Shanty Town Determination ( 1976 - 1978 ) : Trinity

This is going to be one of the best Trinity compilation discs you're going to be able to find out there.  Thank You, Blood & Fire for releasing this proper track set back in 2000 with the wave of reissues and collections, more than a head-full of reggae at the time. Shanty Town Determination has 13 tracks total and it's just under an hour in duration.  The highlight tracks for me : # 6 (Promise is a comfort to a fool), # 7 (Natty Dread A No Bandooloo), # 11 (Peace Conference In A Western Kingston), and # 12 (Fight It To The Top/Lively Tribulation).  Fight it to the top is an extended Trinity Add-on of the Heptones original.  The first eight tracks of the disc are straight from the original vinyl release back in 1977, which is apparently a very rare piece for collectors.  Five additional tracks round this disc out and make it a decent duration.  Sometimes it's hard to pick up a disc when it has only got 6 or 7 tracks on it.  Some say Trinity has a slight similarity to Big Youth in his delivery and voice, but once you listen to all these DJ champs enough you hear differences that make them unique, not similarities - you'll see. Over-all this is a great disc to start off with out of the Trinity library - it's also a proper disc to add in to your master collection.  If you've only got several slots for Roots DJ, this could easily be one of your selections.

Lambs Bread International : Sylford Walker & Welton Irie

This is a great original 1970's roots album to the bone.  Although this is a Blood & Fire CD release from 2000, the music was recorded in the '77-'78 season of the pleasin' for the rootsman tradition.  Sylford Walker has a timid voice with an aggressive delivery in his chanting/singing/rapping style.  This album was produced by Glen Brown and mixed by King Tubby, during the prime of both careers.  Welton Irie adds a hard deejay version to six of the tracks, complementing the vocal track to make a couple nice extended track versions.  There are 14 tracks total.  Track #2 "Rolling Stone" in a great version of the title track, witch is one of hardest herb anthems - although many have never heard its message.  These are two relatively unknowns to people outside the reggae, but the triumphant sounds they'll allow to blast out your speakers should be listed in at least your top twenty albums of your collection.  Search around for Sylford Walker's '75 -'76 track "Burn Babylon" produced by Joe Gibbs.  An earlier sample of Sylford's style.

Silver & Gold : Prince Far-I

One more time around for Prince Far-I.  This is one of my favorite roots & culture artists off all time.  He was sadly taken from us in 1983 when a group of gunmen broke in to his yard at night with unknown intentions, not much is known about incident specifics.  His gruff, honest voice and righteous messages will continually live on through all of his followers and aficionados.  Silver & Gold serves as a type of greatest hits compilation for the seventies ('73-'79) with 19 tracks total, three of witch are Errol Holt tunes, whom he was producing at the time.  It's a Blood & Fire release with a nice booklet and the story of Prince Far-I.  The first track "Johnny Get Worse" is a great version of The Slickers' "Johnny Too Bad" and the highlight of an outstanding album.  Other classic Far-I selections include : "Dub to Africa" &  "Cry Freedom Dub".  Prince Far-I's catalog of music is sadly a short, but potent list.  Listen to Far-I when you feal you need freedom and seek wisdom.

Freedom Sounds in Dub : King Tubby

I know that the number of King Tubby CD's out there is enormous.  Even for a reggae fan who holds the art of dub close to their hart, the Tubby library is endless.  So where do we find the best King Tubby discs or top notch compilations?  Blood & Fire, that's where.  Just like it's issuing counterpart Dub in the Roots Tradition : Scientist, Freedom Sounds in Dub is a great example of how this large available library of tunes can be condensed in to a stand out compilation.  Even if you only want a few pure dub cd's to anchor down your collection, this is a outstanding representation of Tubby.  Although I can really listen to this one over and over on repeat I'll still pick out a couple of my  favorites.  #1 (Ethiopian Version), #2 (Leaving Babylon Dub), and #11 (Tinson Pen Dub) are the top few of this 15 track set.  The recorded material is from the late seventies ('76-'79) and has the solid backing of the Soul Syndicate. 

Dub in the Roots Tradition : Scientist

This is a Greatest Hits compilation of the master-skilled Scientist ; presented to us by Blood & Fire back in 1996.  The Blood & Fire label did a ton of reissue work in the 90's and it's nice to see that Scientist made their list of musicians, engineers, and vocal artists to honor with a high quality production.  15 tracks of choice cuts on this disc and all straight up roots dub.  A lot of familiar rhythms on this one but Scientist has a way of twisting the sounds in ways the other engineers seem to overlook sometimes.  The tunes range from about 1976 - 1979, this is said to be the beginning stages of the Scientist's dub journey.  My favorites on this one are #1 (King Tubby's Awnser), #2 (Dub Bible), #5 (Don't Rush the Dub), and #11 (Sunshine Version).  Like most Blood & Fire reissue/compilation products, the booklet and liner notes provide a great insight in to the time lines of Scientist's accomplishments and associations with his contemporaries.  scientist is sometimes known as the second great student of King Tubby's behind Jammy.  He's worked all over the world with the finest reggae musicians such as Roots Radics and I was able to witness his skills live at the now defunct Malibu Inn (http://hbreggaeblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/don-carlos-malibu-inn.html).  This is a nice disc to have in the dub section of your collection.  It would fit rite in with some of your favorite Tubby's (King Tubby's Hidden Treasure) (Dub Like Dirt) and maybe a quality Jammy's disc (King Jammy Presents Barry Brown) to round out your seventies roots dub.

