BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 7
ASHANTI LABEL: - PT. 2
`A Lot Of Reggae Is So Bloody Bad That When You Do Get A Good Record It`s Hard To Make Anyone Listen To It Seriously`
- Can The Ashanti Label Provide A New Deal For Black Music In Britain?
- Carl Gayle Meets The Men Behind It . . .
Rupert Cunningham has been indirectly involved in the JA music business since the early sixties: "I used to knock about with the Jiving Juniors. I wasn`t doing any singing I think I was more like a group mascot than anything else." He came to England for a short holiday in 1969 but stayed on. During this time he ran into an old school friend, Barry Chinfook, as well as a bass player with a group called the Vagabonds, the inimitable Philip Chenn. Soon afterwards Rupert got involved in the British music scene.
"I met Junior and he had Bamboo going. Chinfook and myself were working at the Jamaican High Commission, then he left and joined Junior. He went back to JA after about two more years but I had joined Bamboo before then.
"The whole West Indian music business had just started really coming together around that time. We had a number of records in the charts and I really thought that reggae could do with a talent like mine! (Junior laughs).
"Early on we were fighting to get recognition for Jamaican music, but we were limited to one producer. We understand that people want good music and we believed we were in a position where we could properly project good music from our own people whether it was from the West Indies, Africa, or America. And the only way you could get this across to the man in the street was to get personally involved.
"So Ashanti came about because it had a far wider scope. And we don`t operate from a point of view that we`re competing with other forms of music, we just believe that we can project good music. Sometimes the criticisms that are used to knock our music are valid. There is a lot of work to be done on a lot of our music. And we want to be able to give everybody involved in the production of the music the opportunity to improve it."
Over the years Junior had developed a very special relationship with many Jamaican artists and producers both in JA and England. As soon as the word was out that Junior was starting Ashanti, the product started coming in. Shark Wilson`s "Make It Reggae" and John Holt`s "Again" were the first 45s released on Ashanti in April 1973. "Reggae Time"--a various artists selection--was the first LP.
"But it doesn`t truly represent what Ashanti will be doing in future," says Junior. "It`s important for us to put out records that will show how varied West Indian music, or black music is. We`ll issue `roots` music like the `Grounation` set.
"In fact I only found out about that album after it had been released in Jamaica and had gotten a lot of rave reviews. When I heard it I thought it was an ideal album for us to release. We beat a lot of big English and American companies who also went after that album. It was an ideal release for us because it represents the rastafarians in Jamaica who play a major part in our culture. We released the Jamaican Folk Singers album and the Trinidad Steel Orchestra LP for the same reasons."
"We`re not into this thing just for commercial considerations," inerrupted Rupert. "Ashanti is dedicated to . . . the arts. We want to project our culture, and music is the easiest form of communication between peoples.
"One of the veins of Jamaican music you`ll find solidly embodied in the things that the Jamaican folk singers do. They are at the roots of our music and it`s important that such records are made available. It`s important to get our culture across even if the music`s not very commercial."
Ashanti`s biggest single so far has been Dobby Dobson`s "Endlessly" which was jointly produced in Jamaica (by Rupie Edwards) and completed in England by Junior Lincoln. "But we go for artists, not exclusive record deals," said Junior. "We`ll sign an artist who we really like and then work on that artist like we`re doing with Sharon Forrester. We will go to the extreme to sign a good record even if it only sells ten copies because good records never die, they always come back. But we won`t do any deals that would mean releasing everything one particular producer has. Sometimes we lose out because of principles but we`re prepared to do this because this is the attitude the business needs.
"The music that has been promoted in this country as reggae has been so bloody bad! I love Jamaican music but with every music you have good and bad records. It so happens that there`s been a lot of bad records being promoted as reggae. Even when there was a really outstanding record it was so hard to get anyone to listen to it seriously since there have been so many bad ones around under the same label--reggae . . . Jamaican artists haven`t been given careful guidance and projection. The management of an artist is a very important thing and Jamaican artists have never had any good management. They had to do everything for themselves."
Rupert: "A lot of people who were involved in the handling of Jamaican music early on weren`t interested in projecting the music or the musicians properly. They just regarded it as a quick commercial proposition, and they would ride on the bandwagon until it died."
Junior: "You can`t really blame the media and the BBC sometimes even though it hurts when they criticise the music because there have been so many bad records around. And that makes it even harder for us who are trying to do something different. I`d like to see less quantity and more quality. Cut out the factory approach to making music."
Carl Gayle:
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 7
JIMMY CLIFF: -
STRUGGLING MAN?
- Jimmy Cliff Is The First Jamaican Superstar. But Has His Music Lived Up To Expectations? Carl Gayle Traces The Ups And Downs Of His Recording Career . . .
ONE of Jimmy Cliff`s first records was "Hurricane Hattie", cut when he was 14 for promotor Leslie Kong in 1962. It`s a song about retaliation.
Cliff was inspired to write it after a hurricane had swept South America that same year, and he has said that the message in the song is: "If you mess with me I`ll be like that hurricane". This, in essence, was the philosophy of Ivan, the character he was to portray years later in the film "The Harder They Come", who actually was retaliating against his society. The difference between the two songs was the degree of despair.
Jimmy Cliff`s songs have been the medium through which he has been able to speak on behalf of his countrymen and his heritage. Or about his desolation. Or about sacrifice, faith, and persistence. Or to show his optimism. Love songs like "Come Into My LIfe" from the LP "Jimmy Cliff", and the slower melancholy ballad "Pride And Passion" from the LP "Hard Road To Travel" have been a comparative rarity.
Yet Cliff started his recording career in Jamaica with two `love` songs. The first, "Daisy Got Me Crazy" was an acetate, like the second, "I`m Sorry", for a Sound System man called Count Boysie. "Hurricane Hattie", his third record, was the first one he got paid for. But that was not unusual in a Jamaican music business which even then was just reaching infancy.
The late Leslie Kong was introduced to the JA music business by Cliff, and Kong held a large slice of it until his death. When he had started Kong knew nothing at all about making records: now he`s regarded as the greatest producer the JA business has ever seen.
Cliff`s second for Kong, "Miss Jamaica", was certainly a love song. But by 1962 Jimmy was aware that `love` songs were not the only ones you could sing. He began writing songs about himself, his own life and times. He began to communicate. But that was yet to come.
Jimmy Cliff came to England in 1965 after meeting Chris Blackwell, boss of Island Records, in America. Cliff was there on a tour with Byron Lee And The Dragonaires aimed at promoting `ska` abroad. He might have stayed in America, where he had had offers of recording contracts. But he was influenced to come to England by the fact that Blackwell was a Jamaican who had worked with people like Owen Gray and Jackie Edwards, and had been successful internationally with Millicent Small who (known as Millie) had had the first JA hit outside of Jamaica--"My Boy Lollipop".
The LP "Hard Road To Travel" which was issued by Island in 1967 displays the kind of music Jimmy had been singing on stage and recording between `65 and `67. During that time he sang in Europe and on his return had his first single released. "Give And Take" was a catchy little pop song with sacrifice as its theme. . . . It appeared on the album under his real name--Chambers. So did "Hard Road To Travel" a song about sacrifice, faith and persistence all rolled up in one, which is as good here as the reggae version that appeared on Cliff`s next album. The original was a slow soul searching ballad sounding like authentic early sixties R&B.
But the LP also has Cliff doing a number like Procol Harum`s "Whiter Shade Of Pale" in a straight pop vein and sounding harsher vocally than he has done since. And there were other pop songs: the uptempo "Let`s Dance" (originally done by Motown`s first white group The Hit Pack) isn`t particularly memorable, but "Can`t Get Enough Of It" written by Winwood/Miller of Spencer Davis fame works brilliantly.
