REGGAE COLLECTOR

One day in 1975, this writer was flicking through LP sleeves in a record shop in St. Albans when a long finger suddenly stabbed at the next sleeve in the browser bin and a deep voice from behind and above my left ear said, “That’s the one you want.” Since then it appears that quite a few people have wanted it, as the album has periodically reappeared in the shops, most recently on the Blood And Fire label; but that label is now dormant, making the reappearance of KEITH HUDSON’S Pick A Dub (★★★★ 17 North Parade) all the more welcome, especially in the vinyl format.

Hudson was a Marmite singer – he sounded as if he was trying to sing and gargle Marmite simultaneously – but fortunately there are few traces of his voice on the 12 dub tracks here. Rather, they’re built around Aston

Barrett’s deep, measured and furry basslines, the shimmering cascades of his brother Carlton’s drums and Chinna Smith’s telling guitar figures. On most tracks, that’s about all you get, though Augustus Pablo blows chimingly ethereal melodica on the title track and the odd keyboard or sax sneaks furtively into the mix. But the Hudson mixing style is miles away from the multi-layered madcappery of contemporary Lee Perry, and a glance at the sleeve art shows why: it depicts a dread reclining against a palm tree and making inroads into a sizable spliff. It’s a scene of utter relaxation, and as a dub aid for relaxation or meditation this set has few equals.

During that same mid-70s period, DENNIS BOVELL had few equals on the British reggae scene,

The talented ‘Blackbeard’ seemed ubiquitous, as leader of the prominent band Matumbi, as a songwriter and producer. In 1976, he noticed that there was a strong market for imported dub LPS from Jamaica, the more obscure the better. He teamed up with Dennis Harris, owner of South London’s thriving DIP musical empire, they borrowed the label name Rama from a defunct US doo-wop imprint, and set about recreating that Kingston dub sound in DIP’S studio. The four Lpss which came out in the series in 1976 and 1977 certainly looked the part: A Who Seh, Leggo, Scientific Higher Tanking Dub and Yuh Learn came with inexpertly-letraset sleeves and an abundance of bold red, gold and green, but few credits apart from a mention that the artists were THE 4TH STREET ORCHESTRA, who needless to say were Matumbi in disguise.

So, the albums looked as if they emanated from one of Kingston’s dustier suburbs, but would the music sound equally authentic? As the double CD, DENNIS BOVELL: THE 4TH STREET ORCHESTRA COLLECTION (★★★★, Doctor

Bird), proves, absolutely yes. The tracks are an assortment of vocals, instrumentals and dubs, all played immaculately by the band, on rhythms built above fluent, rangy bass lines and in authentic roots style: numbers such A Who She could have been by Tommy Mccook’s band in Kingston rather than by Bovell’s in DIP’S Brockley studio. Most are originals but tracks like a dub version of The Kingstonians’ Singer Man and a pleasing instrumental lick of Rainy Night In Georgia are dropped in to spice up the musical mixture. The series came to an end after DIP’S sudden closure, otherwise Dennis Bovell might have continued having his little joke with reggae buyers for years to come.

JIMMY LONDON has been singing reggae for as long as there has been reggae – as a teenager he sang on the legendary 1968 number Tighten Up – and of late he’s been well served by reissues, a trend which continues with Welcome To My World (★★★

Burning Sounds), a 1978 set which finds him working with producer Phil Pratt who proves his ear for quality by recording Jimmy at Channel One backed by The Revolutionaries. From the first track, the lilting self-penned Ride On, it’s clear that Jimmy handles a melody with clarity and control, as he goes on to prove on numbers like the title track, the Jim Reeves song. Saving the best till the last, he and the Revs move up a gear for the Drifters hit which you may just recognise from its mangled title Back Row At A Movie. This is superior commercial reggae, though it’s a pity that they couldn’t have put more that eight tracks on the LP.

MARCIA GRIFFITHS has been known as Jamaica’s first lady of song for decade, and the album which she made for producer Lloyd Charmers in 1974 helped build that reputation. Now Sweet Bitter Love (★★★★

Doctor Bird) has been expanded into a double CD. The original album features Marcia’s reggae treatments of songs such as The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and I just Don’t Want To Be Lonely, sung with soulful poise over the arrangements of the always musically articulate Charmers, as well as a couple of surprises like Everything I Own which is given an uptempo soul treatment and is none the worse for it. With their usual approach of leaving no vault unscoured, Doctor Bird have discovered alternative, generally more basic, mixes of most of the songs and added those.

In addition to Sweet Bitter Love, they’ve unearthed a forgotten but estimable set by guitarist WILLIE LINDO on the same disc. Far

And Distant did come out over here, but if you blinked you’d have missed it. Now we have the chance to appreciate Willie’s stylish and sensitive takes on tunes like Samba Pa Ti and Breezin’. A clutch of 1974 Charmers-produced singles by B.B. Seaton, Bob Andy and Big Youth complete a collection which offers quality and variety aplenty.