John Holt Police In Helicopter

First issued in 1973, “Like A Bolt” is today widely regarded as one of the finest albums to showcase the inestimable talents of Jamaican singing legend, John Holt.

Comprising a dozen of the performer’s most popular solo recordings for Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label from the previous five years, the LP first saw issue in limited numbers on the small UK independent, Magnet.

Over the years since, it has become one of the most sought-after long players from the early 1970s, yet has remained unavailable on CD for almost 20 years.

Now, the album is finally available once more, with the original track-listing augmented by the remainder of Holt’s solo work for the Duke, so bringing together numerous major reggae hits alongside long-lost obscurities, which include a 12” mix of ‘Ali Baba’, that makes its CD debut.

Reggae & strings - pic sleeve!

One of five new limited reissues from Treasure Isle pressed in Germany on quality vinyl and new paper company sleeves. Classic early reggae from the Vaults.

Classic dancehall

Great roots harmony single from Cultural Roots taken from the album of the same name produced by Henry Junjo Lawes early 80s tuff backing from The Roots Radics.

Classic early 80s Roots Radics cut with deep dub on this clean pressing produced by Henry Juno Lawes.

Killer early roots dancehall tune originally released in 1980 produced by Henry Juno Lawes with excellent dub by Scientist. B-Side "Never Stop Fighting" came along two years later with same producer and Dub mixer.

Killer 1980 tune from Johnny Osbourne on a update of Burning Spear's 'He Prayed' rhythm but flip the 7" over for a awesome dub.

On 'another one bites the dust' rhythm early rootsy dancehall style from 1982 and produced by henry junjo lawes with mixes by scientist

baccara / give a little love

another soulful cut from don carlos with a top top dub on the b-side.

Legendary Studio One dub album now reissued

Everybody should have at least one Lee Perry album, and this is one of the greatest 70s dub albums ever made - a true classic !

Classic rocksteady and early reggae from the brother and sister on Studio 1.

Tracks include "lord deliver us" hortense's version of "breakfast in bed" and many more.

Soulful reggae at it's finest.

Very nice reissue of this highly regarded and much sought after 1975 dub album from Jah Loyd, aka Pat Francis, who also produced and arranged all the tracks here. Heavyweight drum and bass, mixed at King Tubby's and Randy's

A STUNNING FUSION OF AFRO-BEAT, LATIN, FUNK AND REGGAE!

Cedric Im Brooks is an old boy of the Alpha School in Kingston, Jamaica, alongside alumni like Don Drummond, Johnny Moore and Tommy McCook of The Skatalites, jazzmen Joe Harriott and Harold McNair, and too many other musical giants to mention. He was a member of The Vagabonds, before Jimmy James moved the group to England, and during the sixties toured Caribbean hotels and clubs with various big bands and combos. His own musical horizons — especially the new jazz music — were increasingly distant from these constrained commercial contexts; and he eagerly accepted an invitation to visit a friend in the U.S. In Philadelphia, Cedric was awe-struck by the music and vibes of the Sun Ra Arkestra. He was on the point of joining the commune when the birth of his second daughter necessitated his return to Jamaica. Amazingly, though rocksteady was in full swing on the island, Cedric took up Ra’s challenge by starting The Mystics, to experiment with free jazz and poetry, African robes and dancers. During this period, Cedric’s long association with Studio One produced the hit single ‘Money Maker’; and his musical direction of Count Ossie’s Mystic Revelation of Rastafari was commemorated by the classic Grounation triple-LP set, before his frustrations with purely rasta patterns encouraged him to set up The Light of Saba, to go into other aspects of African drumming.

Taking leads from Hugh Masekela and Fela Kuti, the recordings of Cedric Im Brooks and The Light of Saba delineate ‘world music’ way ahead of its time! They offer a blend of African and US, Cuban and other West Indian influences — calypso and funk, rumba and bebop, nyabinghi and disco — magnificently expressed as classic reggae. Essentially this compilation is drawn from extremely rare singles and LPs. A stunning collection of their finest works, roots reggae to afrobeat to nyhibingi. a must have in any record collection Features the disco reggae bomb Sabebe!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

New Pressure Sounds reissue on CD / LP

Killer Mid 70s jazzy roots Instrumental album produced by Count Shelly, deriving most of the rhythms from Errol Dunkley's album "Sit And Cry Over You" hard to find on vinyl and 1st time on cd.

