Augustus Pablo Meets The Upsetter At The Black Ark (1974 - 1978)

First things first, this album does not exist.

Although the rather dubious 'Rhino' Label did indeed release an album entitled "Augustus Pablo Meets Lee Perry At The Black Ark" in 2001 it was nothing short of a fake.

Augustus Pablo never recorded a full album with Lee Perry at the Black Ark or at any other studio.
It was just yet another bogus, misleading release to fool the general public into buying a clumsy, mis-matched, track-title-error laden disc of nonsense!

This happens a lot, especially it seems, to material by both Augustus Pablo and The Upsetter. So for a bit more authenticity we decided to collect up a number of tracks that Augustus Pablo genuinely DID record at the Black Ark studio between 1974 and 1978 for this special two disc set.

Augustus Pablo was born Horace Swaby on June 21st 1954 in Saint Andrew, Jamaica. He attended the Kingston College High School where at a young age he learned piano and organ.

One of his classmates and a good friend was Clive Chin whose family operated and ran the acclaimed Randy's recording studio. Another family member (Herman Chin-Loy) would later run Aquarius studios.

Growing up with such music business influences and surrounded by friends such as Hugh Mundell and Junior Reid it wouldn't be long before Augustus Pablo would decide to make a career as a reggae star.

He auditioned for Clive Chin as a keyboardist in the very early 1970's and recorded the early singles "Iggy Iggy", "The Mood" and an early take of "East Of The River Nile".

Pablo had a huge fondness for playing the melodica, a small wind instrument with a keyboard, from which he would produce wonderful sounds and it wouldn't be long before this became his instrument of choice for much of his career. He cut a duet with Glen Adams which was a back and fourth between Pablo's melodica and Adams' organ over a riddim purchased from Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Augustus Pablo briefly joined Mikey Chung's group The Now Generation as a keyboardist but by 1973 he rejoined Clive Chin and cut the massive hit single "Java". Chin had intended to record the song as a vocal with singer Dennis Wright but as he was unavailable Pablo cut his melodica version which became hugely popular with many variations on the riddim popping up ever since.

Augustus Pablo and Clive Chin would continue to have a strong run of great singles, Pablo also helped set up the Santic Label with Leo Chin which issued a number of Pablo's own production work including "Pablo In Dub" and the single "Say So" with singer Paul Blackman.

Pablo continued to record for other producers too including Gussie Clarke, Keith Hudson and Lee Perry, the latter being very fond of using Pablo's melodica work on his own instrumentals and early dubs.

Another producer who would do this more often was Bunny Lee who would cut melodica versions by Pablo as the b-sides to a lot of his singles from this period.

However no matter how big the singles Pablo worked on were the profits remained low and so he decided to branch out and create his own label, Rockers.

The first material released on the Rockers label were Pablo's instrumental updates of older Studio One classics, tracks such as "Skanking Easy", "Frozen Dub" and "Pablo's Theme Song" were solid singles and also showed Pablo's love for (and inspiration from) the originals.

Much of this early Rockers Label material was picked up by the wider-reaching Greensleeves Records who released the fantastic "Original Rockers" album and continue to issue strong Pablo collections.

In 1974, whilst working with Clive Chin, Pablo released the album "Rebel Rock Reggae - This Is Augustus Pablo". A collection of strong singles cut with both Clive and Leo Chin at Randy's studio with musicians including Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Lloyd Adams and Errol Thompson.
  

Originally released in Jamaica on the Kaya Records label it has been kept in circulation by both Heartbeat and 17 North Parade in 2011.

By 1974 Augustus Pablo began working with legendary dub pioneer King Tubby who began providing mixes for Pablo's Rockers label with the strongest appearing on the album "Ital Dub".
  

"Ital Dub" came out on the Starapple label and contained tracks Pablo cut at Harry J's and Dynamics studios which were then mixed at King Tubby's. The album credits co-producer Tommy Cowan.
It was picked up in the UK by Trojan Records and in recent times has been re-issued by Get On Down.

Outtakes and previously unreleased cuts from the "Ital Dub" sessions appeared on the release "El Rockers" which was released by Pressure Sounds in 2000. A strong album in itself.
  

Also around this time Pablo produced the single "Black Star Liner" by Fred Locks which became a massive selling record, picked up in the UK and reaching the top of the reggae charts. The success of "Black Star Liner" made Pablo an in-demand producer and he began working with artists such as Jacob Miller, Horace Andy, I-Roy and Freddie McKay.

In 1976 Pablo would release what would become his trademark and best-selling album of his career in "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown".

  

Not only is the album one of Pablo's best works but it's also one of the greatest dub reggae albums ever released. Mixed by King Tubby and with musicians including both Barrett brothers (Carlton and Aston), Robbie Shakespear, Earl "Chinna" Smith and the mighty horn duo Vin Gordon and Bobby Ellis it got it's original Jamaican release on the Yard Music label before being picked up by the US based Clocktower.

It remains in constant demand with re-issues appearing on both Yard Music and Clocktower as well as Shananchie (1994) and Get On Down (2012).
  

