Favorite reggae compilation

I have periodic love affairs with reggae, and got some great Trojan compilations on a recent trip to London. Ska, rocksteady and love song retrospectives, all with more than 50 songs each. My fave is the 50-song Young, Gifted and Black two-CD set, a great overview for beginners from 1960 to 1978, concentrating on crossover UK hits (My Boy Lollipop, etc.). I started out with The Harder They Come and the Rockers soiundtracks years ago, but needed more.

Other favorite reggae comps you can recommend?

 

The 'Countryman' soundtrack is excellent; crisp clean sound and all the Marley tracks on it remixed specifically for that compilation only. Plus one of them is a semi-rarity 'Jah Live' -at that point only a single on the Island label, not available anywhere else. Now I think it appears on both the Marley 4-CD box set and and the remastered issue of 'Burnin'' -but still a different mix on Countryman. Great shtuff.

É

 

The "RAS Tapes" CD is my all-time fave reggae compilation. I cannot recommend this one enough!

http://www.artistdirect.com/store/artist/album/0,,151494,00.html

The reggae version of Hotel California is pretty dang cool. The whole album shines with a great vibe and smooth flow.

 

Re my earlier post 'Jah Live' does appear on the box set 'Songs of Freedom' and also now on the remastered 'Rastaman Vibration' -not 'Burnin''.

Some others you might enjoy:

Adults Only/Trojan CDTRL 305
Planet Reggae/Instant DC INS 1056
Nice and Ruff/Music Club MCCD 092
Reggae Refreshers/IslandRRCDS 101


Éamonn

 

Another mega-fave of mine: "Towering Dub Inferno". Great if you like a your reggae in the dub style.

http://www.artistdirect.com/store/artist/album/0,,176608,00.html

 

What about Steve's DCC compilation ("Classic Reggae" or something)? I've been thinking about picking that one up...

 

Mine'll probably be Steve's Reggae In Hi-Fi, once Red Trumpet sends it to me.

Jeff

 

Dubwise & Otherwise Volumes 1&2.

Ridiculously cheap overviews of the Blood and Fire catalogue, one of the best reggae re-issue labels out there!

Will

 

Tougher than Tough-35 Years of Jamaican Hits- The Story of Jamaican Music traces Jamaican music from ska records in 1958 right up to Shaggy's hit "Oh Carolina" in 1993. It's on Mango Records. Comprehensive liner notes on the artists and records.

 

If you like rock steady, Duke Reid's Treasure Chest (2CD) on Heartbeat is absolutely essential.

My favourite single artist comp is Pressure Drop, the Best of Toots and the Maytals on Trojan.

 

Dub Side Of The Moon!

 

Stop right now and get the releases from Soul/Jazz. (they are from England)

100% Dynamite
200% Dynamite
all the way up to 600% Dynamite, but the first two are ESSENTIAL.

Also their Studio One:Rockers is brilliant.

Actually the whole label rocks - not just reggae - two amazing New Orleans Comps as well.

The Studio one stuff is great from them because they are working with Coxone Dodd - the man behind the label.

But if that doesn't fit the bill - get the standard "The Harder They Come" soundtrack - that is where some gold can be found.

 

I have to agree with this one. I also like B&F's "If Deejay Was Your Trade". Great reggae deejay stuff. Mojo Magazine had a special Trojan comp with one of their issues this past year that's excellent.

 

If you can EVER find it, there was a 3-LP set put out by Columbia House in the late 70's called Feelin' High. Steve's Reggae Classics disc sounds great, but the LP set has all those tracks (except one) plus a whole lot more (Freddie McKay, Pioneers, etc).

Although The Harder They Come Soundtrack was the disc that got me started with reggae in the 1970's, without a doubt Feelin' High is the most special collection around.

 

Another good soundtrack is ROCKERS.

Track listing (thanks to allmusic.com, which rates this 5 stars):

1. We 'A' Rockers performed by Inner Circle - 3:23
2. Money Worries performed by Maytones - 3:22
3. Police and Thieves performed by Junior Murvin - 3:52
4. Book of Rules performed by Heptones - 3:27
5. Stepping Razor performed by Peter Tosh - 3:16
6. Tenement Yard performed by Jacob Miller - 2:35
7. Fade Away performed by Junior Byles - 3:04
8. Rockers performed by Bunny Wailer - 5:36
9. Slave Master performed by Gregory Isaacs - 2:28
10. Dread Lion performed by Scratch And The Upsetters - 3:10
11. Graduation in Zion performed by Kiddus I - 2:46
12. Jah No Dead performed by Burning Spear - 2:11
13. Satta Massagana performed by Hinds, Justin & Dominoes / Third World - 3:32
14. Natty Take Over performed by Hinds, Justin & Dominoes - 3:08

All restaurant quality, and half the tracks I would consider reggae classics. Justin Hines has been criminally overlooked as a major talent.

Also THE KING KONG COLLECTION, a collection from the rock-steady days. Tracks produced by Leslie Kong, hence the name. I have it on CD, but can't find on allmusic.com. Desmond Dekker, Ken Boothe and the like. Worth a search if it's your bag.

Kinda off topic: back in the 80's San Francisco radio station KFOG used to have a reggae show once a week. A couple of memorable shows were of reggae covers of the Beatles and of Motown hits. I have the tapes, and must dig them out, but if there are any compilations of this type I sure would like to know about them.

 

Joel mentioned Rockers in his first post.

I Agree, it's a great album.

 

Creation Rockers vol 1-6 on Trojan. Great 60' and very early 70's compilation. Vinyl should still be available. Not released on cd.

IMO, you should also try some of Studio One compilations available on Heartbeat.


Matti

 

The Studio One stuff is top-shelf.

And gotta agree with ducks (Jeff) - Justin Hinds never got his due as an artist. His albums were consistently good from beginning to end.

And what about the most most whacked-out creative genius of reggae - LEE PERRY? Wildly varied reggae, from sheer lunacy to straight ahead roots reggae, the guy was the most prolific producer AND artist in reggae. Trouble is, it's hard to know where to start listing his material with all the output he generated...

(Think I'll go have some Roast Fish and Cornbread now...)

 

With Lee Perry one could start with Scratch on the Wire LP (ILPS 9584, propably not available on cd) and Arkology (3 cds) and continue after those experiences.


Matti

 

There's more funk and soul in ONE of those tracks than there is in the whole Top 40 today.

 

More great Trojan compilations: Rebel Music (2 LP's) and A Jamaican Story limited edition (maybe not available anymore) 30 cd's 500 tracks.


Matti

 

Yeah, Arkology is a good cross-section of his work, especially '70's period. "All the Hits" on Rohit is also a good one to get a flavor of Lee. Just a bit rougher around the edges and I kinda like it.

 

Some store here sold me Arkokogy for $10!

I guess they thought they were CD singles because of the slim jewel cases.

 

That was cheap. Price for the box is here around 30 euros or around $36 if I remember correctly.


Matti

 

"A Jamaican Story limited edition (maybe not available anymore) 30 cd's 500 tracks"

Is that 10 of the moderately priced Trojan 50-track 3-CD sets (Lovers, UK Hits, Producers, etc.) in one package?

Speaking of which, in London, Trojan packaged three of those sets each into several themed 9-CD sets, but mistakenly said each set had 450 tracks! I inquired, pointing out that only MP3 discs could accomodate 50 tracks per CD. Some record store guys actually tried to convince me it was true, but one actually opened the collection and apologized for the mistake. I think the sets were an HMV exclusive, and nicely priced at about 17 pounds.