The Feel it Advent-ure 2021: Door 11

A car boot find from earlier in the year. This is only the second time I have found a record on the Amalgamated label. You can read about my previous Amalgamated find, from 11 years ago (almost to the day!), here. So this time I knew for sure what I was looking at – a reggae single from the golden age, my heart leapt, and I knew it was probably one that was worth a few bob. It was almost the last I came to a whole stack of mostly mundane 60s and 70s pop 45s, and it was the only reggae record in the stack. I wasn't the first to the booter but got the impression I was the first to look through this stack of singles. It seems albums are more of a draw for the diggers, especially at this particular booter, and you have to be more hard core to look through a whole stack of unpromising looking singles many of which were sleeveless. My dedication to the cause payed off. As you can see in the picture there are the usual condition issues that come with the territory, but who cares.

As was the case with many reggae and ska records from the 60s the lyrics are, shall we say, more than a little fruity. Sometimes the Jamaican patois needs some deciphering, but in this case we are soon left in no doubt about the Soul Sisters wishes. If you are easily offended I suggest you don't click play!

TheSoul Sisters – Wreck A Buddy 1969

(Apparently the title is patois for bang a body).

The Feel It Advent-ure 2021: Door 8

A recent charity shop pull tonight. Not a valuable record but a rare find inasmuch as I find hardly any reggae in chazzas beyond Ken Boothe and Judge Dread it seems. The label initially alerted me – Germain marked it out as reggae, but I wasn't sure how far back it went. Then I noticed the artist – Audrey Hall. I only knew her from 80s output and beyond, so then I wasn't expecting much as reggae output lost most of its appeal to me beyond about 1983. But it was only 49p so no need for procrastination.

Turns out the label was started by Donovon Germain in 1978, and Audrey Hall goes as far back as the 60s, starting out as a duo with Dandy Livingstone (every day's a school day!).

This single does date to the mid 80s – 1985 to be precise – the A side is pleasant enough but I am very taken by the B side. There are some pops and clicks but, hey it's a reggae single, of course there will be pops and clicks! 49p well spent, in any event.

Audrey Hall – Eight Little Notes 1985

The Feel It Advent-ure 2020: Door 21

On this year's Advent-ure through the alphabet I knew I had a problem awaiting me on the 24^th, but I hadn't thought about today's choice. I have found precisely zero 45s in the U section of the Soul boxes.

So let's look at the albums. Hmmm, none in the “first division” section. So “second division” then? Just one. Of course – The Undisputed Truth.

There again I must have some Upsetters 45s in the reggae box. Yes, I have three, all scratchy, as reggae 45s picked up in the wild always are it seems.

The Undisputed Truth album I have is Down To Earth from 1974. I have just played it all the way through and really enjoyed it. The enjoyment was helped by the fact that the condition of the album is at the other end of the spectrum to my Upsetters singles.

I am glad I played the album right through too because the last track on side 2 is beautiful. Somehow, for all these years, Save My Love For A Rainy Day is a song that hasn't stuck in the memory, but it is in there now. The song was originally recorded by the Temptations in '67. The Undisputed Truth took the song at a more languid pace and released it as their first single in '71. This album version from '74 is at least very similar, and is quite possibly the same take. Down To Earth is not listed as a compilation album, and looking at their albums the same songs do seem to pop up on multiple albums.

The Undisputed Truth – Save My Love For A Rainy Day 1974 /71?

Go on then - after all, it is Christmas - here is an Upsetters track too. Despite being cleaned up using Audacity's click removal tool there is still plenty of authentic crackle!  

Upsetters– Dollar In The Teeth 1969

The bubbles are forming

For all of you in your little bubbles tonight.

This was just about the last record I bought in a charity shop, back in March, seemingly a lifetime ago now.  

Ken Boothe - Now You Can See Me Again  1974

Mary, Mary, quite contrary?

