Joe Gibbs

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#0836 Peter Touch-Here comes the judge.

BIG man ‘Touch’ dropping ‘bombs’.

Critique of 2020 #2

A scathing critique of colonialism from master Peter Tosh. His vocal cut of Tommy Mc Cook and the Destroyers ‘Ah So’ released by Joe Gibbs on his ‘Shock’ Label in 1971.

A cut of The legendary Abyssinians ‘Satta’ Rhythm, (originally recorded at the home of Jamaican music Sir Coxsone’s imperious Brentford road powerhouse … Studio 1)

The Abyssinians purchased the master tapes from Coxsone and released ‘Satta’ on their own ‘Clinch’ label in 1971 and the rest is Reggae history.

‘Satta’ was in itself a loose version of Carlton (Manning) & his Shoes ‘Happy Land’, (the Abyssinians consisted of Bernard Collins and ‘Shoe’ two brothers Donald and Lynford).

musicology #570

BigGirlNow #1

(Dennis Brown – If I Had The World)

“To be a parent is to have undying faith in ones child”

Happy Birthday..Beautiful and precious Angel. Thank you for choosing me to be your dad.

“If I had the world, I’d give it to you girl….”

musicology #546

Jamaica #26

(U Roy/Hopeton Lewis – Tom Drunk)

How does it go?…. ..”I’ve started…so I’ll finish”.

Up until the early 70’s, (in Jamaica), there were really no more than a handful of producers and musical styles to contend with, as far as the musicology is concerned), but as the 60’s rolled into the seventies wide ranging changes both musically and socially changed the game. First there was the music made for export to satisfy the English popular market, (loosely termed ‘Skinhead’), headed by, (among others), producers such as Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, Leslie Kong, Joe Gibbs, Rupie Edwards and then there was the Indigenous market that was at first dominated by the Sound System operators. It was in this arena that innovation flourished. That’s not to say that some of the producers mentioned, (especially Lee Perry and Bunny Lee), were not active in both arenas and let’s face it everyone wanted to make money but in truth it didn’t take long for the artists to realise that no matter how ‘popular’ their music was ‘up a foreign’ they still found themselves in the same position financially…..skint..(or for those among us whose dialects don’t recognise such terminology)..poor.

It was into this cauldron that the DeeJay took centre stage in tandem with the version or ‘Dub’, (both hugely influential on all urban music that followed), and the figure that stood tallest at the birth was none other than Ewart Beckford aka Hugh Roy. NO history of Jamaican music would be complete without him. Not the first or even, (in my opinion), the most eloquent but certainly the most important. Today’s cut is from 1971..produced by Duke Reid..Vocal by Hopeton Lewis.

musicology #230

communication #8

(Dennis Brown – It’s Too Late)

Artist, producer and one of Jamaica’s most loved sons, Dennis Emmanuel Brown first recorded at the tender age of 11 for Derrick ‘One Stop’ Harriott but it was at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio 1 that he made his name starting with a cover of the Van Dykes cut, ‘No Man Is An Island’ in 1969. The man had a prolific career that stretched right up until his untimely death in 1999 at the age of 42.

This one written by Carol King is, for themusicologist, a great example of what a cover version should attempt to do, namely bring something new and fresh to a song. Something which Jamaica’s musicologists seem to have perfected….Recorded for Joe Gibbs sometime in the 80’s.