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BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

THE SOUND SYSTEMS:
Carl Gayle On The Legendary DJs Whose Moblie Discos Are The Driving Force Behind The British Reggae Scene. . . .

JAMAICA`S music business was founded on the sound system--a native form of mobile discotheque--and it is still fundamental to the growth of reggae both in Jamaica and Britain. Sound systems caught on in Jamaica overnight at a time when R&B became popular there. The systems became popular with the kids because only they provided the R&B music the youngsters wanted so urgently to hear. Competition and rivalry was born out of the systems` need not just to satisfy their fans but to win the biggest support. Sound Systems and their records became big business.

Duke Reid, Sir Coxsone, King Edward, V Rocket, and Prince Buster came to the fore and became the `baddest` sound men around. The fiercest rivalry existed between Duke Reid and Sir Coxsone, and these two have been chiefly responsible for the discovery, development, and establishing of the biggest artists in Jamaican music today: people like The Maytals, The Wailers, The Heptones, Delroy Wilson, John Holt, Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis and many more.

When the flow of Jamaican immigrants to England began in earnest in the early sixties we music - crazy Jamaicans brought a whole culture with us, including the sound systems.

In England the man who stands head, shoulders, and sound system above his competitors is Sir Coxsone.

There`s a lot more than just having the best, most respected sound system in England to Lloyd Blackford, alias Sir Coxsone, or simply Lloydy. To many dedicated sound system followers Sir Coxsone is a living legend, but he doesn`t owe any of this esteem to the original Jamaican system dj/promoter/producer, Coxon Dodd. He has built what he has and what he is through years of hard work, and his `one of the crowd` personality.

"Anywhere I play I`m like a welfare officer y`know, sorting out arguments and disputes. And we try to know our crowd. I go around and talk with everybody, hear what records they like and so on. So we kind of build an understanding together all the time."

Sir Coxsone had a sound system initially called Lloyd The Matador about nine years ago but had to give it up through lack of cash. He went and played for another sound system based in SW London called Duke Reid (after the Jamaican counterpart) and built up a following that made the Duke`s the top system in London. But Lloydy quit and went out on his own.

"The two sound systems that used to swing in JA were Duke Reid and Coxsone. So I said well wherever there`s a Duke Reid there must be a Sir Coxsone. I gradually built up my sound system from 200 watts to what it is now. I have a 1200 watt transistor amplifier and a 1200 watt valve amplifier but at the moment I only play the transistor. Most people talk about how much wattage they use but I know that the most I use is about 600 watts which is all I require."

The Alphabet in Gerard St., Soho was Sir Coxsone`s first gig as a resident DJ. He moved on to the Go Go club in Kennington and to the Ram Jam club in Brixton. When he went to the Roaring Twenties club in Carnaby St. around 1969, he seemed to take supporters from every other major London sound system with him. Coxsone became the outright number one sound system at the Twenties, and although the club finally closed down after many hassles with the drug scene and the law, and general uncool behaviour by the clubgoers, Lloydy is still THE sound system man.

Nevertheless, there are other sound systems like Count Shelly`s based in N. London, and Duke Neville`s in Birmingham, plus many other big London and Birmingham names with equally dedicated supporters and with as much to contribute to the reggae scene.
Carl Gayle:
Part 1

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

THE SOUND SYSTEMS: - PT. 2
Carl Gayle On The Legendary DJs Whose Moblie Discos Are The Driving Force Behind The British Reggae Scene. . . .

COUNT SHELLY, real name Ephraim Barrett came to England in `62 and started operating his sound system in Swindon a year later but soon moved to North London where he now dominates. Count Shelly now has his own record label and he no longer plays at `house parties` like in the early days. He`s now the resident DJ at the Four Aces club, Dalston which is open seven nights a week. In the past he played the Apollo club in Willesden, and The 007 club in Dalston.

A sound system man becomes one initially because he simply loves to enterain. There`s little money in it at first. If he does well he gets a reputation, he begins to earn some cash. In order to continue, to maintain this standard, he must have the very latest records from JA, those that will never be heard in England by anyone but the sound system followers. Those that will never be heard anywhere without his efforts. He therefore has a responsibility to his fans and to the music as a whole. So he pours his money out on records and equipment and gets back very little financially--since what he is really buying is popularity. In the early days record prices were £5 for a dub (tunes made especially for the sound system), £1 for a white label, and 13/- for a released record. Nowadays all records except dubs have a label even if they`ve not yet been released in England, and they all cost 40p.