As promised, some reggae from my good start to the car boot season. As I picked out these 45s, and a couple of UK releases, from the little stack in a box on the ground the lady they belonged to noticed they were all reggae. “I love reggae”, she said. “So do I”, I replied. The lady was probably in her sixties, well spoken and as English as me. In fact on first impression I might have thought she would be more likely a fan of opera. But then why should I be surprised of her love of reggae? As someone of a certain age she would have probably been in her teens or early twenties when these records were released – the early 70s – and it was a genre of music that was beginning to enjoy its golden age.

Mary (she has her name written on most of the records I bought from her) told me she bought these particular 45s when she was in Jamaica. Apparently her brother was living there at the time and she used to visit for holidays. So, provenance! It is always great to have a back story to the records I pick up, and when I have one I always cherish the records a little bit more. With her name written on the labels I will now always think of Mary and also know these records are not more recent UK pressings but did start life in Jamaica, where Mary probably danced to them all those years ago.

The Maytals – Johnny Cool Man 1971

Winston Scotland – Buttercup 1972

(“Buttercup” like you have probably never heard it pronounced before! Winston was reputedly U Roy's brother-in-law and was toasting before it really came fully into vogue).   

I'm playing Reggae - come out sun, you know you want to.

Go away clouds. I thought some reggae might help to coax the sun to come out, and stay out!

Reggae is always difficult to find “in the wild”, so I got excited when I found half a box of it at a car boot sale recently. My excitement was tempered somewhat when the seller proceeded to check them all on Discogs before naming a price! This is the first time this has happened to me. In a way I could sort of accept what he was doing- he is evidently a dealer and his stall is effectively his shop. Nevertheless it sort of takes the fun out of the digging process. In the end he quoted prices I was in most cases willing to pay so came away with a handful of 12” and this early '80s compilation of full length Mighty Diamonds releases from, mostly, the late 70s.

I have waxed lyrical about the Mighty Diamonds before I think, I saw them live only a few years ago and they have beautifully sweet voices. Add to this the fact that I noticed a track on this album was Danger In Your Eyes and it became a must buy.

Danger In Your Eyes has been a long time reggae favourite of mine ever since I heard John Peel play a version by Judah Eskender (aka Yabby You aka Vivien Jackson) on his programme back in '77 or'78. (I still have that on a John Peel mixtape). I am a little confused by the history of the song. It seems it was originally recorded by Don Evans & The Paragons but its recording date is a bit of a puzzle. The original (?) issue was on Coxsone I think. On the label it states 1966 but I think the Coxsone 45 was released in 1976, and I can't find any concrete evidence of an official 1966 release.

The Mighty Diamonds version dates to around 1978 (again, I think – dating reggae releases is notoriously difficult) when it was released on the Gussie Roots label - on this release they were to modest to refer to themselves as Mighty. It is a more laid back version than Judah Eskender's but I like both equally. (On its original 45 it was backed with a reimagined version of Fools Rush In which is also on this compilation and also gorgeous).

(Mighty) Diamonds – Danger In Your Eyes 1978   

The Feel It Advent-ure 2015 #3

I would like to say I found this 45 in the wild, but I didn't, this one came from the 'bay. Reggae records very seldom turn up at car boots and charity shops. I always get excited when I spy the Trojan label at such a venue - except actually I don't anymore because now I automatically assume it is going to be Ken Boothe's Everything I Own, and my assumption is almost always correct.     

I was surprised to find U Roy on a Trojan release, and in fact I was right to be surprised - on 45cat the Trojan record label currently have 587 singles listed and TR 7884 is the only one featuring U Roy.

I am not as well versed in Reggae as I am in Soul so I also admit to being surprised at the year 1972 on the label. That seemed early to me for U Roy, I always think of him as coming to the fore later in the 70s. This track also sounds a little ahead of its time to me. But it seems it was released in December 1972, so will now be celebrating, roughly, its 43rd birthday. 

I was going to feature the A side, Hat Trick, which would have tied in nicely with this being door number 3 on this year's Advent-ure. But the B side is even better so gets the nod.

