96 Degrees in the Shade : Third World

This is by far the most popular and influential of all the Third World albums. Most reggae aficionados are familiar with the title track - and it's a great track. My favorites on this disc are: #1 (Jah Glory), #2 (Tribal War), and #5 (Human Marketplace). Human Marketplace has a great haunted sound provided by the ambient effect of the horns. This material was released originally in 1977 by the Island label that was blowing up big time, largely thanks to Bob Marley. Third World is a definitely a band with great talent, most of the group members contribute to the vocals as well as providing an excellent musical foundation for these roots tracks. The original album only has eight tracks total but when you listen it feels as if you were maybe a concert. The sound quality is very clean and this album gives us a great set of songs that show the outstanding musical bond this group had at the time.

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.