Count Shelly: "Every week I actually get say a dozen records. When you play a good tune your followers start enquiring about it at the shops and as soon at it`s released it sells heavily. Some people don`t even wait they buy it pre-released. There are a lot of records that have never been released because the Companies didn`t have the rights to release them. Sometimes the Companies don`t even know the reaction that some records get in clubs so they`re not interested in releasing them, many of them they don`t even hear. This is why I started in the recording business, I know what effect the records will have before I release them because I play to all types of people and I get all the records. A lot of good records have died out because no one released them."
Carl Gayle:
Part 2

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

THE SOUND SYSTEMS: - PT. 3
Carl Gayle On The Legendary DJs whose Mobile Discos Are The Driving Force Behind The British Reggae Scene. . . .

IN BIRMINGHAM, thirty year old ex-welder, ex-electrician, Neville Bailey--known as Duke Neville-- has the most popular sound system. When he started in 1966 he got his records through Caribbean Distributors in Jamaica, and played at parties with a 30 watt amplifier.

Today Neville is the resident DJ at Club Montessa in Wednesbury near Wolverhampton. He has a 500 watt amplifier and owns a record shop in Birmingham. He also supplies records to Birmingham`s local radio programme `Reggae Reggae` and was the original DJ for that show.

"I gave up the radio show when I opened the shop last April. The shop was the obvious next step because I could see which records would sell. It varies from area to area, I know because I`ve played at clubs from London to Blackpool, and all over the Midlands especially. So I think the record companies should work out something with the sound systems so that they can know what records to release . . . and also to help uplift the sound systems for all the work they`ve done in promoting reggae music in this country."

A sound system is as good as its last show. To be ahead you have to spend. Sir Coxsone: "No one wants to leave their home and come to hear a sound system that`s playing the same records that they can buy in the shops. So I go to JA about three times a year to search for unusual music that the people have never heard to keep my system at a certain standard."

Coxsone`s DJ will pick up the microphone at around 2am and say something like "This is Coxsone`s dub hour" or. . ."From now until dawn everything you hear only can be played by Sir Coxsone."

Like Count Shelly or Duke Neville, Sir Coxsone, or Lloydy as he`s known, has graduated from being just a sound system man. He especially has made some valuable contributions in the field of live reggae entertainment by promoting these shows and bringing Jamaican artists to England, artists that would never have been seen here otherwise.

"But what I`m really fighting for is for sound systems to get recognition because sound systems today are doing most of the advertising in the reggae music field in this country. Yet still the record companies don`t give us their co-operation. Every artist I approached for a concert last year at Battersea Town Hall agreed, they said that I didn`t need to go through any procedure with contracts and things. So I printed the leaflets and issued them all around, I drove the streets every evening, to every train station, with help from Byron, Festus, and Gunsmoke who`ve been along with me for so many years.

"When Trojan got the leaflets they said these are our artists and none of them are coming. So I said well I`ll go through the right procedure, but I wasn`t getting anywhere. in the end the artist`s said that they couldn`t come because of their obligations to Trojan, so I was let down by them there.

"I want to start a decent club for not only West Indians but everyone who can come and stick to the rules. I want to set up something so that the people who have supported me can have somewhere nice to go. And also the people that get shut out of certain places because of their behaviour, I want to take those people and curb them, try my best y`know. Coxsone`s sound is here for a purpose, I know the things we`re supposed to do. We play for the people who are suffering, we play for youth club organisations, we play for Rastafari organisations, anybody who asks us."

The sound systems have remained underground for far too long. Sound system men like Sir Coxsone, Duke Neville, or Count Shelly have done a remarkable service for reggae music in this country without getting any credit. They ought to be recognised for the part they have played in the music`s development.
Carl Gayle:

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

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Jah Rastafari

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

CIMARONS:
Backbone Of British Reggae.
By Carl Gayle:

Of all the Jamaican bands working in Britain, The Cimarons are the most respected--and deservedly so.

The Cimarons are named after The Cimaroons, an African tribe shipped to Jamaica as slaves during that era. Their second or third generation descendants The Maroons still have a few settlements in the hills of Jamaica where they escaped to originally. And they have been noted over the years for the rebellions which they have led against colonization.