It's a little bit swishy swooshy for starters - I could maybe have blamed the rain on the window for that!

U Roy - Wet Vision  1972          

Late... and brief - but juicy

“… and a lovely Lovers 45 which will appear here very soon”. I said that – a whole week ago now. I didn’t mean it to take that long. Where does the time go?

I knew Juicy Fruit as the original Mtume classic. I had never heard of Christine Lewin but had an inkling – instinct? – the 45 I had in my hand would be reggae. The “flagship” shop of the local charity chain was asking double the price of its other shops for a single, but the combination of Juicy Fruit and reggae(?) told me it was worth a punt.

And it was a good call.

Christine Lewin – Juicy Fruit  1984

Boxing match

It seems that C and I are involved in a spot of inspiration tennis at the moment. (Hang on, this is starting to sound like an episode of Grandstand!)

I couldn't resist this box of singles at a car boot earlier this month. "They're all reggae, roots, lovers" the seller said. Yeah, right. A quick flick through told me there were likely lots (and lots) of dancehall and ragga which is not my cup of tea at all. It's funny how sellers like to pass off dancehall as reggae. Yes, dancehall and ragga is where reggae went but their soundscapes are so different they really shouldn’t be described as reggae. Well, they know what they're doing, I suppose, as dancehall is mostly a challenging listen (and almost worthless) in my limited experience. Still, there was bound to be something in there worth having, I thought, and I just felt like taking home a box of mystery 45s to sift through (especially as there was nothing else on the vinyl front to be had). I couldn’t budge him on his price but he had set that on the estimation of about 50 records in the box. I could see there were more than that so I handed over the money, I’m not a great haggler.

It turns out there were 85 records in the box. I have to say my gut feel on the content was borne out. Nevertheless, I have had enormous fun working through the box, and felt I have had my money’s worth simply by doing that.

On first play many of these records sounded a bit rough. I was sort of expecting that really, as I thought it came with the territory i.e. cheap local label presses. But I’m working through cleaning them and that is mostly having a marked improvement on the sound quality.     

  

So what is in this box? They were nearly all released in the period 1996-2006 it seems – so no roots or lovers in the classic tradition. But on a first quick play through I actually put aside about 30-40 that grabbed me enough to warrant further investigation. Tracking the records down on the internet has been a bit of a challenge due to the general lack of release numbers and the somewhat loose way artists and track names can be identified. I’ve managed to pinpoint many on Discogs though. This has opened my eyes to the staggering quantity of records some of these artists have released. I suppose this high release rate is driven by the nature of the dancehall scene where there is a constant battle to come up with a new sound. In the end it has to be quantity rather quality though.

I really wanted to like Harry Toddler's offerings (read it quickly as Hairy Toddler if you want!), and a version called Flying Green Puss (which involves the deejay/singer doing much clearing of throat a la Bob Fleming!), but they are in the out pile. One artist is called Teetimus, that name really makes me chuckle.

Also finding their way into the box were a few US R&B singles. There was a white label Angie Stone which is great and the two singles in the picture outside the box. These are bootlegs it seems (of K-Ci & JoJo and Usher). The label is the interesting thing though, both singles show a photocopy of the venerable US Volt label (VOA4010 B side to be exact - to save you looking that up it is The Emotions - Got To Be The Man). Why did the bootleggers choose that particular label and release I wonder? 

Of all the songs (if you can call them that), and their almost inevitable B side versions, the track that gets my #1 vote is an artist named on the label simply as Tami with So In Love on the Gibbo label. Some research tells me Tami is Tami Chynn, This single was released in 2005 which is about a year before Tami went “overground” into the worldwide pop arena. Tami was born in Jamaica. When she was 14 she came to England and spent three years in Leamington Spa studying performing arts. Her younger sister, Tessanne, won series 5 of the American version of The Voice. In 2009 she and Wayne Marshall, another dancehall artist, were married and they now have a child. Incidentally, there is at least one Wayne Marshall single in this box too.      