Back in stock...Mega rare heavyweight roots dub album originally released in 1978, on Carl's records from the USA. In fact it is The Revolutionaries on fire in the late 70s at Channel One with unknown DJ announcing each track then going into the heaviest dub music you've ever ...Great pressing as well.

Mid-70s dread instrumentals, 10 tracks, champion of the arena indeed !!

1. Peace Treaty 2. North Of The Sun 3. Jumping Jack 4. Super Charge 5. One Step Forward 6. Champion Of The Arena 7. Hot Milk 8. Darker Song 9. Drum Song 10. The Sniper

PRODUCED BY THE LATE GREAT MAN HIMSELF, JACKIE MITTOO !

While the righteousness of blackness is at the heart of the Rastafarian faith, this collection illustrates how black pride remained a central theme, if not the defining essence, at the very core of all the music created at Studio One Records.

Black Man’s Pride is the striking new Studio One collection of deep heavyweight reggae featuring Horace Andy, Alton Ellis, The Gladiators, Sugar Minott, The Heptones, Freddie McGregor, Cedric Brooks & more.

In order to understand the centrality of black identity in the music created at Studio One, we need look no further than Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd who, who created the first black-owned record company in Jamaica.

In similar fashion Alton Ellis’s defining ‘Black Man’s Pride’ brings up emotions that are at the heart of many of these uplifting songs. Alton Ellis’ birthplace was the Trench Town ghetto of Kingston, also the birthplace of The Wailers, Ken Boothe and many other Studio One luminaries.

Clement Dodd established a musical empire firmly rooted by the core musicians working at Studio One many of whom came out of the Alpha School for Wayward Boys, run by Roman Catholic nuns, whose luminaries include Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace, Cedric Brooks, Vin Gordon, Tommy McCook & more.

Many of the songs featured here come from the transitory phase in reggae at the start of the 1970s. After the exhilaration of Ska and following the cooling down of Rocksteady. While reggae awaited the arrival of roots, Studio One’s vocalists were already producing some of the moodiest music imaginable! Here are 18 heavyweight tunes, both classic cuts and super-rare tunes!

This new album is released as a heavyweight gatefold double-LP edition (+ download code), CD and digital with full text.

REVIEW

"The bottomless pit that is Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One label(s) yields more gems. Soul Jazz and before it, Heartbeat in the US, United Artists, Bamboo and various other labels in the UK have released numerous collections, yet the catalogue remains largely under-exploited, despite the late Mr Dodd’s tireless efforts to wring every last cent from it in unlikely ways. Little wonder that some reggae fans, spoilt by knowledge and racks of original vinyl, can be inclined to shrug when another comp emerges: there have been so many. However, Soul Jazz’s albums are different: not only have they encouraged a new, younger audience, parallel to the one that enjoys rare funk and spiritual jazz, to appreciate this music, their records are coherent. They’re not just a heap of tunes that happen to be sharing a black vinyl apartment. They’re themed and meld musically. They have a reason to exist.

In this instance, that reason is an exploration of (mostly) 70s vocal roots reggae with a theme of black pride and dignity. This music was recorded as a cultural statement, if not a cry, from the roots; strong stuff, deep, dark and heavy. But don’t mistake that for leaden. It may have bass frequencies that drive your neighbour’s dog under the sofa, thinking it’s 5 November all over again, but this is no gloomy exercise in musical storm clouds. Right from Alton Ellis’s title-donating opening tune, there are aspects of Black Man’s Pride that will have you skipping around the room, literally or mentally, and thanking Jah that you didn’t spend the money it cost you on a pizza, dough balls and Diet Coke meal deal. This is not musical junk food, it’s a keeper fit to lift the heart whenever needed.