The Cimarons remain true to that spirit. They are an idealistic band, a rebel band, and one which nurtures the doctrines of rastafari and tries to conduct itself according to rastafarian traditions. Twenty four years old Carl Levy the band`s organist is the most outspoken: "Musically the guys who we`re really closest to are The Wailers. When they were in England very early on we almost sort of lived together, that was before they went to Island Records.

"Our music is influenced by our society. We try not to get too political but then it`s something we can`t avoid anyway. The group now identifies itself fully with the whole Rasta movement in so far as we`re dealing with dignity for the black man. And naturally we`re fighting against oppression as such, so that`s where our music is at. With religion now, I suppose we were really brought up on Christianity but somewhere along the line we realised that it doesn`t really identify with black people as such. So we identify ourselves with rastafari."

The Cimarons are Locksley Gichie (guitar and vocals), Carl Levy (key boards), Franklyn Dunn (bass), Maurice Ellis (drums), and Winston Reed (lead vocals). The band was formed in London`s Willesden area around 1967 but they always had a singer problem. Their first, a guy called Mingoes, left the band before they went on a West African tour in `68. The next, a guy called Patrick, left on the group`s return from Africa, and Carl Lewis has recently been replaced by Winston Reed a former lead singer with a band called The Express.

Carl: "Cimarons is like total dedication right! Music is the central thing in our lives. We have the confidence now and our first LP will really show what we can do. You see we got into this thing the hardest way. We had to teach ourselves how to play our instruments and to do that we had to scrape around to get the money to buy the equipment and our van, but we`re totally self sufficient. The van is owned by all of us equally, we all look after that. That helped us to keep our identity as well because if we had to depend on someone else`s money we could be influenced by what they wanted."

The band started playing Jamaican music in the rock steady era. They had no pre-conceived notions about the music, they learned as they went along. Their influences and tastes in music are wide but similar. Gichie liked the early Marvin Gaye records and Doris Troy`s also but was more turned on by the Jamaican music of the time, rock steady. Carl Levy loves heavy funk, James Brown particularly, as well as people like Stevie and Marvin. Franklyn says the only guy that ever influenced him was Family Man (Aston Barrett of The Wailers) whom he knows well, and Maurice listens to Ginger Baker, Buddy Rich, and surprisingly The Impressions.
Carl Gayle:
Part 1

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

CIMARONS: - PT. 2
Backbone Of British Reggae.
By Carl Gayle:

It was on their tour of West Africa that the group really started to appreciate their instruments and themselves as musicians. Up to then they had been playing local youth clubs only, yet everything clicked and they were given session work for the first time on that tour. The black audiences really showed their appreciation for the music which changed gradually from soul to rock steady by the end of the tour. The Cimarons were the first band to take Jamaican music to Africa.

On their return to England the band got into doing studio sessions. For Pama they played on anything that the company recorded in England including records by Laurel Aitken. Winston Groovy and Owen Gray under a pseudonym of such-and-such`s All Stars. Remember `Mr Popcorn` `Funky Chicken` `Queen Of The World`? They did the same sort of thing for Bamboo Records and then Trojan Records. Gichie explains how the regular sessions for the Shrowder/Sinclair/Bryan production team at Trojan came about.

"We were the first English band to play reggae at the Q club. It was our ambition to try and capture the Q club crowd because they didn`t really dig reggae down there. When they heard us play it so tight and purposeful they had to accept it. At that time a tune called `Fire Corner` by Clancy Eccles And The Dynamites had just been released and we played it one night. Well Webster Shrowder from Trojan said that it was the first time he had heard a band play reggae so tight. That`s when we started to do sessions for Trojan, they asked us to do backing tracks for nearly all their artists whenever they recorded in England."

Carl: "When you check it out you`ll find that Cimarons are really the backbone of English reggae."

Correct. The Hot Shots, the white group that had a reggae hit with `Snoopy v The Red Baron` were musically abetted by The Cimarons. Even On The Maytals` recent tour the guy on organ at the Edmonton concert was Carl Levy: "Every artist that comes to England passes through us. When The Maytals came over here the first time we backed them, and they said they wouldn`t come back unless we were gonna back them.

"When Bob (Marley) came over here first he didn`t have Wire (Earl Lindo The Wailers` keyboard man) and he came for me to play on gigs, that was before they made `Catch A Fire`. We backed Johnny Nash when he came over too until he got a band together. I did some overdubs on `Catch A Fire` and there was a play on BBC TV for which we did the theme music."