Tami – So In Love  2005

Another one that has worked its way into my brain is Sizzla with Baby and its Version. On Discogs Sizzla has a mind-boggling 925 singles listed! On many of these his singjaying just makes an appearance but he is co-credited and, as Discogs states: “he is very prolific even by Jamaican standards”. Discogs also informs us that this track is based on the Money Juggling rhythm, son now we know.

Sizzla – Baby  2004   

I’ll finish this post with Keety General’s Problems. For dancehall this lays down a marker as being out there on the edge of acceptable as far as I am concerned.  

Keety General – Problems  199?

... Sonya naked

… At least Freddie was still snug in his inner sleeve. Along the way poor old Sonya Spence had lost her cover and her inner sleeve – there she was, in the crazy mixed up box of vinyl, naked! This album is titled In The Dark, but that is one thing it wasn’t! Considering the circumstances it is in remarkably good condition.

 I was not familiar with Sonya but the label sort of said reggae to me and when I noticed the name Pottinger in the credits I knew it would be. What sort of reggae though? I thought there would be a fair chance it would be tepid lovers rock. It’s not quite that though. The first side I think has a bit more of a hard edge to it than average lovers rock fare and contains one killer track - Peace And Unity – which is more roots than anything else. Side two has a different feel and I would say is hardly reggae at all. How can I describe it? – naïve melodies? Certainly simplistic, and with no pronounced reggae beat. I think I detect more of a calypso feel to a couple of the tracks. Whatever, all the tracks have a certain charm that really draws me in. The album contains a version of John Denver’s Jet Plane which, after a bit of research, I understand was a hit in Jamaica and brought Sonya to the listeners’ attention back in 1978.  

Sadly, neither Sonya Spence nor Sonia Pottinger are still with us. But in one 

sense of course they always will be – in the record grooves.

Sonya Spence – Peace And Unity  1978

Sonya Spence – Damn Him  1978     

The 2014 Advent-ure : #13

As usual reggae and ska have been conspicuous by their general absence out in the wild this year. I have picked up a few bits and I can say every 45 I have found has been buried alone in a mountain of 70s and 80s pop and rock. This was one of them. Digging deep pays in the end. I can't help but wonder how they get there in the first place. I can't believe I've missed a reggae motherlode and just been left with a scrap, but if I have then I'm happy with the scraps.

The Skatalites - Beardman Ska   1965

Desmond Dekker - Get Up Edina  1963

My Island 45 is a 1980 press with Bonanza Ska on the A side. There is some sense to this being found amongst average 70s/80s pop fodder. But this doesn't apply to other reggae 45s I have found this year. Another one later in this series.

The 2014 Advent-ure : #2

A version of what? I hear you ask. Childish Games by Marcia Griffiths. I can't tell much difference from the A side in truth.

Marcia is known as the "Queen Of Reggae", so soulful too.

Marcia Griffiths - Childish Games (Version)  1995/1999?*

*The A side says '95, the B side says '99. Such are the vagaries of your average reggae 45, and is this an original or a repress? Again, who knows? Oh, and don't get me started on whether this is reggae or dancehall.      

That September feeling

It is well documented around this particular nook of the interweb that September is my favourite month. Once again this year the UK weather has come up trumps, lots of sunshine and still, quiet days - perfect.

As the sun goes down on another benign September day I thought something in a Lovers Rock vein would be in keeping. 

As usual, reggae has been difficult to find in my car boot sale trawls this year. Strangely, on just about every occasion I have found a record in said genre (and most I have found have been far from mainstream) it has been a lone jewel in a stack of 70s and 80s pop/rock ballast. This is another one from the stacks I featured recently and, now, I'm getting a bit confused, but I think this 12" was again a lonely reggae orphan. I like to think I rescued it and now it can feel at home nestling within my small but treasured collection of 12" reggae singles.

