augustus pablo - over rated?

[Litelet]

The name "Augustus Pablo" was used as a kind of "Aquarius Allstar" on the flips. It is right to say that not all b sides credited to Augustus Pablo on Aquarius feat Horace Swaby, but I highly doubt that somebody else than him played melodica under this name for Aquarius.

That said, I must agree that not all sides of Pablo playing melodica are pure magic, but he was so prolific in the early 70s... But he really got a vibe that he put in his later productions, something of its own, a really authentic and deep minor melancolic sound that drive your mind into a special consciousness. Im an absolute fan of his riddims and productions, he is for me as big and as regular as Pricne Fari in the quality of the riddims, it means the absolute top. Of course Tubby is here for something, but his relation with Pablo is part of the whole vibe, they are linked personnally and musically. Their work on the bass guitar sound is wicked, low and heavy, deep, as the sound of Pablo. I feel like a smoky obscure atmosphere in his music.

His organ work with Perry on the Horace Martin riddim *Unite* clearly show for me his influence, something subtile that totally change the mood of the tune, even if hes not the producer.

I hope, Ill never be fed up with that vibe.

Guidance

[flashman]

I'm pretty sure there were other keyboardists who played and were credited as Augustus Pablo before Swaby. It's made pretty clear in the Katz book Solid Foundation, if I remember right. Unfortunately, I loaned that book out a long time ago and never got it back, so I can't look up the exact quotes and who the interview was with.

[Litelet]

So you mean keyboard, but not melodica, but did really Pablo play as keyboard for Aquarius?

[flashman]

I mean keyboard and/or melodica. I really don't think Swaby was the first to play the melodica, he just took it to a different level.

[mantado]

maybe there is some culture spirit missing in our thinking about reggae...melodica is an essential instrument the school pickneys learn to play in the earliest days of school. so, if somebody say thats boring...i would like to know an opinion of a now 50 years old jamaican who has followed the history of reggae during the 70´s including melodica as "lead instrument". I think he dont feel boring...on the other side the production of pablo are so what great...only the hugh mundell productions, top a di top!!! last but not least...the many of the dub releases are legendary...very hard and heavy played n mixed.

My opinion : TOP artist!

Bless

Mark Mantado

[Inyaki]

I met him a few times and worked with him. He stayed at my place...great musical inspiration.
A great innovator and musical influence, also a proper producer(of course with the help of Sylvain Morris and the Tubbys engineers). He arranged riddims and played instruments...most producers only finance sessions and cannot tell an F from a Bflat!
He knew how to get the best out of musicians and more important, he had a "distinctive" sound...even though he rent other people's studios, he had his sound.

My most enduring memory is the melodica tips we exchanged (I have a Hohner 26 original that he was looking for ), listening to music together ( he could distinguished reggae keyboard players easily) and realizing that he was left handed (and melodicas are designed for right handed people!), that's why he played piano with his arms crossed! he also wrote and ate with his left.

He was very introvert some times....I believe also that his constant ill health (since very young) affected his personality.

I don't think he was confortable performing live,,,his live shows were poor IMHO.
I did the soundcheck for him on one occasion, he was feeling unwell and playing ( blowing) his 3 octaves melodica required quite a bit of energy. I was tired after 2 songs.! I did Cassava Piece and Java with his band, and since them I always play those songs live as a tribute to him.

Pablo was ( and still is ) a musical inspiration for me...meeting him, talking, playing music, cooking, etc ...and working with him is one of my life's highlights. Some truly special memories.

Overrated? Not everything he did was top quality but... No other producer had so many percentage of quality and original productions.
Coxsone, B. Lee, L. Perry, Yabby U, Niney, etc...produced great music but the ratio is not like Pablo.

"randomly (and sometimes kind of ineptly) noodling around on a melodica".... I think he did when he was working for other producers or they rushed him to do a take ( I don't rate some of his session work for other people)....but when he put his heart, nobody can build a melody on melodica like him!
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melodicas were invented in Germany in the late 50s and Pablo wasn't the first one to use them in Reggae.
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Pablo rated Don Drummond and Jackie Mittoo highly as influences on his Minor key style.

[selecta bing]

Hi!

Never knew there were other persons who played melodica under Pablo´s name?? Why that? Just to make money with his famous name?

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Nobody has played MELODICA under this name,
( the exception being Dr Pablo on ON~U SOUNDS )
but as stated here in this thread, the name has been used by others.

Any artist that is around for a lengthy period is going to have low points,
especially when their style becomes out of fashion for a while.
( that has happened to several Reggae artists)

Everyone has made some great observations like;

Pablo has been an entry point for many Reggae fans
( who then sometimes develop different tastes in Reggae )

He was brilliant at what he did, but for various reasons he had some low points in his career ( health/fashion shifts/studio time and support/money etc )

As for Melodica; if he had played Harmonica or Sax or Triangle, after repeated listens to full length albums or compilations ( these days on 80 minute CDs ) you would soon HATE the sound of them too.

We could have this same discussion about any number of Singers or Producers too.

The fact that we are talking about him is evidence enough that he was worthy
and was one of the greats of the genre.

check WIRE magazines archives for a great article on Pablo

[Litelet]

Thanks Selecta Bing, that was what I was pointing to. As "Augustus Pablo" was the name given to Chin Loy's band, there might have been an organ version without Swaby but no melodica player played for Chin Loy before him.

And thanks *Inyaki* for sharing this great experience. How did you come to meet Pablo and to be his sound engineer?

[Visitor]

People who don't rate Augustus Pablo are the ones who can't tell a difference from original and bogus material...

For example these are bogus...

http://www.roots-archives.com/release/566
http://www.roots-archives.com/release/4556

Somebody is clearly using Augustus Pablo's name to sell bullsh*t.

[flashman]

I disagree that those that don't rate Pablo can't tell the difference. Those are obviously bogus. Also, to be clear, I highly rate Augustus Pablo, his productions, dubs etc. What I don't like a lot of the time is his melodica (and even keyboard) playing. I seek out Rockers productions but can't listen to too much melodica noodling. Suggesting that people who don't like Pablo are ignorant, as you seem to be doing, is ignorant itself.