversioned by Joe Gibbs' Professionals and Dubbed excellently by ET - titled Treasure Dub - on African Dub Almighty chapter 1 or 2 (not sure which and I have it on CD) - and - and! - was the track used for the robbery scene in Rockers.
yeah mon - version!

Hey ACEtone, which pressing is that? I have Treasure Isle Dub Vol. 2 on Coxsone (must be a repress), with the half-white/half-blue sleeve, but no label woe here...

The opening track, Ballistic Queen, is also ET'd on one of the African Dub Chapters, isn't it?

Label: Treasure Isle
manufactured and distributed by Sonic Sounds under license from disk pressers Ltd
DSK 3546
Matrix: Treasure Ilse 1976 E Brown (signature)

all of these tracks are versioned everywhere - almost ridiculous!
Midnight Dub is one I've always had a soft spot for. It's just odd sounding in a really good way.

Can't remember where I bought this, could have been Sound City (Coxsone's) or some little place in the east village.
It probably cost about $5-$8 and is worth about twice that - at least!
Ballistic Queen is sweet for sure and you're most probably right.
I just realized that a guitar part I used recently on one of my own tracks is pretty close to this - totally accidental- yeah right! musically most of this stuff is now firmly encoded in my DNA - I just can't help accidentally versioning...

Yeah, I think the whole album is "odd sounding in a really good way".

the vol 1 stuff is good too and consistent - so if as I did you get the CD it all hangs together well - just doesn't sound as good as the vinyl. and frankly my vinyl set (trntbl, amp, spkrs) up is rudimentary. what does that tell us about the current state of di distribution of music?

There are two slightly different versions of Treasure Dub (Vol. 1) : the first issue doesn't have the beeps and the second issue has a few additional echo loops added.

The most current version is the second one.

An all-time classic album. There aren't that much original Treasure Isle riddims that got the full dub treatment.

N.

yes indeed.
Beeps?
That would be a Tubbys' thing and later a Channel One thing - don't get the connection there...for this Treasure Isle stuff? Are you thinking of Bunny Lee versions?

ACEtone wrote:Beeps?

If you listen closely, there are beeps in Construction Dub Style and Arabian Dub.

N.

oh those beeps!
of course!
the treatment of John Holt's vocals in Arabian Dub is quirky to say the least.

Bit of a tangent, but just read Steve Barker's review of the new African Dub CD comp release, which references the Treasure Isle origins:


Joe Gibbs and Errol T aka the Mighty Two
African Dub All-Mighty - Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4
17 NORTH PARADE / VP 4CD
Now all four albums in this series are repackaged as a box set and on sale for the price of a single album. The partnership of producer Joe Gibbs and soundman Errol Thompson, who previously engineered as Randy's Studio 17, was responsible for hundreds of hit tunes in Jamaica, and a few in the UK, but also for creating some of the best loved dub sides of the roots era and this series of albums that was
largely responsible for popularising the sub- genre of dub. Mostly updated versions of classic Treasure Isle and Studio One but with copious efx such as ringing bells, buzzers, phones, whistling birds and shooting sounds inserted in the mix. The musicians were members of the Soul Syndicate and Lloyd Parks' We The People Band sessioning for Gibbs as the Professionals and occasionally touring to support the
emergent success of artists like Dennis Brown and Althea and Donna. It used to be the case that recommendation was made only for "Chapter 3" as best of the bunch, containing as it does a much-sampled stone killer version of the rhythm best known as Augustus Pablo's "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", but now there's no excuse not to invest in the whole set.

/tangent

got all four some years ago.
Great stuff. The somewhat misplaced enthusiasm for the #3 always baffled me - but I think it was something to do with the reception it got in the UK at the time of release. All 4 are really enjoyable.
I used to favour the 3rd and 4th over the 1st and 2nd but have come to appreciate the relative simplicity and sparseness of 1 and 2.
CDs I have are 1 & 2 on one CD and 3 & 4 on another, sold separately in the mid 90s. Rocky 1 release from Canada. So legitimate at least!
Might the sound be better on this VP reissue?

relevant not tangent I think - thanks for sharing this.