Marcia Griffiths

★★★★★ Sweet And Nice BE WITH. LP Underrated Jamaican debut plus extra tracks from preeminent First Lady Of Song. Recorded in Kingston’s Federal Records Studio with producer Lloyd Charmers for JA’s Federal subsidiary Wildflower, Marcia Griffiths’ 1974 debut is truly innovative. A woozy, trippy Here I Am (Come And Take Me) and Children At Play, an acid funk, influenced the Bristol sound. A heartfelt Gypsy Woman, retitled as Gypsy Man, presaged lovers rock. Elsewhere, Ewan MacColl’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face placed in a reggae setting is a real goosebumps-on-the-back-ofthe-neck moment and the genuine equal of Roberta Flack’s reading. This double vinyl reissue also comes with 14 bonus tracks, including her take on Band Of Gold, 1968’s stupendous Studio One rocksteady 45s Melody Life and Mark My Word, plus an ace reggae version of The First Cut Is The Deepest from 1970.