Well the Hoo Kim Bros didn't actually play with the Revolutionaries.
They were not the only producers to employ and credit the Revolutionaries, I believe Jah Thomas also has a dub lp by the Revolutionaries.
Actually, the Aggro/Revo/Prof distinction has little sens...
All these bands come from the same group of musicians. Basicly for every period you have a crew of more or less 30 musician all playing together depending on the producers.
For this Revo / Prof discussion, everything started with the rise of Channel One studio and the Joe Gibbs studio. Before 74, Randy's studio on North Parade ruled things so far we consider the independant producers (those who didn't have their studio). Randy was killer due to the staff: Soul Syndicate + Errol Thompson at the miximng board.
By 74/75, Soul Syndicate split more or less. Actually, Soul Syndicats had various names depending on the producer who paid them: Randy's All Star, Aggrovators or Professionals (first periode before 74/75), Observers and so on... They split mainly because Sly, joined Channel One and B Gardiner joined Joe Gibbs. The point is that Sly & Gardiner were not the core of Soul Syndicate. So, if Soul Syndicate vanished it's not because the main leaders quite, but just because Sly & Gardiner established Channel One & Joe Gibbs as "the new and best place to record". Other point very important: Errol Thompson followed Gardiner at Joe Gibbs and IMO Thompson played a greater role in establishing Joe Gibbs studio than Gardiner did.
This part of the story is crucial as it generated the quick fade of Randy. From #1 place without any question to the final close by 77... The Chin familly tried to maintain Randy, with the Wailers as studio band, but they failed... In fact by 75 Randy was already almost dead if we judge by the amount of production from this place compared to the previous period.
So, the opening of Channel One (mainly) and Joe Gibbs really changed the Jamaican sound as soon as the rockers style appeared. But in fact the musician called Revo, Aggro, Prof and so on are still from the same crew.
The only difference is between Professionals & Revo/Aggro.
Revo is the generic name for all these bands from the same crew of musician. Revo is simply IMO: rocker style (mainly played at Channel One) from 74 to 79. Whatever name they were given, it does not change. Revo/Aggro, is the most famous name for the Channel One players. Revo are more Hoo Kim related (but so many producers used this name) while Aggro are exclusive to B Lee.
Note that Aggro existed before the opening of Channel One. And those who know a little their B Lee classics understand clearly that, EVEN IF the musicians are more or less the same, the sound is really differnet after 74. So one band and two styles dependanding of the studio (Randy vs Channel One).
Profesionals is also more or less Revo. The only difference is the Studio they played in: Joe Gibbs. More than the studio itself, it's the Errol Thompson mixing which IMO make the diff between Revo and Prof.
So, IMO the real difference is due to studios. Speacking of bands have less sens than speacking about studio. The studios (and actualy mixers) are IMO the most important aspect when you want to define a style...
i agree with the above mentioned.
the most clearest distinction between these bands is
the aggrovators had the different sounds due to santa davis drumming style. sly had a very busy style about his playing as where santa davis rode with the skank on his hi hat.
if you ever hear the drums playing along with the skank it was probably the aggrovators.
respect
mick d wrote:the black disciples played for jack ruby productions. not many LPs credit them as the backing band, but their sound was amazing.
Quite right. The sound is amazing, but isn't the same core set of musicians as the Aggrovators/Revolutionaries/Professionals? Robbie Shakespeare, Tony Chin, Chinna Smith, Bobby Ellis, Tommy McCook, Vin Gordon..
Is the difference down to the drumming of Horsemouth Wallace?
Aggrovators = Bunny Lee
Professionals = Joe Gibbs
Revolutionaries = Channel One /Hoo-Kim Brothers
Black Disciples = Jack Ruby
yes, aggrovators became revolutionaries anywhere around 1977/78.
one classic dub album called "Shalom dub" plus many bonus tracks will be re-released by trojan in october.
watch out for that one. one of the best aggrovators lps.
and i agree on rasta dub 76, great set. don't miss the most classic aggrovators "Dub from the roots" and "The roots of dub". Needless to say all mentioned titles mixed by King Tubby.