Carl Gayle: -
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
JIMMY CLIFF: -
STRUGGLING MAN?
- Jimmy Cliff Is The First Jamaican Superstar. But Has His Music Lived Up To Expectations? Carl Gayle Traces The Ups And Downs Of His Recording Career . . .
ONE of Jimmy Cliff`s first records was "Hurricane Hattie", cut when he was 14 for promotor Leslie Kong in 1962. It`s a song about retaliation.
Cliff was inspired to write it after a hurricane had swept South America that same year, and he has said that the message in the song is: "If you mess with me I`ll be like that hurricane". This, in essence, was the philosophy of Ivan, the character he was to portray years later in the film "The Harder They Come", who actually was retaliating against his society. The difference between the two songs was the degree of despair.
Jimmy Cliff`s songs have been the medium through which he has been able to speak on behalf of his countrymen and his heritage. Or about his desolation. Or about sacrifice, faith, and persistence. Or to show his optimism. Love songs like "Come Into My LIfe" from the LP "Jimmy Cliff", and the slower melancholy ballad "Pride And Passion" from the LP "Hard Road To Travel" have been a comparative rarity.
Yet Cliff started his recording career in Jamaica with two `love` songs. The first, "Daisy Got Me Crazy" was an acetate, like the second, "I`m Sorry", for a Sound System man called Count Boysie. "Hurricane Hattie", his third record, was the first one he got paid for. But that was not unusual in a Jamaican music business which even then was just reaching infancy.
The late Leslie Kong was introduced to the JA music business by Cliff, and Kong held a large slice of it until his death. When he had started Kong knew nothing at all about making records: now he`s regarded as the greatest producer the JA business has ever seen.
Cliff`s second for Kong, "Miss Jamaica", was certainly a love song. But by 1962 Jimmy was aware that `love` songs were not the only ones you could sing. He began writing songs about himself, his own life and times. He began to communicate. But that was yet to come.
Jimmy Cliff came to England in 1965 after meeting Chris Blackwell, boss of Island Records, in America. Cliff was there on a tour with Byron Lee And The Dragonaires aimed at promoting `ska` abroad. He might have stayed in America, where he had had offers of recording contracts. But he was influenced to come to England by the fact that Blackwell was a Jamaican who had worked with people like Owen Gray and Jackie Edwards, and had been successful internationally with Millicent Small who (known as Millie) had had the first JA hit outside of Jamaica--"My Boy Lollipop".
The LP "Hard Road To Travel" which was issued by Island in 1967 displays the kind of music Jimmy had been singing on stage and recording between `65 and `67. During that time he sang in Europe and on his return had his first single released. "Give And Take" was a catchy little pop song with sacrifice as its theme. . . . It appeared on the album under his real name--Chambers. So did "Hard Road To Travel" a song about sacrifice, faith and persistence all rolled up in one, which is as good here as the reggae version that appeared on Cliff`s next album. The original was a slow soul searching ballad sounding like authentic early sixties R&B.
But the LP also has Cliff doing a number like Procol Harum`s "Whiter Shade Of Pale" in a straight pop vein and sounding harsher vocally than he has done since. And there were other pop songs: the uptempo "Let`s Dance" (originally done by Motown`s first white group The Hit Pack) isn`t particularly memorable, but "Can`t Get Enough Of It" written by Winwood/Miller of Spencer Davis fame works brilliantly.
Carl Gayle: -
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 7
JIMMY CLIFF: - PT. 2
STRUGGLING MAN?
Jimmy Cliff Is The First Jamaican Superstar. But Has His Music Lived Up To Expectations? Carl Gayle Traces The Ups And Downs Of His Recording Career . . .
Even though there were no hits, Jimmy Cliff was one of the most popular Jamaican artists in Britain through his large following in the clubs. In 1968 he went to Brazil to do a song festival and stayed in South America for about a year--after winning the festival with a song called "Waterfall", one of Cliff`s two Brazilian hits. Cliff`s next single "Wonderful World Beautiful People" was recorded (along with the other songs on his next LP "Jimmy Cliff") in JA with some of the cream of Jamaican session musicians. They also appeared with him on his British TV In Concert programme a few months ago.
"Wonderful World Beautiful People", with "Hard Road To Travel" as the B side, was Jimmy`s first international hit. It made him a star. And his critical acclaim was greater than Desmond Dekker`s (with three big hits) had ever been. One of the reasons was that unlike "Israelites" for example--which confused many non-Jamaicanc--everyone could easily understand Jimmy`s philosophies in "Wonderful World" and his follow up "Vietnam".
Both songs were political. In the former he wanted to change the world and his message was addressed to Nixon and Wilson who he mentions in the song. In "Vietnam" he describes the fate of a soldier who is killed, in a letter to the soldier`s mother, thereby demonstrating on the mother`s behalf against all wars. "Somebody please stop that war now" he shrieks at the end of a passage,
Jimmy`s best album so far (aside from the "Harder They Come" sound track, which includes selections by other artists) was his second, containing those two singles. It also contained his peak performance as singer/songwriter/producer in "Many Rivers To Cross", an epic, slow ballad which uses the organ to create a haunting mood like "Whiter Shade Of Pale" evoked. But the song conveys a striking mood of desolation and despair: "Many rivers to cross but I can`t seem to find my way over" and "I find myself thinking of committing some dreadful crime".
Another song, "Use What I Got" put across the same philosophy that "Hard Road To Travel" had done and that "You Can Get It If You Really Want" did for Desmond Dekker (who had a British hit with it in `71) and for Cliff himself later in the film The Harder They Come. In essence, the introspective Jimmy Cliff was saying to himself: "If I use what I`ve got I can get what I want if I really want it, but the road will be rough". And he made three songs out of it. Simple.
But there was no real optimism. The fact still remained that people were "Suffering In The Land": "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer".
And in "My Ancestors" he delares that they had: "Ruled the world and all of its gold, but just look at me".
In 1970 Cliff recorded Cat Steven`s "Wide World" which won him more respect and credibility in the pop world. But by then something strange was happening to him which was affecting his music. Cliff became one of the biggest casualties of the press and media criticism that was being unfairly heaped upon Jamaican music and its musicians. He became disillusioned and disenchanted with being a `reggae musician` and declared that he was never again going to sing another reggae song. This resulted in Jimmy going to Miami and recording a single "Synthetic World" which failed miserably, and then going to Muscle Shoals where he recorded the LP "Another Cycle", his second for Island Records.
Before he recorded that album he had in fact written and produced Desmond Dekker`s hit "The Song We Used To Sing", and had written "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" which was a hit for The Pioneers in `71. And of course he had been given the lead role in the first Jamaican feature film The Harder They Come which was directed by another Jamaican Perry Henzell.
Carl Gayle:
Part 2
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
JIMMY CLIFF: - PT. 2
STRUGGLING MAN?
Jimmy Cliff Is The First Jamaican Superstar. But Has His Music Lived Up To Expectations? Carl Gayle Traces The Ups And Downs Of His Recording Career . . .
Even though there were no hits, Jimmy Cliff was one of the most popular Jamaican artists in Britain through his large following in the clubs. In 1968 he went to Brazil to do a song festival and stayed in South America for about a year--after winning the festival with a song called "Waterfall", one of Cliff`s two Brazilian hits. Cliff`s next single "Wonderful World Beautiful People" was recorded (along with the other songs on his next LP "Jimmy Cliff") in JA with some of the cream of Jamaican session musicians. They also appeared with him on his British TV In Concert programme a few months ago.
"Wonderful World Beautiful People", with "Hard Road To Travel" as the B side, was Jimmy`s first international hit. It made him a star. And his critical acclaim was greater than Desmond Dekker`s (with three big hits) had ever been. One of the reasons was that unlike "Israelites" for example--which confused many non-Jamaicanc--everyone could easily understand Jimmy`s philosophies in "Wonderful World" and his follow up "Vietnam".