"Oh Mammy Blue" was The Cimarons` first record under their own name, produced by Dandy Livingstone on the Trojan label. The record was not a tremendous success but `Struggling Man` which used the synthesiser in reggae for the first time in this country was a minor hit. It made the people in the business see them in a different light and appreciate their capabilities. Even though the next single `Check Out Yourself` didn`t do very well, Trojan have given The Cimarons a lot of scope to make an L.P.

Carl Levy: "Check Out Yourself", was part of the commercialisation scene. Dandy wrote the lyrics and produced it so the intepretation wasn`t really the band as such. When reggae becomes too commercialised it tends to lose its seriousness."

The album has been taking longer than expected due to the amount of stage and session work that The Cimarons do. Recently they have begun to cut down and at present the band is trying to create a more formidable identity as an individual band as opposed to being regarded only as the best live, back up/session reggae band in the country.

In the next three years in Britain it will be a band such as The Cimarons that will achieve a positive and immediately identifiably British reggae sound.

"Reggae music in this country would have been much further ahead but early on when rock steady was just coming in around `66, the record companies were very sceptical. They thought it was just a little incidental music so that`s why they just pawned if off in sort of 99p LPs which helped to cheapen the music. They didn`t think it would really take root but this was a very narrowsighted attitude. The public thought that reggae musicians were cheap musicians but I can assure them that this is completely wrong and they`re finding it out now.

"Even the white English musicians are finding that reggae music is very difficult to play and it`s getting more intricate because everyone is taking it more seriously now."
Carl Gayle:

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jah Rastafari

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

HEPTONES:
Still Rockin` Steady.
By Carl Gayle:

THE HEPTONES are a Jamaican vocal group who are currently attracting a fair amount of attention in Britain. But they are no newcomers. They`ve been around since 1965, triumphant survivors of an industry which to this day is unfair, undisciplined and amateurish.

The Jamaican music industry cannot be too harshly criticised for the way in which it has mistreated and repressed its musicians. But paradoxically, it seems that the musicians who have been most exploited--including The Heptones--are the ones who will undoubtedly deliver a significant music out of a corrupt industry.

The Heptones have got more than what it takes. Lead singer, twenty four year old Leroy Sibley, twenty five year old Barry Llewellyn (tenor) and twenty seven year old Earl Morgan (baritone and bass) started singing together around 1965 and made their first recording--`Fatty Fatty`-- with promoter Coxon Dodd in 1966. The record was an emormous hit and when it appeared in England in `67 it was also a favourite among West Indians. But the artist named on the label was Ken Boothe, and other so-called `Ken Boothe` records followed: "Baby` (Be True)", "Why Must I" and "Why Did You Leave". In fact not one of The Heptones rock steady singles were ever issued in England under their name. Leroy: "They said there was some mistake made on the label, they put Ken Boothe`s name on all our records. We couldn`t really say if the label thing was deliberate."

Barry: "We and Ken Boothe were both on Coxon Dodd`s Studio One label and really there wasn`t anything we could do about it."

It was not the first time that Coxon Dodd had slipped up: when The Maytals had been with him they also suffered because many of their records were issued as the Vikings--another band completely.

Earl: "The promoters want everything for themselves. That`s why you`ll see in England an artist will record for seven or eight different promoters, he`ll end up singing on about sixteen different labels with nothing to show for it."

Leroy, Barry and Earl grew up in the same neighbourhood, went to the same school--Kingston Senior--and were friends before they actually formed The Heptones. Leroy: "Music is a thing that soothes the black man`s mind. We grew up hearing music all around us and automatically loving music because it keeps most black people going."

The music of the time was ska, but by the time The Heptones started recording the change to rock steady had already begun. The local heroes who inspired the trio, were The Soul Vendors,The Maytals, The Paragons, The Gaylads, The Wailers, The Jamaicans, Alton Ellis, and Delroy Wilson.

Rock Steady, a much slower, cooler music than ska, featured a very melodic bouncing bass and rippling guitar rhythm. The Jamaicans` 1967 Jamaican Song Festival winner `Ba Ba Boom` amply demonstrated these qualities. But no group consistently captured the mood of that period better than The Heptones, who although they never once entered a Song Festival ("it`s mainly for amateur groups") were ever popular.
Carl Gayle:
Part 1

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: Vol. 1 / Issue 4

HEPTONES: - PT. 2
Still Rockin` Steady.
By Carl Gayle:

Barry: "After `Fatty Fatty` people just couldn`t wait for our next record, and when you went to a party you heard mostly Heptones` records. We were with the top box (Coxon Dodd) and we used to back all the other big names, so our name was on all the records, y`know such and such and The Heptones. And of course we had many big hits, we were the biggest rock steady group."

