The Slickers - Breakthrough (Deluxe Edition) (1978)

A classic late 70's Black Ark recording that was extremely hard to find for many years until it finally got a much needed re-issue on the Makasounds label  BUT  they didn't include the fantastic discomixes and dubs!

So finally today we present the full un-cut deluxe edition of this powerful roots reggae classic.

The Slickers began recording in the mid-60's on the back of the Rocksteady period. The group was made up predominantly of former members of the more established group The Pioneers who were formed in 1962 by brothers Derek and Sydney Crooks and they had scored big with hit singles including "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" which charted in the UK. Some claim that The Slickers are basically The Pioneers with just some minor line-up changes.

The key members of The Slickers are generally agreed to be brothers Derrick and Sydney Crooks, Winston Bailey and Abraham Green with occasional additions including George Agard, Delroy Wilson, Theo Beckford and even less often Lloyd and Jackie Robinson. Occasionally Roy Hylton Beckford is also credited although this maybe a mis-credited Theo.

The Slickers released a number of early singles in the late 60's, some of which under the alias of Johnny Melody And The Slickers, including "Nana", "Run Fatty" and "Auntie Lulu" but their biggest hit without doubt was "Johnny Too Bad".

Released as a single in 1970 "Johnny Too Bad" became a smash hit when it was included on the soundtrack to the classic Jimmy Cliff movie "The Harder They Come".

Other singles appeared throughout the early 70's credited to The Slickers but the line-up during this period is sketchy, The Pioneers had begun recording again in this time and so it's presumed that most of The Slickers had returned to the group.

A couple of singles released on the Black Cat label in 1975 are credited to The Slickers, as is a 1977 release on the Dynamic label called "Saint Jago" produced by Barry Biggs.

An album entitled "Many Rivers To Cross" appeared on the Klik label in 1976, the backing band is credited as being The Cimarons with producer Sydney Crooks but this is a tricky LP to tie down.

Then in 1978 The Slickers pop up once again, this time at Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark studio where they recorded what would eventually surface as the album "Breakthrough".

The album has that typical late 70's Black Ark sound and Perry's trademark mixing and phasing techniques of the time.

Vocals are credited to just The Slickers with musicians including Horsemouth Wallace on drums, Robbie Shakespear on bass, Mikey Chung and Earl 'Chinna' Smith on guitars, Augustus Pablo on melodica and Robbie Lynn on keys. Lee Perry is given an engineer credit whilst production goes to Tad Dawkins and Geoffrey Chung. It's highly likely that Perry recorded and produced the album at the Black Ark but it was then mixed again by Tad Dawkins and Geoffrey Chung over at Harry J's

The album came out on Tad Dawkins own TAD's Records in 1979 after it had been taken from the Black Ark to Harry J's more advanced studio for a final mixing by Geoffrey Chung and Sylvan Morris.

The original release had only seven of the ten recorded songs, three of which were discomixes (the opening 3 tracks on the A-Side "Marcus", "Johnny Too Bad" and "Every Wolf"). The sound however wasn't drastically changed as mentioned in most reviews of the album, the second mix only enhanced the bass and vocals but not much overdubbing had been added to Perry's initial mix of the album.

Indeed it is a powerful roots reggae album, songs like the previously mentioned "Marcus" and "Every Wolf" show the groups strong ties to the Rastafari movement, "Give Us A Break" is a plea for the downtrodden, the re-make of the groups earlier hit "Johnny Too Bad" is explosive in the hands of Perry whilst "Run Come" and "African Children" are both heavy Black Ark tunes.

One of the most powerful is the final track "Black And White", a call for unity between the peoples of the world regardless of colour with an excellent Perry rhythm.

The album became quite the collector's item due to it's only pressing in 1979 and so it was greeted with pleasure when Makasounds finally re-issued the album in 2007 on CD but then for some it was a bit of a let down to find the album had been remixed by Clive Hunt and the discomixes replaced by the single versions.

This was forgiven however with the inclusion of two tracks from the original sessions "Zion Calling" and "People In The Neighbourhood", both classic Black Ark. The label also added three totally unrelated instrumentals from completely different sessions to some confusion.

The Slickers - Breakthrough (Deluxe Edition) hopes to clear up all this mess and confusion however by collecting all the original album sessions, discomixes and dubs together in one simple package.

Enjoy!  : )

Tracklisting: 

1) Marcus (Disco Style)
2) Johnny Too Bad (Disco Style)
3) Every Wolf (Disco Style)
4) Give Us A Break
5) Run Come
6) African Children
7) Black And White
8) Zion Calling
9) People In The Neighbourhood
10) Marcus
11) Marcus (Dub)
12) Johnny Too Bad
13) Johnny Too Bad (Dub)
14) Every Wolf
15) Every Wolf (Dub)
16) African Children (Extended)
17) Cus Cus {Lloyd Robinson And The Slickers}
18) Cus Cus (Alternative) {Lloyd Robinson And The Slickers}
19) Right On Time {Luddy Pioneer And Joe Slicker}
20) Caught You Red-Handed {Ranking Charlie And The Slickers}


Recorded at the Black Ark studio, 1978 engineered and mixed by Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Mixed at Harry J's studio, 1979, engineered and mixed by Geoffrey Chung and Sylvan Morris.
Produced by Tad Dawkins for TAD's Records 1979.


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