The Black Lion: The Very Best Of Jah Lloyd (Deluxe Edition)

A definitive collection of material from the legendary Reggae deejay Pat "Jah Lloyd" Francis {a.k.a Jah Lion, Tan Lloyd, Jah Ali, The Black Lion} spanning his entire career from the late 1960's to the 1980's.


Patrick Lloyd Francis was born in Point Hill, Saint Catherine Jamaica on the 29th August 1947, he grew up on his parents farmland in the rural area of the island, his Mother passed away when he was just 8 years old leaving him to work the land with his Father.
In his teens he left, as many young country boys did, for the Jamaican capital of Kingston and quickly settled into life in Trench Town.

Pat Francis' musical career began when he formed a vocal singing duo with his friend Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson know as The Mediators. The pair entered various local singing contests and talent shows and eventually began working with the young producer Rupie Edwards in the mid to late 1960's. The Mediators did very little in the way of recording or releasing records but being around the studio environment and working closely with Edwards the pair learned much about the Jamaican music scene.

The Mediators separated and Simpson would go on to become a member of the vocal group The Diamonds (later known as The Mighty Diamonds) whilst Francis began working as a record salesman for Rupie Edwards who introduced him to producer Lee Perry and studio engineer King Tubby.

By the early 1970's Francis was working as a record promoter and salesman for both Rupie Edwards and Lee Perry. Almost like serving an apprenticeship, he learned much about studio engineering and recording techniques and he also spent valuable time with King Tubby who was experimenting with Dub music at this time.

Francis began his early production career recording his friend Bunny Simpson's new group, The Diamonds, who released a couple of Pat Francis produced singles in the early 1970's.

Inspired by the emerging deejay scene fronted by the likes of Big Youth, U-Roy and Dillinger, Francis decided to take up the toasting style and returned to the studio as a vocalist, naming his new persona Jah Lloyd.
 
Most of Jah Lloyd's early recordings were made with producer Rupie Edwards and recorded at Randy's studio but eventually he began working more closely with King Tubby and studied his dub techniques.

Lee Perry also helped the aspiring deejay by providing him with riddims he had recorded including his early cut of the "To Be A Lover" riddim which Lloyd used on a number of different occasions including on the songs "Soldier Round The Corner" and "Judge Natty".

Jah Lloyd then set up his own label for his releases named 'Teem' and he continued to release his self-produced material whilst maintaining links with other producers.

The album "Soldier Round The Corner" is a compilation of the material recorded during this period and rounded up the best of his singles as well as those cut with Edwards, Perry and King Tubby and so production credits are shared.

"Soldier Round The Corner" contained some of Lloyd's big sellers of the time including "Ganja Crop", "Sunshine Girl", "Green Bay Massacre" and "No Tribal War".

Notable musicians who worked on the these sessions include Carley Barrett, Theo Beckford, "Sticky" Thompson and the drumming duo of Bingy Bunny and Bongo Herman.

Releases of the album appeared on his own Teem label as well as on the DIP label possible via connection with Lee Perry.

Jah Lloyd then released his first dub album entitled "Herbs Of Dub" recorded and mixed with King Tubby and using the same group of musicians featured on his previous recordings.

The album is a great piece of early 70's dub containing re-workings of riddims cut at Randy's and the Black Ark studios produced by Jah Lloyd with Tubby's involvement.

Once again the album received releases on both Lloyd's own Teem label and wider distribution via the DIP label. The album was eventually re-issued in the early 1990's, re-titled "Herb Dub" with new artwork, on Jah Lloyd's 'His Majesty' label and an album entitled "A Double Helping Of Jah Lloyd And King Tubby" combined both "Herbs Of Dub" and "Soldier Round The Corner".

Jah Lloyd continued to release singles as a deejay artist throughout the mid-70's including "Piece A Banana", "Black Snowfall" and "Natty Come Yah", his work as an independent producer also continued and he maintained close ties with The Diamonds and Bongo Herman.

A compilation of the singles from this period appeared in 1998, entitled "Final Judgement" released on the 'His Majesty/Teem' label, as part of Jah Lloyd's re-issue series.

