Roots Archives Forum

LOVE UP brother Augustus Pablo! Without any apology.

anyone familiar with augustus pablo and jr delgado showcase lp?any good?

Well, I started this thread back in 2009. I've been on a bit of a Pablo kick lately, and have been revisiting stuff and listening to stuff I'd never heard before, mainly later stuff. I think he's amazing and definitely among the top talents of the genre.

So, I understand better now what I was objecting to early on. It was really just the earliest stuff he did for Aquarius and Santic that appeared on those Pressure Sounds compilations. His melodica is recorded pretty naked and he's playing some pretty rudimentary melodies; the kind of thing someone who is just learning to play would come up with, at least to my ears. And he sometimes seems slightly unintentionally behind the beat, like his brain is a half step behind with the improvisation. And, I had recently acquired those comps at the time and had not otherwise listened to him much.

But....he got way better over time, and he does have some great melodies and unique way of playing that appears a bit later and on his own productions. I think early on in those Santic recordings he hadn't really developed his own style yet.

Another fun thing I've recently realized is that there are many gems to be found in his late work, one huge example being Drums to the King and title track from the Blowing with the Wind album.

I've also been playing the hell out of that Shanachie 4 CD box set. So, I thought today "what the hell was I thinking back in 2009?"

I'll consider the record set straight now.

He's definitely over rated. It's taken me ages to get into Pablo. I think my gripe is more with the melodica sound than with his playing. I love his stuff on the vibraphone. I think the melodica is too jarring a sound for a mellow reggae track. Definitely a great producer though. And the longer I've listened to reggae the more I've enjoyed pablos stuff. I like the Earths rightful ruler album

Yeah, I wish there were way more vibraphone stuff and less melodica. I like certain melodica tracks a lot though. It depends on how it's recorded to some extent. If it's a lot of reverb and dubbed out, I tend to like it. If it's really upfront I tend not to like it. One of my favorite melodica tracks by him is on Earth's Rightful Ruler. It's the melodica version of Delroy Williams' Foxhole. Called Zion Hill, I think? It's a nice simple, but unusual melody and I don't think it's very jarring. I know what you mean, though, small doses of melodica is a good thing.

flashman wrote: It depends on how it's recorded to some extent. If it's a lot of reverb and dubbed out, I tend to like it. If it's really upfront I tend not to like it.

Your absolutely right.

I think read either on this thread or another Pablo thread recently some one saying that perhapes just goes through the motions a bit on some of other producers tracks where as perhaps he puts a lot more soul into his own productions. I Garee with that sentiment too. There are quite a few Pablo bunny lee tracks that just sound like the melodica was recorded in one take with no real care or love

Congo Bunny wrote:There are quite a few Pablo bunny lee tracks that just sound like the melodica was recorded in one take with no real care or love

Are these Pablo@Bunny Lee tracks from Jamaican Recordings releases?

As it has been mentioned many times on forums....many albums credit him even if he wasn't the melodica player.
And they are rubbish.

Funky Punk wrote:Congo Bunny wrote :There are quite a few Pablo bunny lee tracks that just sound like the melodica was recorded in one take with no real care or love

Are these Pablo@Bunny Lee tracks from Jamaican Recordings releases?

Chuckle, those I can hear are not Pablo

Inyaki wrote:As it has been mentioned many times on forums....many albums credit him even if he wasn't the melodica player.
And they are rubbish.

This makes sense, good point thanks. It would be good if someone could make a list of the non Pablo verses the real Pablo albums. Like has that Pablo and friends album actually Pablo, cus it sounds crap to me

Just to offer an opinion, I do find A. Pablo's melodies somewhat meandering. Sometimes he touches on a really nice riff but never comes back to revisit it. Sometimes it does sound a little aimless. In my mind I always though his music resembles "Jazz" in some way.

I wouldn't go so far as to call him over-rated, I think that's not called for. But I have often though some of his melodies needed a good studio workout. Hasn't stopped me from appreciating him though.