Harder than the Best - Marcus Garvey / Garvey's Ghost : Burning Spear

These are two great albums that represent a great cross-section of Burning Spear Material.  With Garvey and Garvey's Ghost, you get the heart of the message of Burning Spears music.  Harder Than the Best was a short order compilation of sorts representing material from '75-'77 with eleven tracks total.  Originally released on LP in 1979 by Island and then again in 2000 on CD.  These two discs share quite a few cross-over tracks including : The Invasion, Marcus Garvey, and Slavery Days.  This disc has one of my favorite Burning Spear tracks "Man in the Hills".
Burning Spear 100th Anniversary is really the way to go, it includes both the Marcus Garvey & Garvey's Ghost (dub) albums.  This was also an Island release CD.  The Garvey's Ghost dub set is a nice instrumental dub with out too much effects.  This material was originally recorded in '76 and fits in with the other mid seventies tracks from Harder Than the Best.  You get a good twenty tracks total on the 100th Anniversary, including the killer dub "Farther East of Jack".  The music found on these two discs is a decent portion of the great seventies catalog that Burning Spear has presented to us and this time frame is were his most famous work is from. 

Fire Down Below : Scorchers from Studio One

This is a great compilation of classic roots performers released from Heartbeat in 1990. The CD has 14 tracks from the late sixties and early seventies, showcasing artists like: Winston Jarrett, Jackie Mittoo, Burning Spear, and many others. Although the tracks are older recordings, the sound quality is nice and clear. My favorites on this disc are: #1 (Fire Down Below - Burning Spear) and #11 (Sweet Talking - Heptones). This collection was produced and compiled by C.S. Dodd and features such legendary musicians as: Ernest Ranglin, Cedric Im Brooks, Leroy Sibbles, and many more. These are supposed to be all Studio One recordings and the set list features a good cross section of reggae types. This disc has early and classic roots recordings, instrumentals, and even a little dj and nyahbingi chants - a little bit of everything.

Rockers Soundtrack : Various Artists

If you've never seen the movie Rockers you're missing the best Reggae film ever made. It's a Jamaican Robin Hood with every scene packed full of short performances by all of our favorite Reggae stars of the seventies. It's a brief look inside the daily life of Jamaican musicians, thick with Jamaican patois and messages of unity and brotherhood. But enough about the film, I would like to give a brief review of the soundtrack. This soundtrack is one of the better compilations you can buy for seventies reggae. This is a great selection of roots from such legends as: Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, the Heptones, Jacob Miller, the Maytones, and more. This disc has 14 tracks total and my favorites on this one are : #2 (Money Worries), #7 (Fade Away), and #8 (Rockers). The movie was released in 1979, but the material on the soundtrack could be from about'76-'79. Chris Blackwell was the main man behind this project and you can find this soundtrack released by both the Island and Mango labels. Just a quick note ; the DVD copy of this movie has extra soundtrack songs and versions in the bonus materials/extras section of the menu. If you haven't experienced Rockers yet, I would urge you to watch the movie first and then check down the CD soundtrack as a supplement to the vibe of this fun and energetic movie.

Reggae Sunsplash 2 - DVD -

This is a DVD "Video" from Columbia and features stage performances from: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and Third World. All of the concert footage was taken in 1979, Montego Bay, Jamaica. You're basically watching a VHS recorded on to a DVD. It's almost two hours long and the little interviews and street shots of everyday life in Jamaica keep the show moving. There are some great interviews explaining Rastafari and the Reggae movement of the time. The short interview with Burning Spear is great and his performance of "Call on You" is the musical highlight for me. There's also a nice scene of two ganjamen sitting pon the hillside of plants and talking of the situation of the people and the love of Ganja. Kind of old school, but a good DVD to watch with some of our favorite roots artists. My copy has some Japanese writing on it and the interviews have Japanese subtitles, but the credits for the production staff seem to be German names. All of the Interviews and narration are in English.

Spear Burning : Burning Spear

This is a great disc with a nice, thick booklet that tells the story of Winston Rodney (aka Burning Spear). I consider this CD kind of a "best of ...." disc from the seventies with crucial tracks like Travelling w/ Version (#1+2). Most tracks are followed by a version or rare 12" mix, witch makes this set strong and to the point. Burning Spear is one of the heaviest roots pioneers of the seventies and you can feel it in tracks like The Prophet (#15) and title track Spear Burning (#9) followed by it's potent "Jomo" version. My copy of this disc is from Pressure Sounds in 2000. The only time I've seen Burning Spear in concert was at the OC Fairgrounds in 2005 with Yellowman and Third World. It was a fantastic show, but The Spear was the strongest performance of the night and a pleasure to behold on stage. I look forward to seeing him again.

Human Rights & Justice : Daweh Congo

If you've never heard of Daweh Congo, he's quite the unique artist. If I had to compare him to someone it would be the deep grumblings of Prince Far-I or the resonant chants of Burning Spear. He's the son of reggae artist Leo Graham, but started releasing his own material in the late 90's. Human Rights & Justice is a 2000 release off of the Roots & Culture label, and for me the highlight of Daweh's collection. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live around the same time as the release of this disc and he was outstanding - staying true to his sound. My favorite tracks on this one are #1 (Human Rights & Justice), #2 (Jah is my Shepard), and #7 (Herb Tree) . Herb Tree is actually the Zungguzungguguzungguzeng rhythm and you'll recognize the work of Flabba Holt and others on tracks using vintage Roots Radics rhythms from the early 80's. Daweh recorded this one at Leggo's Studio in Kingston. This disc is actually pretty hard to find and I'm still using a burned copy I got from a friend back in 2000. Good luck in your search. If anyone finds it for sale, please leave a comment on the blog - I'd appreciate the lead !!!

International Herb : Culture

I consider this the classic example of Culture. International Herb was first released in 1979, my copy is the '91 CD issued by Shanachie. A super solid ten track disc that I've had since about '97, my favorite tracks are #1 (International Herb) and #6 (Too Long in Slavery). The reality is the whole disc is excellent. It carries that great "early 80's" roots sound that began to flourish around the time of it's original release. A remastered version has since been released in 2001, but I'm still rattling around my old scuffed up copy that seems to play forever. This group and this album helped define the "roots" sound we love so much. The harmony work is sweet and inspired. If you like the Itals "Brutal Out Deh" or Burning Spear classics such as Garvey then you'll be pleased with the work put in on this disc.