Only originals in the Archives ?

[Bellyman]

I would like to discuss one thing about the Roots Archives itself.
As I presume most of us are collecting this stuff in original fomat, which is on vinyl.So should there be only records listed like they were originally released in the first place ? I mean without inclusion of later rereleases especially on cd with extra tracks not found in the first place. Same with the sleeve arts. There are so many covers shown which are not originals on the Archives.
What's your opinion ?

Greetings.

[seb]

hi Bellyman,

very interesting question.
first we created roots-archives with an idea; people who want to discover roots reggae will find a place where they can get info they wouldn't find in another place.
sometimes it's better to get a 6$ rhino release of a hard to find album than waiting a year and get it @ ebay for 50 $.
that's why i think it's a good thing we have rereleases of 70s album in this website.

in the meantime, any album in our website should have at least its original release here (if not all its releases).
it should have its original cover as well.

there's no way we can do it without help. we are only 2 persons doing this website, mat taking care of the php & technical website part, and i (seb) looking for new albums and adding them in the database.
it's a very small crew.

roots archives shall be complete. help us and every album will have its original cover, tracklist, band, and any other info.
rereleases will have their bonus tracks and more if needed.
lots of things are possible in roots-archives; adding singles, riddims or more ...

with lot of help it may take 2/3 years, if not it may be long to come.


sorry for my frenchy english

seb

[benja-]

I agree that the site should include the reissues. Chances are, many of us won't be able to get our hands on some of the original issues, and excluding the reissues would make this site worth a whole lot less.

Thanks for the breadth of your info!!

big up seb & buss!!

(Still haven't seen Junior Keating's "weekend lover" album up here yet!!)

[Fred]

I definitely think that the re-issues should be included.

How many times have you (like me) bought an album again because you had a dodgy pressing, crackly 2nd hand copy or because Blood & Fire or the like expanded it?

"Mr.Isaacs" springs to mind - along with "Heart of the Congoes".

Just getting the tracks you want is the main goal - trying to find a copy of a record in nice shape which had a pressing run of a couple of hundred is too much like masochism to me!!