Roots Archives Forum

i recomend to search at studio's at roots archives (channel 1 , harry j , tresure Isle, Studio 1 aqariuous tuff gong i discover reggae in this way

I love this album.

There are so many artists...
But if you think you like roots music, then you have to search between 1974 - 1985 period..(my opinion)
JAH SHAKA (is the best!!!)
ASWAD (the early years)
TWINKLE BROTHERS (many songs are very good but not all)
HUGH MUNDELL
JOHNNY CLARKE
LINTON KWESI JOHNSON
BARRINGTON LEVY
SCIENTIST
KNOWLEDGE
MISTY IN ROOTS
PABLO GAD
HORACE ANDY
etc
There are many "unknown" artists with small discography but it worths to check them out like
CLINTON SENIOR (I only know a 7" Son Of Man)
JOSHUA MOSES (Africa Is Our Land 12")
AFRICAN WOMAN (African Woman Abroad LP)
MIGHTY THREES (Africa Shall Strech Forth Her Hand LP)
etc
Some nice labels:
Check the Greensleeves 12"
Phase One
Wackie's
Studio One
Cry Tuff
It's a long long way...
(You can check my channel also for some roots revival music)

You want to start from the beginning?

Well you can't go wrong with a good Ska comp such as the Skatalites Treasure Isle Time or a best-of like The Best of Don Drummond (Studio 1) -- although some of that is not actually DD, The Clarendonians (Studio 1) or a good Trojan comp.

For early rocksteady, how about some Ken Boothe and Alton Ellis - both represented with great comps on Heartbeat - Boothe with A Man and His Hits and Alton with I'm Still In Love With You (featuring Hortense Ellis). Delroy Wilson's Feel Good All Over (Studio 1) is awesome. To prepare yourself for the onslaught of the deejays - get an early Treasure Isle U-Roy comp like Version Galore.

Reggae - I always dig Wailing Souls first Studio 1 LP (which has gotten to be rather difficult to find recently). Maytones, Errol Dunkley, Heptones. Do yourself a favor and get ahold of some of those excellent Soul Jazz comps of Studio 1 material - you can't go wrong!

Roots and Dub - I think that's been covered rather extensively in this post. I recommned Pablo Gad, Johnny Clarke and Linval Thompson. Burning Spear, Culture.
I think the King of Dub record is a great place to start on dub. Lee Perry's Blackboard Jungle is good for newbies. Later period dub - anything with Scientist.

Dancehall - Sugar Minott (almost everything this guy recorded is worth listening to), Johnny Osbourne, Cocoa Tea, Half Pint, Cornell Campbell. For the deejays - I love Lone Ranger, Michigan and Smiley, Papa Tullo, Eek-a-Mouse, Ranking Dread, Billy Boyo.

So much I'm leaving out...but that'll get you started.

Welcome to this ting called Reggae,
I suggest,
Compilations are the way to go my friend more bang for da buck,

But of note are,
Justin Hinds and the Dominoes-Jeezbel/Just in Tme, Island(Great Album)
Keith Hudson & Friends - The Hudson Affair Trojan CD #TJDDD 221 2004
Clancy Eccles & Friends - Freedom (Anthology)Trojan CD #TJDDD 297 2005 1967-73
Trojan have some great comps but starting to get hard to find the good ones but try the 3CD box sets they do if you can find em.

Vp have done some good Producer comps of late that should be availible to buy such as the,

Niney The Observer - Roots With Quality: Reggae Anthology (Big Youth, Max Romeo, Jr. Byles, Etc.) (2 CD) VP 1974-1982
Joe Gibbs - Scorchers From The Early Years: Reggae Anthology (2 CD) VP 1967-1973
Joe Gibbs - Joe Gibbs Reggae Anthology: Scorchers From The Mighty Two (Various Artists) (2CD) VP 1976-1981

Pressure Sounds are a great label as well,(a couple i really like are)
King Tubby - Firehouse Revolution (With King Kong, Johnny Osbourne, Conroy Smith, Etc.) Pressure Sounds 1985-1988
Various - Red Bumb Ball: Rare & Unreleased Rocksteady Pressure Sounds 1966-1968
Various - The Rare Side Of Rock Steady With Phil Pratt & Friends: Safe Travel Pressure Sounds 1966-1968
(These two are Rocksteady but are well worth a listen)

I could go on but as i said Various artists the way to go for someone just starting to get a feel for Reggae.

Have fun man.

Hi Martin

I can highly recommend the following two fairly recent Trojan compilations as starting points for anyone looking to get into roots reggae. Both should be easy to get hold of and for around £10 you'll get 80 classic roots tracks, many by the artists already mentioned, but some by more obscure artists.

http://store.universal-music.co.uk/rest ... 0753340738

http://store.universal-music.co.uk/rest ... 2527457857

I've been listening to reggae for around 20 years and there are things on Stand and Give Praise that I'd never heard before buying it!

Can I suggest buying Steve Barrow's Rough Guide to Reggae.

Whilst it is out of date and needs updating it is essential reading if you are wanting to get into Reggae and build a collection.

Happy listening!

kevin wrote:Can I suggest buying Steve Barrow's Rough Guide to Reggae.

Whilst it is out of date and needs updating it is essential reading if you are wanting to get into Reggae and build a collection.

Happy listening!

It's really only out of date if you must know about the last decade of JA music - which, come on, let's face it - most of us on this board don't give two fiddlesticks about!

But, yes, I totally, absolutely recommend. If you can find it!

Well, it's also out of date in that there has been a lot of excellent reissuing going on since its last edition, so it's a little out of sync with the current marketplace.

Eric Donaldson was one of the first artists I listened to when I started listening to Reggae and of course BMW & Culture.

I would suggest

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