Ol' Gargamel has a new album, Upside Down, coming out soon (26 June): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Upside-Down-Buju-Banton/dp/B0882J23KW Reggaville: Upside Down - New Buju Banton Album To Be Released In Spring 2020 Rolling Stone: Buju Banton Readies New Album 'Upside Down 2020,' First LP in 10 Years Here is a recent live session for BBC 1Xtra:
that Richie Spice covered recently quite nicely Richie can do the chorus alright, but can't sing the verses correctly for the life of me, compared to Max's immaculate enunciation he is, let's put it nicely, severely challenged
I posted those two a while back (mainly for the Richie Spice, but I linked the Max Romeo too), I think Richie's version is nice and heavy, great production with an updated sound but not going overboard with any funny stuff (the original is peerless of course). The new album, Together We Stand, on which this is included, was released today: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Together-We-Stand-Richie-Spice/dp/B085RRZ7XP Richie Spice's New Album Together We Stand is out now! Richie does seem to be stumbling on his syllables, but to be fair it's kind of hard to compare as Richie is singing stuff that isn't in the original! In fact the lyrics are quite different throughout, he seems to have written some new words (and maybe too many of them at times), or they are from some other version (or are they actually Bible verses and he has just picked some other lines from the same passages)? There isn't really a chorus except the "Red hot, red hot, down inna Babylon" and the verses Max are singing beyond the first one are not in Richie's version.
Bob Marley And The Wailers* – Legend (The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers) Label: Tuff Gong – UICY-76506, Island Records – UICY-76506 Format: CD, Compilation, Reissue, Remastered, SHM-CD Blu-ray, Blu-ray Audio, Compilation, Multichannel, All Regions
To make up for preferring Richie's track over Max's here is a Max Romeo song I really enjoy. Max Romeo - Fari Captain of My Ship
I listened through it, some was good, some not so much. Also (as is often the case nowadays with albums) several of the songs have been out for quite some time already ("California" is from 2017). But I agree that a Clive Hunt production is always a mark of quality (I don't think he is behind all of it though.).
Here's a very rootsy Richie Spice from back in 2007. Richie Spice - Righteous Youths And I tell you that the time is getting critical, I don't want you to worry, no i never want you to fret, there is so much going on in Zion difficult, whole dem de say bout babylon try to run things to a wreck..... But if you think that his majesty is sleeping then you better think twice, he would a never make dem devil men mash down paradise... When there's a whole barrage of righteous youth man out there, and we ain't giving up, no way. There's a whole barrage of righteous youth man in town, and we ain't going down, no we never gonna stop, no way!!! when I tell you that the time is getting serious, just because I want to put my people on alert, just dem same ol babylon acting furious, and I don't want to see dem de little youths dem getting hurt... now if you think that his majesty is sleeping then you better think twice, 'cause he would' a never make dem babylon mash up silent nights.... When there's a whole barrage of righteous youth man out there, and we ain't giving up, no way. There's a whole barrage of righteous youth man in town, and we ain't going down, no we never gone astray , no way!!! And I tell you that the time is getting critical, I don't want you to worry, no i never want you to fret, there is nothing going on in Zion difficult, whole dem de knew ol babylon try to run things to a wreck.... But if you think that his majesty is sleeping then you better think twice, he would a never make dem babylon mash down silent nights... When there's a whole barrage of righteous youth man out there, and we ain't giving up, no way. There's a whole barrage of righteous youth man in town, and we ain't going down, no we never gone astray , no way!!! When there's a whole barrage of righteous youth man out there, and we ain't giving up, no way. There's a whole barrage of righteous youth man in town, and we ain't going down, no we never gone astray , no way!!!
I contacted Steven Stanley, whose name appears in the credits and this is what he had to say (Note: the suspension marks in the middle of his email are 2 sentences that I took out that had nothing to do with the topic here) Hi Guillaume, all is well and the pandemic doesn't really affect mixing that much except for the curfew lockdown times but from ever since I do not go in crowds unnecessarily, I'm always cleaning and only mix with one or two persons in the room with me. ......... I produced 5 songs for the Richie Spice's album (started from 2014) but I'm not sure how much they used because I've not seen a copy as yet. The songs I did are: (1) Beautiful Life (2) De-Stress (3) Eyes To See The World (4) Step By Step (5) Put This In The Schools. Take Care and "BIG UP YUSELF".....Steven Stanley.
Picked up this great album for a buck last week. Perfect for the current times.....same stuff, different century.
Going back to the classics for a minute or two, I see there is an Only Roots version of Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown from a couple of years ago. I only have the Clocktower from the early 90s. Does anyone know if the Only Roots one would be an upgrade ?
I haven't heard the OR version so can't comment on it and most importantly whether it is sourced from tape, although I suspect it is, but Clocktower were the original non Jamaican label for KTMRU so theirs should be from tape, it's just how late a copy you have and how far it differs from an original, is yours a silver label or black and white? I'm assuming it's not an Abraham copy, that would be crap. Without actually checking my copies I think the original Clocktower pressing is fine as is the US Message with the different sleeve, even the original Yard pressing is good with the proviso it's a Jamaican pressing with the usual QC issues, my advice is for the money try the Only Roots and if it's not an improvement be patient and wait for a clean seventies/eighties US copy.
I saw Steel Pulse on this tour in Boston. Only the second or third non-local reggae band I'd ever seen, and they really blew me away. I later traded a copy of Dave Marsh's The Book of Rock Lists for this album, which was one of the better trades I've made in my life. One thing I love about Steel Pulse are their basslines. Even among reggae artists, their basslines stand out as being very melodic, precise, and almost "busy" while still driving the songs and grooving hard. I used to play "Bodyguard" in a band back in the 2000's and it was always one of my faves.