Looking back, it is the music of the rock steady era that has been the most inspiring in the evolution of Jamaican music. And although the term rock steady has been overtaken by reggae, the Jamaican music of today predominantly display`s an affection for rock steady arrangements.

Starting with `Fatty Fatty` which was followed by successive hits such as `Baby`/`Only Sixteen`, `Why Must I`, `Why Did You Leave` etc The Heptones took the lead in the sounds of rock steady.

Harry: " `Fatty Fatty` was really a sexy mood record, not really a rude record as such. People really liked that record, it`s our biggest seller. It`s the kind of thing you think about you know, like a cat might be drinking and he might see a chick and say to himself I`d like a fat girl tonight. That`s because he`s in the mood, he`s feeling rude right!"

The Heptones had many more hit singles and one LP-`Heptones On Top`--with Coxon Dodd up until 1970 when they left him. But why did they stay so long?

Harry: "We had so much work at the same time with Coxon even though we were recording ourselves. Leroy used to play bass, he was the bass man and arranger for all the stars in that company. We had to harmonise for all of them as well, people like Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths, Delroy Wilson, Alton Ellis, even Ken Boothe. We still do regular studio work nowadays y`know, for people like Jimmy Cliff and other English based reggae artists as well as pop musicians."

Since leaving Coxon The Heptones have sung a lot of other people`s songs, they had a number one in JA with `Young Gifted And Black` before Bob and Marcia did it in England. Other hits included `Aquarius`, `I Shall Be Released`, `Save The Last Dance`, `Soul Sister` and `Our Day Will Come`. But the three vocalists were not inclined to stick with one promoter/producer: Randy`s, Impact, and Joel Gibson have all handled their stuff.

Barry: "It didn`t make sense signing a contract with anyone in Jamaica. The music set up there is out of control, you can`t sue people or anything like that, you have to accept what you get. At the moment a few people like Harry J, Byron Lee, Ken Khouri, are trying to control reggae music."

From 1969 to `71 The Heptones won magazine awards for the best vocal group because of their professional and dedicated approach to singing live and on record. Their cover of other people`s material like the faultless `I Miss You` issued late last year, have always set the standards by which other Jamaican artists must be judged. And their own compositions (listen to `Hippocrite` from the LP `Heptones And Friends Vol. One`, or their very recent JA chart topper `Book Of Rules`, also released in this country by Island Records) have been strikingly mature.

Leroy: "You try to think of things in life, natural things like love, or pain y`know. These are the things that really make the world go round."

About four months ago after being signed to Harry Johnson`s (Harry J) label in conjunction with Island Records in England, The Heptones played a Reggae Festival in Madison Square Gdns. "There were mostly West Indians there and of course they loved our type of music. We got them going especially when they heard those old songs."

They were due to appear with Al Green on his show in Jamaica, but they preferred to come to Britain. And at their recent Edmonton concert in London they stole the show from The Maytals.

Leroy, Barry and Earl are at the pinnacle of Jamaican music and they`re there to stay.

Leroy: "We haven`t really had any financial satisfaction from recording but we get our satisfaction from our music. We love doing our thing and knowing that a lot of people are hearing and accepting it. One thing we would like to do is get our thing going internationally. But that will only happen if the white man accepts you and decides to really work you, y`know! Only he can get you across because it`s a white man`s land."
Carl Gayle:

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974

peace

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jah Rastafari

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974
[cover=909,1051]
Tito Simon `Just Tito Simon` (Horse HRLP 702)

Read The News / She Ain`t Nothing But The Real Thing / Valley Of Love / Jump Hallelujah / I`m Standing By / Easy Come Easy Go / Build It Up / How Many Times /
You Can`t Be Serious / I`ll Be True To You / Oh What A Feeling: -