Open the Iron Gate : Max Romeo

This disc is a greatest hits catalog showcasing Max Romeo's work from 1973 through 1977. This is a more recent Blood & Fire production of "Revelation Time" sharing many of the same tracks and adding the extra version and extended tracks here and there. I think there are 12 tracks total on this one and they are all roots classics that should be heard. The sound quality is nice and clear on this 1999 release. The booklet has a brief biographical story of Max Romeo that correlates the time line of political events with his songs. He collaborated with Lee Perry and many other producers so his work is scattered across the reggae landscape, but this is a nice compilation. This is reggae fueled by the bad feeling and hard times of the populous in Jamaica and Max Romeo is known for speaking his mind through hard metaphors delivered with the smooth voice of an soul superstar. If you are looking for just one disc to represent Max Romeo in your collection - this is a pretty good choice.

Forward the Bass - Dub from Randy's 1972-1975 : The Impact All-Stars

If you love a good straight forward dub album, then you should love this disc. It's in my top ten dub albums of all time. Blood & Fire is no slob when it comes to sound quality and production value. You get 15 tracks of clean, killer, instrumental dub from such legends as: Bingy Bunny, Familyman, Sly, Tommy McCook, the Wailers, the Impact All-Stars, and Augustus Pablo. My favorite tracks on this one are: #5 (Wire Dub), #9 (Last of the Jestering), and #12 (S-Corner Dub). S-Corner Dub has the melodica pushed to the background with an ambient echoing affect that gives this track a foggy-night/spy work type of feal to it. Another great addition to this roots dub catalog is the harmonica work they sneak in on about every third track. The harmonica work is credited to the mysterious "Chicago Steve", who's great at adding the perfect touch of soul to the dub out. Like most Blood & Fire CD's this disc comes with a great booklet that tells the story of Randy's and it's various reggae engineers.

Repatriation : U-Brown

This is a greatest hits disc representing the legendary U-Brown. You get a solid 18 tracks of roots and culture dj from the 70's. From what I can see there are only 10 tracks on the original LP release. The extra eight tracks you get on the CD are dub tracks and alternates, so it creates a nice listening package. My favorites on this disc are: #9 (Reggae dub), #12 (Set Jah Jah), #13 (Give the People), and #14 (The People Dub). All the tracks on Repatriation are about 3 minutes, except the first song wich is an extended disco mix. This is a solid production with the Revolutionaries as the backing band at Channel One in Kingston, JA. There's another U-Brown compilation by Blood & Fire (1997) called Train to Zion. It covers more seventies material ('75-'78) and between these two discs you'll have a great cross-section of U-Brown's best material.

Messenger Man : Willi Williams

This is just an outstanding 17 track album by Willi Williams. Another Blood & Fire release, this one from 2005 and the material was originally released in 1980 on the Inland label and recorded in Kingston and Toronto. This more recent Blood & Fire version includes several versions, extended versions, and a couple of previously unreleased dub tracks. My favorite tracks on this one are: #3 (Give Jah Praise), #5 (Zion Town), and #14 (Zion Town Dub). I find a very powerful message in "Zion Town" and I keep it on my all-time favorites playlist. Of course with Blood & Fire comes a great booklet and this time the notes are written by Carter Van Pelt. He's a noted North American authority on Reggae and I was very pleased to see his contribution to this album. The booklet tells the story of Willi Williams and also of the story and meanings behind the Messenger Man album. Besides Armagideon Time, this is my favorite Willi Williams album.

Only Love Can Conquer : Prince Alla

This disc is another compilation style collection from the Blood & Fire label. This is a release from 1996 featuring Prince Alla from '76-'79. This is a nice "greatest hits" package with a comprehensive 14 page booklet witch is mostly an interview style biographical story of Prince Alla. With 14 tracks on this one, my favorites are: #3 (Only Love Can Conquer), #5 (They Never Love), #7 (Bucket Bottom), and #11 (Youthman in the Ghetto). Most tracks on this one were produced by Bertram Brown and/or Prince Alla and features a ton of talented musicians: Sly & Robbie, Tony Chin, Santa Davis, Fully Fullwood, and Chinna Smith. All classic roots music in the tradition of the '70's. This album is a great example of Blood & Fire at there finest, simply a great CD and booklet.

Dub Me : Morwell Unlimited meet King Tubby's

This is a top notch instrumental and dub album showcasing the work of the industries best studio musicians. Back in the 1970's, Blacka Wellington and Bingy Bunny were known as the Morwells. They dropped slow deliberate rhythms and laid a foundation of dub for the years to come. Other musicians and engineers included in this posse of greats are: Flabba Holt, Chinna Smith, and Ansell Collins. The collaboration of all these professionals led to development of many other groups such as the Roots Radics and the Revolutionaries. They recorded almost everywhere: Channel One, Randy's, King Tubby's, and the Black Ark. This disc in a 1997 release from the Blood & Fire label. The booklet is very informative and includes many good pictures. My favorite tracks on this one are: #5 (John Bull), #10 (Jungle Shuffle), #12 (Morpheus Special), and #14 (Stepping in HQ). It's a solid track list from start to finish so check it if you dig the roots reggae instrumental or King Tubby style.

Dreader Dread : Johnny Clarke

This CD was a Blood & Fire release from 1998 and to me this is the best representation of Johnny Clarke's work through the 1970's. It's a compilation of songs from 1976-1978 and filled with the conscious roots message of the 70's. My favorite tracks on this disc are: "Every Knee Shall Bow", "Age is Growing", " and "Play Fool Fe Get Wise". You can also find dub tracks and King Tubby mixes of the work on this disc, but with the extended tracks included, this CD is the best bang for your buck. A few covers are also included on this disc. A stripped down version of "Time Will Tell" and "Top Ranking" which is a cover of Peter Tosh's "I'm the Toughest" show how Johnny can put his talents to the work of his friends. This disc is in my Top 20 for sure and it belongs in your collection.