DC Dub Connection : Earl "Heptones" Morgan

This is a pure dub album produced by Earl Morgan (of the Heptones) and sporting the talents of Prince Jammy, Lee Perry, and Scientist as the mixing and recording engineers ; a great collaboration.  Not flashy or over technical, this is pure roots dub.  Most of these tunes you'll find familiar.  My copy of this album is a CD released by the Auralux label in 2007, the original release was on vinyl by Tele-Tech back in 1982.  Only 10 tracks on this one but all are solid.  My favorites on this one are #1 (Bo-Yarka Dub), #3 (Vibration Rock), and #7 (Party Time Dub).  The booklet that comes with the CD is a nice addition, with very in depth notes on the history of Earl Morgan and the the origin of the different tracks on this album.  The booklet notes were provided by David Katz and are about 5 pages of nicely written reggae history.

If Jah Should Come Now ( + Dub ) : Rod Taylor

This is a twenty track disc with the first ten tracks being the original vocal album release from 1979 off of the Hit Run label, the second half of the disc is the dub counterpart.  My copy of this disc is a Jet Star label release from somewhere in the 2000's.  Rod Taylor doesn't have many albums where he is the exclusive vocalist and central star, so that makes this album an interesting piece. His vocal skills can be found scattered across the reggae lanscape on compilations from several labels.  You can also remember that Hit Run later became Clocktower (out of Canada) and this Rod Taylor production was pushed through by that same talented engineering group.  To get the most out of Rod Taylor's music catalog it's best to go with one of the compilations ; Ethiopian Kings is my favored Rod Taylor selection featuring the hard roots tracks : Behold Him, In the Right Way, and His Imperial Majesty.  On this disc however, I favor a few of the tracks from the dub side over the vocal tracks.

Satta Massagana : The Abyssinians

The Abyssinians are one of the sweetest vocal trios on the roots reggae scene.  This is for sure the cornerstone album of the Abyssinians music library, which is really only a few truly different albums.  My copy of this disc is the 1997 Heartbeat release, the original release was in 1976 on vinyl.  The 1993 CD has 14 tracks, but there is another more recent release from 2007 within an additional four tracks including two extended mixes.  This is one of those albums were it's tough to pick out the best tracks because the whole set is just a great production.  Track #13 (Reason Time) features a haunting organ and bass line ; Track #14 (There is No End) has a great message of keeping your head up and looking forward not backward with a mysterious ambient electric guitar dancing in the background.  This is truly one of the top vocal trio albums in the history of reggae and I look forward to sinking my teeth in to the extra tracks on the 2003 release.