Friday, August 19, 2011

It's got it all... so you can have them all(?)


Dennis Brown is one of my absolute favourite singers. Classified as reggae of course, but he could also be listed as one of the greatest ever soul singers in my book. Just listening to him sing anything can quite easily make me tearful.

I enjoyed a mix of his music mix posted over at Distinctly Jamaican Sounds recently. A track in the middle of the mix really grabbed me and I managed to track it down on a 45. The version appeared on "King Tubby Meets The Reggae Masters", a 2001 CD released on Jet Star's Charm label. Vintage Avenue was also distributed by Jet Star so I guess the 45 was released around the same time, although it seems a bit obscure.

Identifying the DNA of reggae tracks can be fiendishly difficult. This particular song was, I think, originally released as "Open Your Eyes", possibly on Dennis' album "Joseph's Coat Of Many Colours" which dates to the late 70s. But was there a version recorded as early as 1972?

Apart from the version featured here there are at least three other versions available on You Tube:

my favourite , and this one , and this one !

This is the Vintage Avenue release, produced by Black Beard aka Dennis Bovell.    

Dennis Brown - Look What You Doing  19??

Look What You Dubbing



 

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