One reason for this is the sequencing. Glen Miller (not that one) may have a light, soulful voice but the rhythm track he’s riding on Love And Understanding is a minor chord churner, as sad as a wet Sunday. But it’s held up on either side by Sugar Minott (and an uncredited Gladiators) floating through Woman Shadow (as sung by The Meditations as Woman Is Like A Shadow), and The Nightingales’ gorgeously swinging Rasta Is Calling, a glorious take on Delroy Wilson’s Cool Operator rhythm that’s a sod to find on 45. The Heptones make a rational case for Equal Rights in a manner that ought to have been perky enough to win them at least an audition for a CBBC presenter’s role. Their lead singer Leroy Sibbles pops up uncredited on John Holt’s heart-lifting yet cool Let’s Build Our Dreams. Heavy 70s roots is gloomy? Nope. Jamaica’s ghettos were suffering; they didn’t need more misery.

There’s also judicious joining up of vocals and their dubwise 45 flipsides: The Gladiators’ Roots Natty is one such. I heard the vocal, and immediately wished it was the devastatingly moving dub cut. Compiler Stuart Baker evidently thought likewise, so it extends to the version. For variety, there’s a lone sax instrumental to wreck things up too: Cedric Brooks’ melodic Why Can’t I.

There’s room for the unique, deep and breathy voice of Larry Marshall. More “international” stars Horace Andy and Dennis Brown are here too, recorded as youths, as is a teenage Freddie McGregor on a rootsy rewrite of Cat Stevens’ Wild World – with what sounds like JS Bach on synth! The set shuts with Johnny Osbourne’s sophisticated and spiritually openhearted Forgive Them.

With an informative, eminently enjoyable sleeve note about the growth of roots reggae and its place in Rastafarianism and black awareness, fittingly Black Man’s Pride lacks nothing." Ian McCann, RECORD COLLECTOR

The brilliant debut album from the Lone Ranger, riding classic studio one rhythms to full effect

Awesome trippy slow pulsing space jazz with electronics, spacey vocals, and Indian percussion!

This is a great reisue of a little known Don Cherry album that was recorded in collaboration with Indian master percussionist Latif Khan. Recorded in 1978 and released in the early eighties on a small European label, this is the nearest thing to a follow-up to Don Cherry's essential Brown Rice album. Like that album, it fuses cosmic electronics, hypnotic percussion, and spacey vocals to create a kind of forward-looking worldbeat jazz that sounds fresher than ever!

Very highly recommended!

Roots music flourished in the 1970’s as Rastafarianism, Black consciousness and self-determinization became the most important aspects of Reggae music. Bolstered by the international success of Bob Marley and Burning Spear (both who began their careers at Studio One), Roots music became the major musical development of Reggae in the 1970’s. Coxsone Dodd and Studio One’s connection to Rastafarianism had begun long before the arrival of ‘roots music’ as a distinct genre that arrived at the very tail end of the 1960s.

By the start of the 1960’s Coxsone Dodd was making his way to Count Ossie’s Wareika Hills Rastafarian compound to hear Rastafarian drummers play whilst the Skatalites’ front-line horns – Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Johnny Moore would jam alongside. Similarly, Count Ossie would appear during Sir Coxsone’s dancehall sessions, performing live at the height of the evening. This is the third in the series of Rastafarian inspired music from Studio One, and features classic foundation artists alongside some seriously rare tracks from the label. 

With the involvement of the crack studio house bands – be it the Sound Dimension, the Soul Defenders or the Brentford Road All-Stars – as well as Clement Dodd and Studio One’s seriously high quality control, these tracks are all a healthy addition to the pantheon of roots music at Studio One. Sleevenotes by David Katz and Stuart Baker.

All tunes produced by Vincent "Randys" Chin and featuring the Skatalites on most of the tracks.

Ace!

A true Roots classic originally released in 1976, featuring "black star liner", "sing a long" "true rastaman" and many more, with a wicked line up of musicians including bagga walker, junior dan, pablove black, jah jerry and albert malawi.

