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.

Dub to Africa : Prince Far-I & the Arabs

This is one of the finest examples of roots dub in my collection.  Prince Far-I brings his band of musicians (the Arabs including Flabba) in to a storm of dub with some heavy bass thunder.  Not too fancy, not too many effects, these are just solid and constant dub tracks that will drop you off in to a trance, almost hypnotizing.  Far-I gives a brief introduction before each track making his presence felt through the rough grumblings of his wise and seemingly ancient voice.  He's one of my favorites and most of his workings are solid, but this one is just the tops.  This album dropped in 1979 on LP from the Hit Run label with the original eight tracks, right in the middle of Far-I's Cry Tuff Dub Encounter series.  Then Pressure Sounds released in on CD in 2007 with two bonus tracks.  All ten tracks are strong pieces that put together an outstanding dub set when listened to all the way through.  Track #1 (Ace Bass) & track #2 (Dub to Africa) get things going and before you know it you are in the middle of the album.