Both songs were political. In the former he wanted to change the world and his message was addressed to Nixon and Wilson who he mentions in the song. In "Vietnam" he describes the fate of a soldier who is killed, in a letter to the soldier`s mother, thereby demonstrating on the mother`s behalf against all wars. "Somebody please stop that war now" he shrieks at the end of a passage,
Jimmy`s best album so far (aside from the "Harder They Come" sound track, which includes selections by other artists) was his second, containing those two singles. It also contained his peak performance as singer/songwriter/producer in "Many Rivers To Cross", an epic, slow ballad which uses the organ to create a haunting mood like "Whiter Shade Of Pale" evoked. But the song conveys a striking mood of desolation and despair: "Many rivers to cross but I can`t seem to find my way over" and "I find myself thinking of committing some dreadful crime".
Another song, "Use What I Got" put across the same philosophy that "Hard Road To Travel" had done and that "You Can Get It If You Really Want" did for Desmond Dekker (who had a British hit with it in `71) and for Cliff himself later in the film The Harder They Come. In essence, the introspective Jimmy Cliff was saying to himself: "If I use what I`ve got I can get what I want if I really want it, but the road will be rough". And he made three songs out of it. Simple.
But there was no real optimism. The fact still remained that people were "Suffering In The Land": "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer".
And in "My Ancestors" he delares that they had: "Ruled the world and all of its gold, but just look at me".
In 1970 Cliff recorded Cat Steven`s "Wide World" which won him more respect and credibility in the pop world. But by then something strange was happening to him which was affecting his music. Cliff became one of the biggest casualties of the press and media criticism that was being unfairly heaped upon Jamaican music and its musicians. He became disillusioned and disenchanted with being a `reggae musician` and declared that he was never again going to sing another reggae song. This resulted in Jimmy going to Miami and recording a single "Synthetic World" which failed miserably, and then going to Muscle Shoals where he recorded the LP "Another Cycle", his second for Island Records.
Before he recorded that album he had in fact written and produced Desmond Dekker`s hit "The Song We Used To Sing", and had written "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" which was a hit for The Pioneers in `71. And of course he had been given the lead role in the first Jamaican feature film The Harder They Come which was directed by another Jamaican Perry Henzell.
Carl Gayle:
Part 2
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
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informer
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
i still think that "Bongo man" is one of his best songs, the film also worth seeing.
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 7
JIMMY CLIFF: - PT. 3
STRUGGLING MAN?
Jimmy Cliff Is The First Jamaican Superstar. But Has His Music Lived Up To Expectations? Carl Gayle Traces The Ups And Downs Of His Recording Career . . .
The movie made him the first Jamaican Superstar. But this was a position which was not sustained by the release of "Another Cycle", nor by the more recent LP "Unlimited". The combination of the movie and the soundtrack LP (containing only four of Cliff`s own songs) which led to Cliff`s international acclaim musically, has been used, perhaps unfairly, as the yardstick by which his music is now judged. But Cliff also benefited from the wrong impression that the music in THTC was his own work completely. He must now pay the price for it when his songs don`t come up to the standard of things like "Rivers Of Babylon" or "Johnny Too Bad" (which he had nothing to do with) or his best compositions, "Many Rivers To Cross", "Sitting In Limbo", "You Can Get It" and the title track, all of which except for "THTC" were carefully chosen from previous work. And of course his LPs aren`t accompanied by movies anymore, not for now anyway.
Jimmy is an erratic composer/singer by virtue of being an introspective one. He really seems to be the struggling man he was singing about in that song: "I`m a struggling man and I`ve got to move on". The movie proved it; that`s why the part suited him so well. The songs have a deep feeling of desolation. In "The Harder They Come", Jimmy, the hero, becomes the desperado: "I`m gonna get my share now what`s mine / and then the harder they come the harder they fall, one and all." And in each of his songs the emotive mood couldn`t have been captured better.
Yet in retrospect, this is something that Cliff has often failed to do. In fact his last LP "Unlimited", particularly, he has too obviously failed to equate content and construction. Just as his earlier hits like "Wonderful World" and "Vietnam" were musically too jaunty and happy-go-lucky to have been effective protest songs--they never transcend pop. He got away with it then--nobody was listening that hard.
But now Cliff is in a position where he bears much more responsibility for Jamaican music and thus anything he has a hand in is now much more prone to critical scrunity.
"Another Cycle", recorded with Muscle Shoals musicians, was made at the time when Jimmy was disenchanted, and it refleacts a complete departure from his native style. He uses the title song in fact to say that what he had been doing before was outdated. He justifies using this mode of music, and signifies a personal turning point in his life at the time. "Sitting In Limbo" consolidated this feeling: "I can`t say where life will lead me but I know where I have Been".
Elsewhere on the LP there is deeper frustration than ever before. But it`s harder to pin down. "Inside Out", "Please Tell Me Why", and "Take A Look At Yourself" try but fail again to capture the real emotions in the lyrics, even though the tunes have you singing along.
Despite the use of Jamaican musicians on "Unlimited" which was recorded at dynamic Studios in Jamaica, the conflict between musical construction and verbal content is even more apparent. thus Cliff`s struggle continues, on a musical level at least. But perhaps Jimmy isn`t really the kind of singer we expected him to be after seeing The Harder They Come, Maybe he`s just a pop singer at heart. Certainly there are no songs here about desolation or desperation. Jimmy seems more content than ever before. For the first time in six years in fact there are three optimistic songs: "I See The Light", "Black Queen" and "Born To Win".
So that even though he`s still asking for "World Peace", still singing about his heritage ("Oh Jamaica" and "Poor Slave"), and still persistent and willing to sacrifice for the common good ("On My Life"), all of these philosophies do not really carry much weight anymore.
Not only have we heard them before, but Jimmy seems to be more concerned with the technicalities of being a good singer, than with what he`s actually singing about. It seems the struggle is over, so there`s nothing to worry about. Is there?
Carl Gayle:
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
JIMMY CLIFF: - PT. 3
STRUGGLING MAN?
Jimmy Cliff Is The First Jamaican Superstar. But Has His Music Lived Up To Expectations? Carl Gayle Traces The Ups And Downs Of His Recording Career . . .
The movie made him the first Jamaican Superstar. But this was a position which was not sustained by the release of "Another Cycle", nor by the more recent LP "Unlimited". The combination of the movie and the soundtrack LP (containing only four of Cliff`s own songs) which led to Cliff`s international acclaim musically, has been used, perhaps unfairly, as the yardstick by which his music is now judged. But Cliff also benefited from the wrong impression that the music in THTC was his own work completely. He must now pay the price for it when his songs don`t come up to the standard of things like "Rivers Of Babylon" or "Johnny Too Bad" (which he had nothing to do with) or his best compositions, "Many Rivers To Cross", "Sitting In Limbo", "You Can Get It" and the title track, all of which except for "THTC" were carefully chosen from previous work. And of course his LPs aren`t accompanied by movies anymore, not for now anyway.
Jimmy is an erratic composer/singer by virtue of being an introspective one. He really seems to be the struggling man he was singing about in that song: "I`m a struggling man and I`ve got to move on". The movie proved it; that`s why the part suited him so well. The songs have a deep feeling of desolation. In "The Harder They Come", Jimmy, the hero, becomes the desperado: "I`m gonna get my share now what`s mine / and then the harder they come the harder they fall, one and all." And in each of his songs the emotive mood couldn`t have been captured better.
Yet in retrospect, this is something that Cliff has often failed to do. In fact his last LP "Unlimited", particularly, he has too obviously failed to equate content and construction. Just as his earlier hits like "Wonderful World" and "Vietnam" were musically too jaunty and happy-go-lucky to have been effective protest songs--they never transcend pop. He got away with it then--nobody was listening that hard.