Ever heard of Sugar And Dandy? Well Sugar was Tito, but that`s not his real name either. Tito is Keith Foster and he can sure sing his thing. There are at least six very notable tracks here, four of which are outstanding, and none are throwaways. Tito has a flair for writing catchy melodic love songs which he puts across convincingly and with as much expression as the best singers in reggae music, without ever over reaching. He has a sweet tenor which reminds me of Jimmy Cliff`s in songs like "Read The News" and "Jump Hallelujah" which incidentally are the only message songs here--they deal with personal and worldly troubles. But in one of the really outstanding tracks--"Easy Come Easy Go"--his voice is more forceful, less sweet. The unusual rhythm is complimented by wah wah guitar parts which together make the song great to sing and dance to if you can keep up with it. In Johnny Nash`s "Oh What A Feeling" Tito`s voice takes on the sweet characteristics of the former`s and makes sunshine with the song. The best love songs are "You Can`t Be Serious" and "Build It Up" the former for its contagious melody which is equally obvious both in the bass lines and the vocals, and the latter for its lyrics ("You build it up, then you tear it down/you turn around and you start all over again . . ."). "I`ll Be True To You" is another standout track that might make a good single and possibly a hit for some middle of the road pop singer. You`ll be hearing more of Sugar . . . oops. I mean Tito!
Carl Gayle: -

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: - VOL. 1 / ISSUE 4

peace

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974
[cover=2998,2244][cover=3982,2244]
Brent Dowe `Build Me Up` (Trojan TRLS 76)

Build Me Up / When The Sun Goes / Close To You / Don`t Give Up / Love Is A Hurting Thing / Love Has A Reaction / A Little Bit Of Love / Ungrateful Baby / Some / Something You Don`t Have / Any Heart Can Be Broken / Heartbreaking Love: -

"Build Me Up" and "Don`t Give Up" really grab you: they`re great dance records. In the title track the synthesiser is used sparingly, complimenting the tasteful horn phrases and giving the song life. Brent Dowe has a very good mellow voice and even when the songs are only average (which most of them are) he still manages to make you listen. But too often the rhythms and arrangements are uninteresting and thus do not effectively carry the songs. "Close To You" and "Something You Don`t Have" are good songs in fact and with more serious thought they could have been much better. In "Close To You" Brent gives his most polished performance, his tenor voice sounding as if it had been given a smooth coating. It`s throaty but it`s mellow and soulful. "Close To You" could have been built up to an even more dramatic ending I feel, not unlike those frenetic finishes that Otis used to make in fact. The backbeat in the rhythm which makes "Don`t Give Up" so good for skanking to, appears on about five more tracks which tends to restrict the interest of such songs. Although these are all songs about love there is no thematic concept and the album does not flow.
Carl Gayle: -

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: - VOL. 1 / ISSUE 4

peace

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974
[cover=2901,3326][cover=4164,3326]
Ken Parker `Jimmy Brown` (Trojan TRLS 80)

Kiss An Angel In The Morning / Jimmy Brown / I Can`t Hide / Mother`s Eye / Sincerely /
Soul Serenade / Help Me Make It Through The Night / True True True / I Catch Myself Crying / Doing The Reggae / I Should Have Known / Inez: -

Of the twelve tracks here, Ken sings on nine only. "Soul Serenade" and "Inez" are instrumentals, the former in a rock steady mould, the latter in a latin ska vein. Both are good to listen to but why are they included? "Doing The Reggae" is the other mystery, since it features an un-named female singer. "True True True" was Ken`s first hit in Jamaica about six years ago. It`s a pleasant song with a happy-go-lucky feel in which Ken demonstrates his unusually flexible voice. He sounds like Jim Reeves on "I Catch Myself Crying", the song itself sounding like the sort of sorrowful material Reeves used to record. "I Can`t Hide" is a track that one or two of the DJ artists (Dennis Alcapone, for instance) have used as the backing rhythm for their over-dubbed phrases. The Moonglow`s oldie "Sincerely" seems to be a favourite among reggae musicians and Ken`s high tenor makes it work despite the lifeless rhythm. "Help Me Make It Through The Night" doesn`t make it: it`s not an easy song to handle and the reggae rhythm`s pace is unsuitable. "Jimmy Brown" was a big hit among West Indians at Christmas `72 and it still sounds good. Ken sings the backing vocals himself with a sweet falsetto which swirls around behind his melodic lead. The LP is tuneful and sentimental but a little patchy. And what about those three tracks?
Carl Gayle: -

BLACK MUSIC MARCH 1974: - VOL. 1 / ISSUE 4

peace