Owner Fe De Yard : Ethiopians

This is a selection that's been in my permanent catalog for over ten years now. Another quality release from the Heartbeat label (1994) and a great compilation of classic roots with great sound quality. The Ethiopians are some of the old school reggae masters who made that transition from the sixties to seventies a legendary time in reggae culture. Clement Dodd and Leonard Dillon recorded these 15 tracks at Studio One and Randy's mostly in the mid-sixties and the seventies. My favorites on this one are: #1 (Owner Fe De Yard), #3 (One Heart), #4 (Bad to Worse), #5 (So You Look Pon It), and #10 (Fire Fire). The Ethiopians have a very gentle vocal delivery that softens these roots tracks. Like most Heartbeat discs, this has a decent booklet that comes with it. It discusses the early influences of church music and the first meetings with Bob, Bunny, and Peter. Also tracks notes on each song and an interview with Leonard Dillon round out the booklet and make this a quality representation of the prime Ethiopians tracks and a glimpse in to their background.

Greensleeves 12" Rulers : Jah Thomas

This is my favorite disc of three "Greensleeves Rulers" that I have found. The other offerings are from Gussie Clarke and Junjo Lawes. This Jah Thomas showcase features 11 tracks by various artists such as: Triston Palmer, Toyan, Little John, Michael Palmer, Billy Boyo, and the DJ skills of Jah Thomas himself. My copy of this CD is from 2008, but the material was originally recorded back in 1981-1984. A great time for reggae - the transition from deep roots of the 70's, in to the hard conscious dj scene the early 80's. My favorite tracks on this one are: #3 (Joker Smoker - Triston Palmer), #4 (Loafter Smoker - Papa Bruce), and #11(Scandal - Billy Boyo). The standout track to my is #1 (Entertainment) with an extended DJ version featuring Jah Thomas and Toyan. The booklet for this disc completes this nice package. It's about 10 pages equally split between information on Jah Thomas and studio/dancehall photos. Some interview question with Jah Thomas round out the booklet nicely. Overall this is a great disc and I highly recommend adding it to your permanent reggae collection.

I Love Marijuana : Linval Thompson

The name says it all. Linval Thompson is fully motivated by his raw emotion on the subject of the title track of this album. Linval is the producer and main vocal feature on this 1978 Trojan release. My copy is a CD released in 1997 also off the Trojan label. There are 11 tracks on this one and they're all relatively short from about 2 minutes to about 4 ; most of it was recorded at Channel One - Kingston. My favorites on this one are : #1 ( I Love Marijuana ), #4 ( Not Follow Fashion ) a Ken Boothe cover, and #11 ( Jamaican Colly ) an I Love Marijuana Version. This is classic seventies roots from one on the last great producers of the era. He's stacked his musical line-up with extraordinary talent including : Sly, Robbie, Horsemouth, Familyman, Chinna, and many others. This one might not be essential to your collection, but the album art is totally a great example of the original style of album cover art fro the late seventies. Other great Linval Thompson tracks can be found on Ride On Dreadlocks ( Ride On Dreadlocks : Linval Thompson ) and other compilations.