But now Cliff is in a position where he bears much more responsibility for Jamaican music and thus anything he has a hand in is now much more prone to critical scrunity.
"Another Cycle", recorded with Muscle Shoals musicians, was made at the time when Jimmy was disenchanted, and it refleacts a complete departure from his native style. He uses the title song in fact to say that what he had been doing before was outdated. He justifies using this mode of music, and signifies a personal turning point in his life at the time. "Sitting In Limbo" consolidated this feeling: "I can`t say where life will lead me but I know where I have Been".
Elsewhere on the LP there is deeper frustration than ever before. But it`s harder to pin down. "Inside Out", "Please Tell Me Why", and "Take A Look At Yourself" try but fail again to capture the real emotions in the lyrics, even though the tunes have you singing along.
Despite the use of Jamaican musicians on "Unlimited" which was recorded at dynamic Studios in Jamaica, the conflict between musical construction and verbal content is even more apparent. thus Cliff`s struggle continues, on a musical level at least. But perhaps Jimmy isn`t really the kind of singer we expected him to be after seeing The Harder They Come, Maybe he`s just a pop singer at heart. Certainly there are no songs here about desolation or desperation. Jimmy seems more content than ever before. For the first time in six years in fact there are three optimistic songs: "I See The Light", "Black Queen" and "Born To Win".
So that even though he`s still asking for "World Peace", still singing about his heritage ("Oh Jamaica" and "Poor Slave"), and still persistent and willing to sacrifice for the common good ("On My Life"), all of these philosophies do not really carry much weight anymore.
Not only have we heard them before, but Jimmy seems to be more concerned with the technicalities of being a good singer, than with what he`s actually singing about. It seems the struggle is over, so there`s nothing to worry about. Is there?
Carl Gayle:
BLACK MUSIC JUNE 1974
peace
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jah Rastafari
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 8
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: -
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
Fenton gets up every day at around midday except Wednesday and weekends. He struggles out of bed, into his clothes, and down to the local cafe or Wimpy bar in Brixton Rd where he buys an Evening Standard and turns immediately to the horse racing page. From 2pm to 6pm he`s in and out of the bookies and the record shops in Brixton Market.
On Wednesday he strolls down to the Labour Exchange in Coldharbour Lane and receives about £10 which takes care of his food, rent, spliff, betting, and entertainment expenditure for a whole week. Fenton rarely spends on anything else. He can`t afford luxuries. Fenton`s been in and out of work for the last six years, two years after leaving school and home at age sixteen. Those two years were spent learning to be a Chef in a west end hotel. Sometimes it gets him down, not having a steady job, a good income, or a real sense of purpose. But like many others, most of his friends included, he usually makes it from day to day without thinking about it too much. Perhaps life would be much more depressing if there was no entertainment, no music. Fenton`s kind of music.
Fenton lives for the weekends. When he`s out of work and broke, he sleeps a lot during the daytime and goes out at night to a local sound system club in Stockwell or Clapham. When there`s nothing else to do he goes to see a spar (buddy) and plays cards, dominoes, and shares some spliff.
"I want to work for myself, I`m fed up of working for other people," he says defiantly. "Boy, I must have had about a hundred jobs since I left school but the people man, some people just want to tell you what to do all the f----- time, The best job I ever had was my first job as a chef. I used to come home with about £30 a week sometimes but they gave me the sack `cause I used to take too much time off".
Fenton rarely leaves the Brixton area except when he`s clubgoing, and tonight, Friday night, he`s sitting with a smartly dressed and attractive big-breasted chick drinking barley wine here in Mr Bees--South London`s most popular club along with the Georgian in Croydon.
"This is only the second time I`ve been here. I just decided to give Four Aces a rest tonight. This deejay Freddie is alright, he plays some good sounds."
Fenton`s a Coxson follower, an old timer on the scene, a real roots reggae lover. He doesn`t go for funk, never did, even when, in his earliest days of clubgoing, `soul` was the thing.
"The best times was when we used to go to places like Tiles and the Flamingo, then the Ram Jam. Soul is alright but I don`t dig too much of it, that`s why I go for clubs like the Crypt and Four Aces nowadays. All these kids now," he said with the air of someone who`d been through it all before, "they`ve just come up man. Me and you we`ve passed through all that jump up stuff. Most of these youths go for funky soul more than even reggae but that`s because a lot of them grew up in this country. A lot of them can`t even remember Jamaica!"
The kids on the dance floor were mostly between seventeen and twenty and had missed out on the birth of the black music scene in Britain. They`d never known ska or rock steady music, or what the house parties had been like then. They`d never been to the Ram Jam and seen the best Stateside and Jamaican artists of the mid `sixties. They`d never felt the thrill of going to the Flamingo, the Q, or the Tiles, and mixing freely with the introverted white chicks for the first time. It had been much more fun then: going to the Tiles for the first time, getting tired and sweaty, and high on Cherry B and spliff--there was always spliff. And then coming out of the club at around 5am on a Saturday morning and falling asleep on the tube.
"I fell asleep on a train once," said Fenton. "When I woke I was in Kent. They caught me and phoned the police `cause I didn`t have no ticket, and my old man had to come and get me out of the police station. I never used to get in no trouble really except when the babylon (police) just used to stop you on the street. The only other time I`ve been in a police station was when there was a big fight at the Ska Bar in Woolwich when the police raided the club."
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: -
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
Fenton gets up every day at around midday except Wednesday and weekends. He struggles out of bed, into his clothes, and down to the local cafe or Wimpy bar in Brixton Rd where he buys an Evening Standard and turns immediately to the horse racing page. From 2pm to 6pm he`s in and out of the bookies and the record shops in Brixton Market.
On Wednesday he strolls down to the Labour Exchange in Coldharbour Lane and receives about £10 which takes care of his food, rent, spliff, betting, and entertainment expenditure for a whole week. Fenton rarely spends on anything else. He can`t afford luxuries. Fenton`s been in and out of work for the last six years, two years after leaving school and home at age sixteen. Those two years were spent learning to be a Chef in a west end hotel. Sometimes it gets him down, not having a steady job, a good income, or a real sense of purpose. But like many others, most of his friends included, he usually makes it from day to day without thinking about it too much. Perhaps life would be much more depressing if there was no entertainment, no music. Fenton`s kind of music.
Fenton lives for the weekends. When he`s out of work and broke, he sleeps a lot during the daytime and goes out at night to a local sound system club in Stockwell or Clapham. When there`s nothing else to do he goes to see a spar (buddy) and plays cards, dominoes, and shares some spliff.
"I want to work for myself, I`m fed up of working for other people," he says defiantly. "Boy, I must have had about a hundred jobs since I left school but the people man, some people just want to tell you what to do all the f----- time, The best job I ever had was my first job as a chef. I used to come home with about £30 a week sometimes but they gave me the sack `cause I used to take too much time off".
Fenton rarely leaves the Brixton area except when he`s clubgoing, and tonight, Friday night, he`s sitting with a smartly dressed and attractive big-breasted chick drinking barley wine here in Mr Bees--South London`s most popular club along with the Georgian in Croydon.
"This is only the second time I`ve been here. I just decided to give Four Aces a rest tonight. This deejay Freddie is alright, he plays some good sounds."
Fenton`s a Coxson follower, an old timer on the scene, a real roots reggae lover. He doesn`t go for funk, never did, even when, in his earliest days of clubgoing, `soul` was the thing.
