Roots Archives Forum

Figured you guys might be able to shed some light on this. From a great documentary on Kingston gangs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cacysVv_2A0

1:38 - 2:06

Just who sang this and when was it?

Thanks

It's called "[The] Liquidator" (very appropriate!) by Harry J Allstars released in 1969. The organ part is by Winston Wright; the bass intro was taken from The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There." It's available on many, many compilations released by Trojan. There's a vocal version by Tony Scott called "What Am I to Do."

Thanks Marcus!

"Liquidator" was released 2 years before The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There".
Alton Ellis used to say that the bass was from his "Girl I've Got A Date" ( in any case is probably the same bass player, Jackie Jackson)

Thanks for the very helpful link, pf.

Maybe the reason some sources (like Island's "Tougher Than Tough - The Story of Jamaican Music" box-set liner notes by...Steve Barrow? and Dave Thompson's Third Ear Guide "Reggae & Carribean Music") incorrectly assume the Staple Singers came first - even though the chronology is way off, as Inyaki points out - is simply because so much Jamaican music DID borrow a lot from American R&B, notably in the rock steady era that preceded early reggae numbers like "Liquidator."

it's well documented in music history, that the staple singers used a bit of the Liquidator, which was a cross over hit. and an instrumental reggae remake of Alton ellis' rocksteady classic - Girl i've got a date

Included on the group's 1972 album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, "I'll Take You There" features lead singer Mavis Staples inviting her listeners to seek heaven. The song is "almost completely a call-and-response chorus", with the introduction being lifted from a Jamaican instrumental reggae tune titled "The Liquidator".