Featuring Sammy Dread "Gone Away" John Holt "Youth Pon The Corner" & "Ghetto Queen" Cultural Roots "Love Feeling" plus two dubs. Early eighties roots dancehall produced by Henry Junjo Lawes.

Originally released in 1974 and was one of the first albums to showcase Pablo's unique use of the melodica. Co-written and produced by Clive Chin the album also boasts an impressive list of musicians including Ansel Collins on keyboards and Lloyd Parks and Aston Barrett both on bass guitar.

A true classic !

Classic Channel One dub album back in on vinyl

This is the second installment of deep roots Rastafarian reggae at Studio One and features classic music from some of the most important figures in reggae music – Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Jackie Mittoo, The Gladiators – alongside a host of rarities and little-known recordings, such as a truly rare Mystic Revelation of Rastafari seven-inch single, Willie William’s first ever recording ‘Calling’ and Horace Andy’s righteous (and equally rare) masterpiece ‘Illiteracy.’

Black Man’s Pride 2 extends the legacy of Studio One’s ground-breaking path in roots reggae which began at the end of the 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s. The album tells the story of how the rise of Studio One Records and the Rastafari movement were interconnected, through the adoption of the Rastafari faith by key reggae artists – everyone from the Skatalites and Wailers in the 1960s, major singers such as Alton Ellis and Horace Andy at the end of the decade, through to major roots artists such as The Gladiators in the 1970s – and how Clement Dodd consistently recorded this heavyweight roots music throughout Studio One’s history.

The extensive sleeve-notes to this album also discuss the links between Rastafari and Studio One in time and place, noting how both the religion and Clement Dodd’s musical empire had their roots in the intense period of pre-independence Jamaica in Kingston, expanded in the 1960s following the visit of Haile Selassie in 1966, and how roots music then came to dominate reggae music in the early 1970s. Also discussed is how the outsider stance of both reggae music and the Rastafari movement relate back many hundreds of years to the original rebel stance of the Maroons, escaped slaves who set up self-sufficient enclaves in the hills of the Jamaican countryside.

There is also a track-by-track history by the noted Studio One writer Rob Chapman (Never Grow Old). This new album comes as heavyweight gatefold double vinyl (+ download code), deluxe CD and digital album.

REVIEWS of Black Man's Pride:

"Soul Jazz’s albums are different: not only have they encouraged a new, younger audience, parallel to the one that enjoys rare funk and spiritual jazz, to appreciate this music, their records are coherent. They’re not just a heap of tunes that happen to be sharing a black vinyl apartment. They’re themed and meld musically. They have a reason to exist.
In this instance, that reason is an exploration of 70s vocal roots reggae with a theme of black pride and dignity." Record Collector

C-L-A-S-S-I-C album !!

Essential Lee Perry produced masterpiece with classic track after classic track, including 'I Chase The Devil' as sampled by the Prodigy, 'One Step Forward' and 'War Ina Babylon' !

From the man who played trombone on the all time classic Studio 1 anthem "Real Rock" comes forward with the long over due reissue of his first solo album originally released in 1980 by Joe Gibbs. Produced by Errol Thompson and featuring eight tracks of tuff rockers rhythms, two Don Drummond covers plus a medley of "Real Rock & Fiddler Rock" Very hard to find an original now..Don't let this go..

NOW ON CD...The Light Of Saba's Third album from the mid seventies featuring killer tunes as "Outcry" "Sabayindah" "Jah Light It Right" with band leader Cerdic Im Brooks mixing up Reggae, Roots, African rhythms recorded at Joe Gibbs Studio & Harry J's.

Ultimate classic album including 'Buddy Bye' the classic sleng teng killer track, 'Chopper', 'Fully Ranking' and 'No Ice Cream Sound'! Killer!!!!!

CD bonus tracks: 'Fire Down Below', 'Rewind', 'Few Dollars More', 'On the Right Track', 'Terrorist People' and 'Are You Ready Warrior'.