"The best times was when we used to go to places like Tiles and the Flamingo, then the Ram Jam. Soul is alright but I don`t dig too much of it, that`s why I go for clubs like the Crypt and Four Aces nowadays. All these kids now," he said with the air of someone who`d been through it all before, "they`ve just come up man. Me and you we`ve passed through all that jump up stuff. Most of these youths go for funky soul more than even reggae but that`s because a lot of them grew up in this country. A lot of them can`t even remember Jamaica!"
The kids on the dance floor were mostly between seventeen and twenty and had missed out on the birth of the black music scene in Britain. They`d never known ska or rock steady music, or what the house parties had been like then. They`d never been to the Ram Jam and seen the best Stateside and Jamaican artists of the mid `sixties. They`d never felt the thrill of going to the Flamingo, the Q, or the Tiles, and mixing freely with the introverted white chicks for the first time. It had been much more fun then: going to the Tiles for the first time, getting tired and sweaty, and high on Cherry B and spliff--there was always spliff. And then coming out of the club at around 5am on a Saturday morning and falling asleep on the tube.
"I fell asleep on a train once," said Fenton. "When I woke I was in Kent. They caught me and phoned the police `cause I didn`t have no ticket, and my old man had to come and get me out of the police station. I never used to get in no trouble really except when the babylon (police) just used to stop you on the street. The only other time I`ve been in a police station was when there was a big fight at the Ska Bar in Woolwich when the police raided the club."
Carl Gayle:
Part 1
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 8
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 2
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
VIOLENCE has always been a characteristic of the black music scene. The Tiles, the Flamingo, the Ram Jam, the Go Go, the 007, the Twenties, the Ska Bar, the Night Angel . . . they all closed because of the continuous outbreaks of violence.
The Ram Jam must have been the most influential clubs for blacks of the mid sixties, except perhaps for the Q Club situated in Brixton Road, Brixton (one of the densest `black` areas in London) opposite the local police station, the Ram Jam attracted black youngsters from all over London. They came in colourful hordes, the guys in terylene and mohair suits, the girls in brightly coloured, low necked silk and satin dresses that glistened in the Sunday afternoon sun. The early Sunday sessions (2-6pm) brought to Brixton the best dancers. Those from North Willesden and Dalston especially came to challenge the boastful Brixton contingent who on their home ground were supremely confident of humiliating all comers on the dance floor. If that failed the fights would start.
Back in 1967 ska was still hot. The most exhilarating ska dance was the shuffle. With tunes like "Broadway Jungle" by the Maytals, "Phoenix City" by Roland Alphonso and the many by the inimitable Skatalites beating in your ears it was a time to display your footmanship. Of all the great shufflers that I`ve seen from London to Birmingham, a guy called Errol who lived in Harlesden was the king. There were all types of shufflers. There were the big guys whose art was in their ability to look clumsy while being perfectly balanced and composed. There were the energetic shufflers who relied on speed, stamina, and daring. And there were the lazily elegant and stylish dancers like Satchmo, and Black Diamond from Brixton. Errol from Harlesden was a combination of all of them, a supreme artist.
The rivalry which developed between the north and south and which was the foundation for much of the characteristic violence of the Ram Jam and other clubs, was perpetuated by the supporters of the sound systems--Coxon and Duke Reid in the South, and Count Shelly in the North especially. This rivalry, which often erupted in violence, was responsible for some of the division in the black music scene as a whole. As the violence increased the clubs lost their respectability. Consequently many black youngsters dropped out of the once peaceful reggae orientated sub culture, opting for the more tranquil soul scene. Soul had been popular with W. Indians anyway and a lot of people just got sick and scared of the hooliganism.
Instead of going to the Ram Jam they went to the Q. Instead of going to the regular house blues (parties), they kept their own private affairs which were restricted to relatives and friends, they kept away from the sound systems. And as soon as the media began to criticise reggae for the associated hooliganism or violence (the Skinheads), and it`s apparent musical limitations, these renegades quickly identified with this prevalent consensus of opinion. This was their justification for copping out of the reggae sub culture and their new found position.
But Fenton remains stolidly a supporter and a product of this sub culture. Although he`s lived in England for ten years, he speaks of Jamaica as though he`d only arrived in England yesterday. His attitudes, mode of speech and dress, his lifestyle, are completely ethnic. He has kept his roots and he just wishes he had enough money to go back home.
Carl Gayle:
Part 2
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 2
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
VIOLENCE has always been a characteristic of the black music scene. The Tiles, the Flamingo, the Ram Jam, the Go Go, the 007, the Twenties, the Ska Bar, the Night Angel . . . they all closed because of the continuous outbreaks of violence.
The Ram Jam must have been the most influential clubs for blacks of the mid sixties, except perhaps for the Q Club situated in Brixton Road, Brixton (one of the densest `black` areas in London) opposite the local police station, the Ram Jam attracted black youngsters from all over London. They came in colourful hordes, the guys in terylene and mohair suits, the girls in brightly coloured, low necked silk and satin dresses that glistened in the Sunday afternoon sun. The early Sunday sessions (2-6pm) brought to Brixton the best dancers. Those from North Willesden and Dalston especially came to challenge the boastful Brixton contingent who on their home ground were supremely confident of humiliating all comers on the dance floor. If that failed the fights would start.
Back in 1967 ska was still hot. The most exhilarating ska dance was the shuffle. With tunes like "Broadway Jungle" by the Maytals, "Phoenix City" by Roland Alphonso and the many by the inimitable Skatalites beating in your ears it was a time to display your footmanship. Of all the great shufflers that I`ve seen from London to Birmingham, a guy called Errol who lived in Harlesden was the king. There were all types of shufflers. There were the big guys whose art was in their ability to look clumsy while being perfectly balanced and composed. There were the energetic shufflers who relied on speed, stamina, and daring. And there were the lazily elegant and stylish dancers like Satchmo, and Black Diamond from Brixton. Errol from Harlesden was a combination of all of them, a supreme artist.
The rivalry which developed between the north and south and which was the foundation for much of the characteristic violence of the Ram Jam and other clubs, was perpetuated by the supporters of the sound systems--Coxon and Duke Reid in the South, and Count Shelly in the North especially. This rivalry, which often erupted in violence, was responsible for some of the division in the black music scene as a whole. As the violence increased the clubs lost their respectability. Consequently many black youngsters dropped out of the once peaceful reggae orientated sub culture, opting for the more tranquil soul scene. Soul had been popular with W. Indians anyway and a lot of people just got sick and scared of the hooliganism.
Instead of going to the Ram Jam they went to the Q. Instead of going to the regular house blues (parties), they kept their own private affairs which were restricted to relatives and friends, they kept away from the sound systems. And as soon as the media began to criticise reggae for the associated hooliganism or violence (the Skinheads), and it`s apparent musical limitations, these renegades quickly identified with this prevalent consensus of opinion. This was their justification for copping out of the reggae sub culture and their new found position.
But Fenton remains stolidly a supporter and a product of this sub culture. Although he`s lived in England for ten years, he speaks of Jamaica as though he`d only arrived in England yesterday. His attitudes, mode of speech and dress, his lifestyle, are completely ethnic. He has kept his roots and he just wishes he had enough money to go back home.
Carl Gayle:
Part 2
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
stepping razor
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:53 pm
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 8
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 3
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
SITTING here at Mr. Bees, observing the thick crowd on the dance floor, Fenton seems weary and out of place even though, like the vast majority of people here tonight, he`s black and from the W. Indies. Bees isn`t really a soul club, but nor is it ethnic enough to be Fenton`s cup of tea. Someone like Fenton only comes to life at a good Town Hall sound system contest or amidst the ruggedly beautiful black crowds that specialize in going on seaside outings at Bank Holidays.
Bank Holiday outings are family affairs. They have a unique air of festivity about them which is the real reason most people are willing to pay from £3 upwards for a ticket to hear a sound system play in somewhere like Southsea.
Outings are an essentially Jamaican pre-occupation. We tend to attach as much importance to them as the English do to their annual holidays.
