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.

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.

MUNDELL Greensleeves Reggae Classics : Hugh Mundell

This is a Great Hugh Mundell disc originally released on LP by Greensleeves back in 1982 and released on CD in 2004.  Top to bottom, this set is all wonderfully unique roots from the the tragically short career of Mundell.  There are twelve tracks total on the CD ; the last four are considered bonus tracks that were added on to the original LP set.  This album has got the production works of Junjo Lawes and Scientist at the boards and features some great musicians like Flabba on bass.  These tracks were recorded at Channel One and then mixed over at Tubby's.  If you collect this disc and pair it with the albums "Blessed Youth" and "Jah Fire" (a Black Arrow label release with Prince Jammy mixing and production).  Really all the tracks on this disc are nice, but my favorites are #2 (Rasta Have the Handle) and #10 (Can't Pop No Style).  Their is a great live version of Can't Pop No Style out there.  It's extremely deep roots and extremely hard to find.

King Tubby meets Rockers Uptown : Augustus Pablo

This is for sure a classic roots set that shows you what reggae is all about.  This is a 1994 Abraham label CD release - originally released in 1977 on vinyl by Clocktower.  The material was recorded from '72-'75 with Chinna, Familyman, Dirty Harry, and others.  Clocktower is a reggae label that was formed in New York, but now works out of Ontario, Canada.  Abraham is another label name coming out of Clocktower and you can see similarities in disc production.  Pablo and Tubby blend bass and melodica  in and out of these tunes mixed down at King Tubby's with Errol Thompson.  There is also a 2004 Shanachie (US) label release with bonus tracks to the original 12.  All the tracks in this one are outstanding and you might recognize some of them as dubbed-out Pablo versions of popular Jacob Miller tunes.  This set of musical works is considered a prime example of seventies dub roots at it's finest - a cornerstone at the base of the Jamaican dub movement.

Rhythm Come Forward : Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Aswad,

This is a quick nine track introduction reggae compilation.  It starts with a little bit of old school Bob Marley and moves through some prime vintage Tosh (Stepping Razor & Legalize It).  The two Aswad tracks to follow are pretty good (Track ##5 - Drum & Bass Line) and then you get a little taste of Yellowman and some more contemporary Third World and Jimmy Cliff.  This disc was put out by Sony back in 1990 or CBS-Columbia in 1984 take your pick.  You can get a used copy off of Amazon for 1 Cent plus shipping.  Recorded material range from the very early seventies all the way through 1984.  This is really a decent set of tracks ; the first six songs are very competent selections that anchor this compilation. 

Vital Force Dub : Gato Negro

This seems to be the follow up disc for "Black Cat Dub" from the eccentric dub styles of Gato Negro.  It's a fairly good roots dub cd with a more contemporary sound at times, but that's kind of the Gato's thing.  This disc is a 1995 release from ROIR with 16 tracks total, about half of witch follow the lead of Gato's first CD.  The other half of the tracks seem to stray away from the original style that pulled me in with Black Cat Dub.  My favorites on this one are #3 (Muntu Dub), #5 (Power Light), and #14 (Never Endin' Dub) - this last one is a pretty killer track.  I wouldn't say this is a must have, but you can buy a used disc online for $1 plus shipping. 

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. 

Rich Man Poor Man : Barry Brown

There are 14 tracks on this late seventies greatest hits with most of them ranging from roughly 3 to about 4 minutes.  The Revolutionaries, Roots Radics, The High Times Band, and the Aggrovators are all credited as backing bands on different tracks giving this a disc a wide variety in instrumental styles.  This is a true Kingston production going down at Harry J's, King Tubby's and Channel One.  This is a fairly good representation of the Barry Brown style and coupled with King Jammy presents Barry Brown you should get the best of Barry Brown.  This CD is from the Moll Selekta label with material from 1978-1980.  My favorites in this one are #1 (Fire Fire), #4 (Pass Up the Chalice), and #7 (Burial).  This version of "Burial" is my personal favorite of all the attempted covers - very nice pace - very nice vocal delivery.  The last two tracks on this disc are the title track and it's dub counterpart, a very nice way to end the set,  instead of starting the album with the title track.

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.

The Great Pablo : Augustus Pablo

This CD was released by "Music Club" under license from Trojan Recording in 2000. There are 15 tracks on my copy of this Greatest Hits type of CD. The recording material ranges from 1971 to 1975 ; said to be the heart of Pablo's works. The disc comes with a very short one page synopsis of Pablo's career. I wouldn't say the liner notes provided any new insight in to Pablo that I haven't found elsewhere already. My favorites on this one are : #1 ( East of the River Nile ), #2 ( River Nile Version ), #6 (The Great Pablo ), and #12 (House Raid ). This disc isn't totally instrumental, there's vocals and dj version on two or three of the tracks. Other classic songs Pablo dubbed out on this one like, #13 ( Curly Locks ), #14 ( Road Block ), and #12 ( House Raid ) which is a killer dub version of the classic "Burial" and the rest are excellent takes on these classic tracks. That's one of the things that makes this disc a nice addition to your collection - it fills a few of the gaps in the story of Augustus Pablo. Kind of a supplemental disc to the more classic Original Rockers : Augustus Pablo & Ital Dub : Augustus Pablo . I've done blogs on several other albums that include Pablo as musician, producer, and inspiration so check those out if you're looking for more quality discs.