I love the somewhat restrained deejay vocalising featured in the second half of this track, performed by George Nooks aka Prince Mohammed who was also the featured deejay on Dennis Brown's late 70s classics Money In My Pocket and How Can I Leave among other songs. June Lodge's Wiki page contains an interesting back story to this record and this is where I also learnt that this song was originally a country & western hit for Charley Pride.     

JuneLodge feat. Prince Mohammed - Someone Loves You Honey  1980*

* Originally released in 1980 in JA, this reached #5 in the Dutch charts in 1982. My copy is dated 1984, doesn't credit the good Prince and I assume is a UK press.          

Runaway obsession

And to think I have been wondering lately whether my obsession is getting a little out of hand. After reading the NY Times article on Zero Freitas I now feel I have fresh licence to collect!

I better get out there quick before all the records in the world have been shipped to Sao Paulo! So, after two weeks off from the car boot sales, I will be out and about this weekend, weather permitting. My last car boot excursion yielded, among other things, this Promo 12" from U-Roy. This was the star find - it's Reggae, and it's not thrashed. Yippee.

Hopefully the island sounds will tempt the sun out again this weekend.

U-Roy - Runaway Girl  1975        

Skank Holiday

It seems my local pubs are featuring more and more ska and soul music on their music nights. I wonder is this a trend across the country? Next month a local rugby club is putting on a weekend ska festival and this weekend one of my locals had a ska weekend. Friday night featured  Ska Train, a mobile disco that seems to be going from strength to strength. They play roughly 50/50 vinyl and CD, mostly the more well known sounds. They are booked solid for the rest of the year apparently. (I had attended their gig at my local of locals the previous week). On Saturday it was live ska from local band The Great Eskape. This one I did attend, and very good they were. Last night I was there again for a vinyl fest from My Friend Jack (who is, in fact, Sean).  More ska, and plenty of top notch soul too.  Today we (Mrs Darce arrived back from her travels in the early hours) did our normal Bank Holiday thing, i.e. not a lot. A lie in and then some general pottering in the garden. The soundtrack to this general pottering (at least some of it) was..more ska! Lauren on BBC 6Music played about 30 minutes of back to back ska and reggae which she dubbed (ha!) her Skank Holiday mix. It has certainly been a Skank holiday for me.   

       

I have been rapidly approaching a crisis of confidence on the boot fair front. After a reasonable start to the season the last few weeks have been barren – I do get to them early nowadays too, but quite probably still not early enough. Or are rekkids drying up? Sunday's trawl restored some confidence, but only some. I bagged this little selection from a dealer who occasionally puts in an appearance at a boot fair. Boxes and boxes of singles at 50p with always a fair chance of picking up something worthwhile, accepting the fact that they may have some condition issues. But hey, they’re only 50p after all. Now if the private sellers could just oblige by bringing some records along too everything will be OK again.

In this little haul there are actually four reggae singles. Here’s one of them.

Derrick Morgan – Blood Shot Eyes  1975   

TT x 2

I haven’t posted much reggae recently. Over the years I have been slowing working through posts of my small but treasured collection of reggae 12s, mostly purchased back in the late 70s. And, in truth, there aren’t many left to post.  

I’ve just woken up to the fact, though, that this new regular “double header Friday” of mine is the perfect place to feature reggae 12” singles.

So here goes… the sun is shining… the mood is set.

I had forgotten how good this one is. A perfect melding of the Roots and Lovers sounds.

Tony Tuff - Sweet Maureen  1980

Tony Tuff – Lovers Rocking & Skanking  1980

The 2013 Advent-ure #15

It's always a thrill to come across reggae out in the wild. It doesn't happen often, and when it does the record is often so trashed it is questionable whether it is worth taking a chance on it. 