Like coach outings Town Hall shows are the only events that bring middle-aged W. Indians and the regular sound system crowd into contact with each other. This was particularly evident at a recent show put on by 38 year old part-time promotor Paul Harrison at Tottenham Town Hall. The show was meant to bring together two of the leading London sound systems--Count Shelly and Sir Coxson, but the latter didn`t turn up.
"A lot of promoters advertise shows knowing full well that the artists aren`t even in the country and of course people feel cheated. But there`s nothing you can do when a sound system just doesn`t show up. We want to put on a lot more shows but things like these make it difficult. People don`t want to go to places like the Hornsey Town Hall any more because it`s used for a lot of shows and many times the acts don`t show up," says Mr. Harrison.
"It was difficult enough just to get this place hired, we`d been trying for over a year. They didn`t want to rent it because this hall is where all these football clubs and these big people hold their dos y`see."
Tottenham Town Hall is rather squalid inside but outside on the balcony where the tired, middle-aged women sit in their Saturday night best, it`s a little more elegant. The women wear an air od indifference. Some sit fanning them selves in their tight dresses which reveal the characteristically large midriff bulges that all black women seem to suffer from once past thirty-five or forty. The prettier, younger, slimmer fashion conscious females wera Oxford bags or tight skirts with striped blouses. They wear make up and hair do`s out of Ebony, and stand around trying to look like the models in Vogue. The older men are always the most talkative. They desert their wives and stand around drinking whisky, and swapping jokes with their friends and, their friends` wives.
Inside the dance hall it`s packed but not too densely as we saunter around taking photographs. Some dancers pose for the camera while others wonder what the hell we`re doing. The middle-aged rub shoulders with the kids who wonder how come there are so many older folks here tonight. It`s a peaceful relaxed atmosphere, not much to get excited about except a young six piece band called Black Slate. It would have been much more interesting if Coxson and his Brixton marauders had shown up, but Paul Harrison was satisfied.
"Roughly a show like this costs over £400. We haven`t finalised our books and things yet but we`re hoping to make about £600. We all want money but it`s not even for the money`s sake. I sometimes find myself looking hopelessly for somewhere to go and sit back, meet my own people, have a good laugh and exchange thoughts. Somebody`s got to come forward sooner or later and put on a show but they`re not always successful. If people can trust you they`ll turn up though. But what we really want to do is to get a youth centre, a building to accommodate a lot of black kids socially."
Carl Gayle:
Part 3
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 3
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
SITTING here at Mr. Bees, observing the thick crowd on the dance floor, Fenton seems weary and out of place even though, like the vast majority of people here tonight, he`s black and from the W. Indies. Bees isn`t really a soul club, but nor is it ethnic enough to be Fenton`s cup of tea. Someone like Fenton only comes to life at a good Town Hall sound system contest or amidst the ruggedly beautiful black crowds that specialize in going on seaside outings at Bank Holidays.
Bank Holiday outings are family affairs. They have a unique air of festivity about them which is the real reason most people are willing to pay from £3 upwards for a ticket to hear a sound system play in somewhere like Southsea.
Outings are an essentially Jamaican pre-occupation. We tend to attach as much importance to them as the English do to their annual holidays.
Like coach outings Town Hall shows are the only events that bring middle-aged W. Indians and the regular sound system crowd into contact with each other. This was particularly evident at a recent show put on by 38 year old part-time promotor Paul Harrison at Tottenham Town Hall. The show was meant to bring together two of the leading London sound systems--Count Shelly and Sir Coxson, but the latter didn`t turn up.
"A lot of promoters advertise shows knowing full well that the artists aren`t even in the country and of course people feel cheated. But there`s nothing you can do when a sound system just doesn`t show up. We want to put on a lot more shows but things like these make it difficult. People don`t want to go to places like the Hornsey Town Hall any more because it`s used for a lot of shows and many times the acts don`t show up," says Mr. Harrison.
"It was difficult enough just to get this place hired, we`d been trying for over a year. They didn`t want to rent it because this hall is where all these football clubs and these big people hold their dos y`see."
Tottenham Town Hall is rather squalid inside but outside on the balcony where the tired, middle-aged women sit in their Saturday night best, it`s a little more elegant. The women wear an air od indifference. Some sit fanning them selves in their tight dresses which reveal the characteristically large midriff bulges that all black women seem to suffer from once past thirty-five or forty. The prettier, younger, slimmer fashion conscious females wera Oxford bags or tight skirts with striped blouses. They wear make up and hair do`s out of Ebony, and stand around trying to look like the models in Vogue. The older men are always the most talkative. They desert their wives and stand around drinking whisky, and swapping jokes with their friends and, their friends` wives.
Inside the dance hall it`s packed but not too densely as we saunter around taking photographs. Some dancers pose for the camera while others wonder what the hell we`re doing. The middle-aged rub shoulders with the kids who wonder how come there are so many older folks here tonight. It`s a peaceful relaxed atmosphere, not much to get excited about except a young six piece band called Black Slate. It would have been much more interesting if Coxson and his Brixton marauders had shown up, but Paul Harrison was satisfied.
"Roughly a show like this costs over £400. We haven`t finalised our books and things yet but we`re hoping to make about £600. We all want money but it`s not even for the money`s sake. I sometimes find myself looking hopelessly for somewhere to go and sit back, meet my own people, have a good laugh and exchange thoughts. Somebody`s got to come forward sooner or later and put on a show but they`re not always successful. If people can trust you they`ll turn up though. But what we really want to do is to get a youth centre, a building to accommodate a lot of black kids socially."
Carl Gayle:
Part 3
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
-
stepping razor
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:53 pm
Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 8
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 4
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
JAMAICAN music was bound to gain a foothold in Britain once the first wave of immigrants had settled here. It all started back in 1953 at a shop in Stamford Hill, North London. The shop was opened by Mr Benny King and his wife Rita, in June 1953. By September, many Jamaicans were visiting the shop and asking for `blues` records.
"We didn`t know what they meant," said Benny, "but we soon found out it was Jamaican music. Then one customer said we should get the records from Jamaica and he gave us Coxon`s (the Jamaican label owner / promoter / producer / sound system man) address in Jamaica. We wrote to him sending the money and finally we got the first shipment."
About six months later Benny and Rita approached two English jazz labels--Esquire and Melodisc to see if they would import the records and release them in Britain. Esquire released the first such record, "Boogie In My Bones"/"Little Sheila" by Laurel Aitken on their Starlite label in 1954.
It was Melodisc Records that really pioneered Jamaican music in England, notably through their Blue Beat label. In fact the name `blue beat` was passed on to all early Jamaican music in England, and `R&B`, `ska` and `rock steady` music became known as blue beat, even when they appeared on other labels.
Melodisc Records received records from Sir Coxson, Duke Reid, and Prince Buster (three of the biggest promoters at the time in JA) and released some of the finest ska records, including Laurel Aitken`s "Bartender" and Eric Morris`s "Humpty Dumpty" (1961), Prince Buster`s "Independence Song" (1962) and "Have Mercy Mr Percy"/"She`s Gone To Napoli", two lively R&B sides by the team of Owen Gray and Laurel Aitken (1963). They released two of the Maytal`s finest songs on one record in `64--"He Is Real"/"Domino." In `66 there was Buster`s "Hard Man Fe Dead" and in `67 Buster`s "Judge Dread". And there were many more.
In 1964 Rita and Benny Knig started their own label--R&B--for the release of Jamaican recordings. It was notable for some of the earliest records that appeared on it by Don Drummond and the Skatalites. But it was their Ska Beat label that played the more enterprising role with releases like Derrick Morgan`s "Don`t Call Me Daddy", Lord Tanamo`s "I`m In The Mood For Ska", Baba Brooks` "One Eyed Giant", The Wailers` "Love And Affection" and "Lonesome Feeling", and Dandy Livingstone`s British-made "Rudy A Message To You" the record that made a name for Dandy.