The Rockers label continued to release strong, high-quality albums into the late 1970's, most of which had full dub companions such as Hugh Mundell's "Africa Must Be Free By 1983", Junior Delgado's "One Step Dub" and Te-Track's "Let's Get Started / Eastman Dub".

Augustus Pablo continued to produce singles on his Rockers label as well as working as a session musician on countless albums and singles throughout the mid to late 1970's. Greensleeves have released some excellent compilations of Rockers material from this period which remain in constant print.

In 1978 Pablo released the album "East Of The River Nile" which was his strongest album release since "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown". The album was a mix of singles recorded at such studios as Harry J's, Channel One (with producer Ernest Hookim), King Tubby's and The Black Ark (with Lee Perry).

Released in Jamaica on the Message label it remains in issue on both Shanachie and Jet Star.

  

Shortly after Pablo returned to work with King Tubby on the long awaited follow up "Rockers Meet King Tubby In A Fire House" which appeared in 1980 on the Yard Music label and co-produced by Prince Jammy.
  

Pablo continued to produce and record into the early 1980's, he produced Hugh Mundell's excellent album "Time And Place" before releasing his own "Earth's Rightful Ruler" album in 1983.

  

The album saw Pablo join up with Flabba Holt, Junior Dan, Steely and Sylvan Morris with mixing provided by Barnabas. Originally released on both Message and Shanachie it was re-issued by Jet Star in 1999.

After releasing the album "Rising Sun" on Greensleeves in 1986 and producing the album "Raggamuffin Year" for Junior Delgado, Pablo then struck a deal with Island Records to release some of his Rockers label singles and 12'' selections of the late 1980's including cuts from Delroy Wilson and Carlton Hones.

Whilst on the roster of Island Records Augustus Pablo began touring worldwide including the fantastic show in Tokyo, Japan which was released as a live album.

Pablo also began recording the album "Rockers Comes East" at Tuff Gong studios which showcased the popular sound of the late 80's digital style. The deal with Island Records came to an end before the albums completion and so it was issued once again on both the Message and Greensleeves labels.

  

By the 1990's Augustus Pablo's output began to slow down, the album "Blowing With The Wind" appeared in 1991 and productions for the likes of Dawn Penn and Yami Bolo also saw release.

Pablo continued to appear as a musician on other artists recordings throughout the 1990's but mostly spent his days overseeing the re-issue of his back catologue.

Pablo had suffered from a nerve disorder for much of his life and by the end of the 90's it seemed it had took it's toll and he sadly passed away on May 18th 1999.

Augustus Pablo not only leaves behind an incredible body of songs and own productions but also it's amazing at just how many recordings he was in some way involved with throughout the mid 1970's through late 1980's.

This compilation, "Augustus Pablo Meets The Upsetter At The Black Ark (1974 - 1978)", is exactly what it states on the cover. A collection of singles and b-sides recorded by Pablo at Lee "Scratch" Perry's famous studio between 1974 and 1978. It may not be the full album we would have loved to have seen but at least it's a lot more authentic than the similarly titled Rhino label set and others which aim to mis-lead.

The album kicks off with the early cuts recorded at the Black Ark which are predominantly instrumentals including "Cow Town Skank" and "Fort Augustus Rock".
There are also cuts of Perry's most famous riddims getting the Pablo treatment such as the "Fever", "Words" and "To Be A Lover" riddims, also takes on Junior Murvin's "Police And Theives" / "False Teaching" and Hugh Mundell's "Let's All Unite" riddims.

It also includes the powerful singles "Vibrate On", "Lama Lava", "Ethiopia" and "Unfinished Melody" all of which wouldn't have sounded out of place on Scratch's own "Super Ape" dub album.

We hope you enjoy!

Augustus Pablo Meets The Upsetter At The Black Ark (1974 - 1978)

Disc One:

1) Fort Augustus Rock
2) Cow Town Skank
3) Cow Town Skank (Version 2)
4) Our Man Flint (With Lloyd Young)
5) Curly Dub
6) Tales Of Pablo (Parts I and II)
7) Pablo's Mercy (Disco Mix)
8) Ethiopia
9) Ethiopia Dub
10) Dub Ethiopia
11) Pablo's Creation
12) Fat Girl Jean
13) Golden Seal
14) Hot And Cold Version
15) Islington Rock
16) Unity Dub
17) Levi Dub

Disc Two:

1) Vibrate On
2) Vibrator {aka Vibrate On Dub}
3) Babylon Thief Dub
4) Strong Drink
5) Strong Dub
6) Lover Dub
7) Pride Dub
8) Meditation Dub
9) Lama Lava
10) Silent Satta
11) Satta Dub
12) Upful Living
13) Memories Of The Ghetto
14) Memories Of The Ghetto Dub
15) Unfinished Dub (Part One)
16) Unfinished Dub (Part Two)
17) Unfinished Melody

Please be aware that all download links are currently unavailable as of January 2023

Be sure to seek out any of the albums mentioned in our post, they are wonderful and certainly worth a listen.

Let us know your thoughts on this project by leaving a comment below or email Sweet Rare Reggae Music

pipecockjackxonrrm@gmail.com  or find us on Facebook just search Pipecock Jackxon (Sweet Rare Reggae Music).