For me, 2013 has been a particularly barren year reggae-wise. This 12", an original from 1977 on Phase One, is probably the pick of a very small bunch. I found it at a car boot sale in a suitcase full of, mostly, sleeveless 12 inchers and albums. As I started to go through them it was apparent that a high proportion of them were going to be reggae of one form or another so I was initially thrilled to the point I could hardly catch my breath. Unfortunately it turned out most of them seemed to be 90s and 00s Dancehall and Ragga, not my cup of tea at all. This coupled with the upfront entry price being £2 a pop and the questionable condition they were in had me deflated (to the point I was breathing easy again - now that's a strange contradiction!). In the end, after some serious sifting, I managed to amass five albums and two 12" singles that were in my era and free of deep gouges.

Visually the vinyl on this one is not pretty, but 12" platters are usually quite rugged and I was right to take a chance because this one plays much better than it looks. Beneath all the scuffs, scratches, and grime the grooves bear witness to the Chantells performing some wonderfully sweet rockers roots and, for those that like jam on their toast, some equally sweet toasting from U Brown.

Here you can read more on the Chantells short career, an unlucky episode (I mean, who wasn't?!) , and a sticky end.

Chantells - Children Of Jah  1977  

          

With a K

Effortlessly moving through the genres here I present to you....

Paul McCartney's long lost dub album.

Ah! No, my mistake, it's Macka with a K.

A recent interwebby purchase for me, this is a great dub album. The back cover gives the line up as:

Piano/Organ: Glenn Adams & Mr Wire
Guitar:              Rick Trater, Bobby Chung
Drums:              Carlton Barrett, Tad Dawkins, Sparrow Martin
Bass:                   Maurice, Family Man Barrett

Special Effects, Production, Arrangement, Mixing:  Brad Osbourne, Phillip Smart, Michael Scudder     

Again, the back cover tells me this is a reissue (early 80s I believe) from Canada, with worldwide distribution arranged from California, USA. The power of dub!

Macka Dub - Ista Episode  197?

Macka Dub - side 1 track 6 (untitled) 197?

Door #21

First this blog is linked on an Oldham Athletic fan forum(!) and now I'm honoured to be featured on WFMU's Beware Of The Blog. I tell you, you ought to stick around, this blog is going places!

Seriously, a big thanks to Doug for the "shout out" on Beware Of The Blog.

It's the traditional annual local pub crawl for me tonight, kicking off in about 90 minutes time. There will be plenty of Christmas parties happening tonight too I expect. I know my daughter is at one. So we better have some party music.  

Here is something of a curiosity. The Cimarons were a UK based reggae group active from around 1967. Here they cook up a generally faithful version of The Fatback Band's "Wicki Wacky". It works well and I particularly like that guitar motif running throughout the track. Referring to 45cat it seems this 45 was released twice, with the A and B sides being flipped. No mention of the Fatback Band members in writing credits I notice.

Cimarons - Wicki Wacky 1975

Door #18

The blog has experienced a spike in hits today. On investigation the popular page is Door #15. Why? Not for the music it turns out, not even for the reference to Chelsea. No, many of my visitors today have one thing in common, they are Oldham Athletic fans and they are following a link to Door #15 (posted by an evident fan of Feel It, and Latics fan, in Thailand!) all for a picture of Jim Steel. Who is Jim Steel? Well, it must be the footballer in orange in the picture on the front cover of the Chelsea program who is obviously a Latics leg-end! (I've looked him up and he played for them between 1978 and 1983 and has been described as a big, aggressive centre forward - those were the days!).  

Just one small example of the power of the Internet!

From Door #15 back to Door #18, by way of Door #3! I don't normally do requests, but it's Christmas after all.

Here's another one from Brixton Cat.

Joe's All Stars - The Judge 1969

PS: Coincidences - I have said before that I love them. Here's another one: In 1982 while Jim Steel was still at Oldham Athletic, they appointed a new manager, and I'm sure many Latics fans would say he was their greatest ever - his name was Joe Royle. I therefore clearly have to dedicate this post to Oldham Athletic fans everywhere, thus ensuring another bumper day of hits here at  Feel It!  :)