Benny and Rita no longer release records themselves. They started concentrating on importing records from JA in 1969 in response to the demand for records that none of the British-based record companies were releasing. "We got hold of other names in JA through Coxson. We import about a thousand records a week now. We not only supply the sound systems, we supply other shops in Britain like Brian Harris`, Black Wax, and Don Christie, they`re the three biggest reggae import shops in Birmingham."
A white Jamaican, Chris Blackwell, started Island Records in Jamaica in 1960 with artists like Owen Gray, Laurel Aitken, and Jackie Edwards. By 1962, Blackwell and David Betteridge (and Englishman with experience in record distribution) had set up business in Britain.
"I decided to come to England because there was too much competition in Jamaica," said Blackwell. "The Jackie edward records `Tell Me Darling` and `Your Eyes Are Dreaming` were big sellers over here so I made a deal with Coxson, Duke Reid, Leslie Kong and other people to release their records on my label in England."
The first records Island recorded in Britain was an LP of religious songs by Jackie Edwards and his `straight` single "Tears Like Rain". At first the recordings were made at Oriole Studios in Bond Street and then at the Olympic Studios. Islands biggest success with Jamaican music was one of these British recordings: Millicent Small`s "My Boy Lollipop" was a worldwide hit in 1963.
But there were many records, some a lot better, that passed relatively unknown except in the W. Indian communities. Before Millie`s big hit there had been Owen Gray`s "Darling Patricia", Jimmy Cliff`s "Miss Jamaica" and Derrick (Morgan) and Patsy`s "Housewives Choice", all fine ska numbers recorded at Leslie Kong`s Beverlys Studios in JA.
And from 1963 until `67 (when Island finally phased out their JA releases in favour of rock music) the quality of Island`s releases were of consistently high standard.
"Melodisc were our biggest competition then," said Blackwell, "But they were much disliked by all the record stores, and I offered the stores a very good service right from the beginning, so they helped me get started. Dave Betteridge and I used to do the distribution ourselves in a little mini car. Then Lee Gopthal got involved because he was the landlord where Island had its office in 1963, in the Cambridge Road, N. West London. He started to get more and more involved in the business himself and then he formed his own label--Trojan. B&C was formed later on as a joint company between him and myself but we sold out our half a couple of years ago".
Island only re-entered the reggae field two summers ago when they signed up people like the Wailers, Zap Pow, and Owen Gray. But it has been Trojan Records (with competition from Pama Records from 1968 to `73, and Bamboo and Ashanti under Junior Lincoln) that has established reggae music in England.
Thirty two year old Jamaican Webster Shrowder, a confident, hard-working type, has very recently been appointed managing director of Trojan by his boss Lee Gopthal. It is just reward for ten years of hard work and dedication. Webster Shrowder was given a job behind the counter in the first market stall that Gopthal and his partners opened in Shepherds Bush over ten years ago, after Shrowder had been selling records on a door to door basis for Gopthal.
"We had to build a market out of nothing," said Shrowder. "Black and white people used to stare as if they couldn`t believe that it was a black guy behind the counter. But after "My Boy Lollipop" a lot of people caught on to ska including the English. Then Prince Buster came along with `Al Capone` and `Judge Dread` and by then all the West Indians were into Jamaican music. Then there was Desmond Dekker`s `007` and more people caught on".
Carl Gayle:
Part 4
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 4
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
JAMAICAN music was bound to gain a foothold in Britain once the first wave of immigrants had settled here. It all started back in 1953 at a shop in Stamford Hill, North London. The shop was opened by Mr Benny King and his wife Rita, in June 1953. By September, many Jamaicans were visiting the shop and asking for `blues` records.
"We didn`t know what they meant," said Benny, "but we soon found out it was Jamaican music. Then one customer said we should get the records from Jamaica and he gave us Coxon`s (the Jamaican label owner / promoter / producer / sound system man) address in Jamaica. We wrote to him sending the money and finally we got the first shipment."
About six months later Benny and Rita approached two English jazz labels--Esquire and Melodisc to see if they would import the records and release them in Britain. Esquire released the first such record, "Boogie In My Bones"/"Little Sheila" by Laurel Aitken on their Starlite label in 1954.
It was Melodisc Records that really pioneered Jamaican music in England, notably through their Blue Beat label. In fact the name `blue beat` was passed on to all early Jamaican music in England, and `R&B`, `ska` and `rock steady` music became known as blue beat, even when they appeared on other labels.
Melodisc Records received records from Sir Coxson, Duke Reid, and Prince Buster (three of the biggest promoters at the time in JA) and released some of the finest ska records, including Laurel Aitken`s "Bartender" and Eric Morris`s "Humpty Dumpty" (1961), Prince Buster`s "Independence Song" (1962) and "Have Mercy Mr Percy"/"She`s Gone To Napoli", two lively R&B sides by the team of Owen Gray and Laurel Aitken (1963). They released two of the Maytal`s finest songs on one record in `64--"He Is Real"/"Domino." In `66 there was Buster`s "Hard Man Fe Dead" and in `67 Buster`s "Judge Dread". And there were many more.
In 1964 Rita and Benny Knig started their own label--R&B--for the release of Jamaican recordings. It was notable for some of the earliest records that appeared on it by Don Drummond and the Skatalites. But it was their Ska Beat label that played the more enterprising role with releases like Derrick Morgan`s "Don`t Call Me Daddy", Lord Tanamo`s "I`m In The Mood For Ska", Baba Brooks` "One Eyed Giant", The Wailers` "Love And Affection" and "Lonesome Feeling", and Dandy Livingstone`s British-made "Rudy A Message To You" the record that made a name for Dandy.
Benny and Rita no longer release records themselves. They started concentrating on importing records from JA in 1969 in response to the demand for records that none of the British-based record companies were releasing. "We got hold of other names in JA through Coxson. We import about a thousand records a week now. We not only supply the sound systems, we supply other shops in Britain like Brian Harris`, Black Wax, and Don Christie, they`re the three biggest reggae import shops in Birmingham."
A white Jamaican, Chris Blackwell, started Island Records in Jamaica in 1960 with artists like Owen Gray, Laurel Aitken, and Jackie Edwards. By 1962, Blackwell and David Betteridge (and Englishman with experience in record distribution) had set up business in Britain.
"I decided to come to England because there was too much competition in Jamaica," said Blackwell. "The Jackie edward records `Tell Me Darling` and `Your Eyes Are Dreaming` were big sellers over here so I made a deal with Coxson, Duke Reid, Leslie Kong and other people to release their records on my label in England."
The first records Island recorded in Britain was an LP of religious songs by Jackie Edwards and his `straight` single "Tears Like Rain". At first the recordings were made at Oriole Studios in Bond Street and then at the Olympic Studios. Islands biggest success with Jamaican music was one of these British recordings: Millicent Small`s "My Boy Lollipop" was a worldwide hit in 1963.
But there were many records, some a lot better, that passed relatively unknown except in the W. Indian communities. Before Millie`s big hit there had been Owen Gray`s "Darling Patricia", Jimmy Cliff`s "Miss Jamaica" and Derrick (Morgan) and Patsy`s "Housewives Choice", all fine ska numbers recorded at Leslie Kong`s Beverlys Studios in JA.
And from 1963 until `67 (when Island finally phased out their JA releases in favour of rock music) the quality of Island`s releases were of consistently high standard.
"Melodisc were our biggest competition then," said Blackwell, "But they were much disliked by all the record stores, and I offered the stores a very good service right from the beginning, so they helped me get started. Dave Betteridge and I used to do the distribution ourselves in a little mini car. Then Lee Gopthal got involved because he was the landlord where Island had its office in 1963, in the Cambridge Road, N. West London. He started to get more and more involved in the business himself and then he formed his own label--Trojan. B&C was formed later on as a joint company between him and myself but we sold out our half a couple of years ago".
Island only re-entered the reggae field two summers ago when they signed up people like the Wailers, Zap Pow, and Owen Gray. But it has been Trojan Records (with competition from Pama Records from 1968 to `73, and Bamboo and Ashanti under Junior Lincoln) that has established reggae music in England.
Thirty two year old Jamaican Webster Shrowder, a confident, hard-working type, has very recently been appointed managing director of Trojan by his boss Lee Gopthal. It is just reward for ten years of hard work and dedication. Webster Shrowder was given a job behind the counter in the first market stall that Gopthal and his partners opened in Shepherds Bush over ten years ago, after Shrowder had been selling records on a door to door basis for Gopthal.
"We had to build a market out of nothing," said Shrowder. "Black and white people used to stare as if they couldn`t believe that it was a black guy behind the counter. But after "My Boy Lollipop" a lot of people caught on to ska including the English. Then Prince Buster came along with `Al Capone` and `Judge Dread` and by then all the West Indians were into Jamaican music. Then there was Desmond Dekker`s `007` and more people caught on".
Carl Gayle:
Part 4
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
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stepping razor
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Re: 1974-1980 reviews on current reggae releases...
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 8
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 5
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
SHEPHERDS BUSH market, like Stoke Newington and Brixton markets, are the focal points of the black communities in London.
The middle aged women and younger housewives stroll around with a shopping bag or basket in each hand and sometimes with a playful youngster at their side as they purchase next week`s groceries. The teenagers, the black youth of Brixton, Stoke Newington, and the Bush, gather in the record shops which are usually crammed with record enthusiasts from mid-day until closing time on a Saturday.
In the early days it was the men in their mid-twenties and upwards who bought most of the records, not the fifteen to twenty year olds who loiter in the shops all day. today, reggae is really a black teenage music. The youngsters today spend more than they can afford on records, but they want the best and the rarest.
Morpheus Record shop in Melfort Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon, concentrates on satisfying these youngsters by dealing almost entirely in pre-release Jamaican music . . . "We import our records three times a week from Jamaica," said a young guy called Michael, one of the salesmen behind the counter at Morpheus. He spoke determinedly in a hurried Jamaican slang: "Pre-release music to me and to many people like sound system men and their followers, is like underground music. As soon as it`s released it`s commercial music. So you find that to the youth of today, the ghetto youth like myself, pre-released music is like a medicine. They`ll go anywhere to hear it, so we like to deal with pre-releases.
"I can name you some well put together pre-releases that you might never be able to buy. LPs like `Big Youth Phenomenon`, `This Is Augustus Pablo`, some wicked instrumentals, `Hit Factory` by the Now Generation. There`s so much music that tells you what`s going on in Jamaica, just like they used music and changed politics out there. Right now there`s things like curfews and a whole heap of shooting incidents. Things like `Gun Court Law,` `None Shall Escape The Gun Court`, `Judge In Definite Detention`. This kind of music tell you exactly what`s happening.
"They (the record companies) don`t release any real music, they just release `swing along` music but I`m not fighting against that. It`s nice, you have to have some of that. But we sell pre-release music because there`s a million and one shops selling released music. We have to pay a whole lot of money and tax to get these records. But it still pays. All the Sound System men depend on us, we boost their scene. People come here from Birmingham, Leicester, Derby, and all over London.
This music doesn`t get played on the radio so the shop gets full every day. Sometimes I feel like driving the youths out but you can`t. And you find that the older generation don`t want to come into the shop, and they don`t really understand that this music is for the youth of today. We get a few complaints from neighbours but we can`t do anything about that because if a million youths decided to walk down the road you can`t do anything about it. And the only reason they stand here in the shop is because they really love the music. Man, reggae music can make you cry. i`ve seen people just start crying when the music holds them.
"Now your magazine, Black Music, it`s an all right magazine because I checked it out. You run down on a few local artists and I like that because the local artists especially the sufferers, they`re the ones who are producing all the music. So if the music here can get publicity well it could easily turn into a big industry. but it gets fought down y`know. People start saying `Oh it`s all the same`. But if you really listen to the pre-releases we play, every one is a different combination of rhythms".
Carl Gayle:
Part 5
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
THE REGGAE UNDERGROUND: - PT. 5
Ignored By The Mass Media, Often Beset By Hassles, The Music Scene Of London`s Black Community Is Nevertheless Alive And Grooving. A Six-Page Special Report
By Carl Gayle: -
SHEPHERDS BUSH market, like Stoke Newington and Brixton markets, are the focal points of the black communities in London.
The middle aged women and younger housewives stroll around with a shopping bag or basket in each hand and sometimes with a playful youngster at their side as they purchase next week`s groceries. The teenagers, the black youth of Brixton, Stoke Newington, and the Bush, gather in the record shops which are usually crammed with record enthusiasts from mid-day until closing time on a Saturday.
In the early days it was the men in their mid-twenties and upwards who bought most of the records, not the fifteen to twenty year olds who loiter in the shops all day. today, reggae is really a black teenage music. The youngsters today spend more than they can afford on records, but they want the best and the rarest.
Morpheus Record shop in Melfort Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon, concentrates on satisfying these youngsters by dealing almost entirely in pre-release Jamaican music . . . "We import our records three times a week from Jamaica," said a young guy called Michael, one of the salesmen behind the counter at Morpheus. He spoke determinedly in a hurried Jamaican slang: "Pre-release music to me and to many people like sound system men and their followers, is like underground music. As soon as it`s released it`s commercial music. So you find that to the youth of today, the ghetto youth like myself, pre-released music is like a medicine. They`ll go anywhere to hear it, so we like to deal with pre-releases.
"I can name you some well put together pre-releases that you might never be able to buy. LPs like `Big Youth Phenomenon`, `This Is Augustus Pablo`, some wicked instrumentals, `Hit Factory` by the Now Generation. There`s so much music that tells you what`s going on in Jamaica, just like they used music and changed politics out there. Right now there`s things like curfews and a whole heap of shooting incidents. Things like `Gun Court Law,` `None Shall Escape The Gun Court`, `Judge In Definite Detention`. This kind of music tell you exactly what`s happening.
"They (the record companies) don`t release any real music, they just release `swing along` music but I`m not fighting against that. It`s nice, you have to have some of that. But we sell pre-release music because there`s a million and one shops selling released music. We have to pay a whole lot of money and tax to get these records. But it still pays. All the Sound System men depend on us, we boost their scene. People come here from Birmingham, Leicester, Derby, and all over London.
This music doesn`t get played on the radio so the shop gets full every day. Sometimes I feel like driving the youths out but you can`t. And you find that the older generation don`t want to come into the shop, and they don`t really understand that this music is for the youth of today. We get a few complaints from neighbours but we can`t do anything about that because if a million youths decided to walk down the road you can`t do anything about it. And the only reason they stand here in the shop is because they really love the music. Man, reggae music can make you cry. i`ve seen people just start crying when the music holds them.
"Now your magazine, Black Music, it`s an all right magazine because I checked it out. You run down on a few local artists and I like that because the local artists especially the sufferers, they`re the ones who are producing all the music. So if the music here can get publicity well it could easily turn into a big industry. but it gets fought down y`know. People start saying `Oh it`s all the same`. But if you really listen to the pre-releases we play, every one is a different combination of rhythms".
Carl Gayle:
Part 5
BLACK MUSIC JULY 1974
peace
*Reggae Record Label Artwork*
http://leggorocker.ning.com/
http://leggorocker.ning.com/