By 1976 producer Lee "Scratch" Perry has secured a worldwide distribution deal with major label Island records and decided that he wanted to cut a deejay album using some of his top riddims of the time for a quick release. It's said that at first Perry approached Jah Whoosh, another young deejay whose talents were gracing radio airwaves across Kingston, but Whoosh declined after being unimpressed by the riddims Perry had offered and so Perry asked his former errand-boy turned deejay/producer Jah Lloyd to take up the project.

Jah Lloyd and Lee Perry had a close working relationship already and Lloyd knew Perry's Black Ark studio well from productions and recordings he cut there in the years prior.

Despite being well-known on the deejay scene as Jah Lloyd by this point Lee Perry had decided to re-name him Jah Lion for this album and the pair set to work.

The majority of the riddims had already been recorded, for songs such as "Words" by The Gatherers, "Fever" by Susan Cadogan, "Rejoicing Skank" by The Silvertones and Perry's own "Bathroom Skank" and so the album came together rather quickly as Jah Lion just had to record his vocals and Perry would add extra percussion and effects along the way.

The name of the album of course came from the infamous variety of herb from the south American country which had grown in popularity across the Caribbean during the 1970's.
The album contains a mix of heavy Rastafari themed messages and humorous side tracks giving it a great balance without being too "dread" for the Island records international record buyers.
It stands as one of the all time great deejay albums alongside Big Youth's "Dreadlocks Dread" and Dillinger's "CB200" proving that deejay artists could indeed carry a full length record.

"Colombia Colly" sold well for Island records, boosted by singles released from the album including "Wisdom" which was picked up for the soundtrack to the marvellous Jamaican film "Countryman".
Despite this however Island records declined any follow-up albums by Jah Lion and so, reverting back to Jah Lloyd, he began working with producer "Prince" Tony Robinson who had a distribution deal with another major international label, Virgin Records, via his 'State Line' imprint.

After cutting a few singles with Robinson around 1977 Virgin records signed up Jah Lloyd to their Front Line side label on a two album deal.

The first album released was "The Humble One" in 1978, a quality production recorded at Channel One which contained the singles "Cocaine", "Special Request" and "Dis Ya Sound".

Jah Lloyd's second Front Line album release "Black Moses" was released in 1979 and again was a top quality production that included backing from the dynamic duo of Sly And Robbie and was mixed by the King Tubby protoge Prince Jammy. It includes killer cuts such as "Dispencer", "Reggae Feeling" and "Hold Them Natty Dread".

In late 1979 Jah Lloyd set up a new label for his productions, 'His Majesty', and the first album release came as "Reggae Stick". It was yet another fine album by Jah Lloyd who had started to incorporate the emerging sing-jay style vocal into his sound and backing was provided by the Roots Radics.

The album opens with the funky title track and includes great cuts such as "Girl Like You", "Everything Crash" and "Flood Victim" which talks about the destruction brought on by the massive flooding of 1979 after heavy rainfall in western Jamaica, which took many lives and caused hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages.

"Reggae Stick" was re-released in 2009 on Roy Cousins' 'Tamoki Wambesi' label as "Fiend Victim" with some songs mis-titled and appearing in alternative order. "Flood Victim" is renamed "Natty Come Over", "Forgive Them Jah" is down as "Wipe The Weeping Eye", "Dance Cork" is mis-titled "No Sky Larking" and "Everything Crash" is credited as "Consumer Goods Married". The title of the album "Fiend Victim" is given to the song "Cultural Education".

In 1980 Jah Lloyd began to concentrate once again on his production work and returned with a dub album entitled "Dread Lion Dub". It was yet another high quality release put out on Lloyd's 'His Majesty' label and showed that Lloyd was a skilled producer in his own right.

 Lloyd returned on vocals for his next album, "In Action With The Revolutionary Band", released towards the end of 1980. Lloyd had embraced the sing-jay style by this point and at times it sounds like a Clint Eastwood/General Saint album. The Revolutionary's provide their powerful backing sound and overall the album is very much up to date in terms of reggae in the early 1980's. "In Action" was picked up by the Vista Sounds label in 1983 who gave the album a well deserved proper release.

Throughout the remainder of the 1980's Jah Lloyd focused on productions with only a few vocal releases appearing sporadically as singles during the decade including a duet with Bobby Melody on "Anger And Strife".

By the 1990's Jah Lloyd, via his own 'His Majesty/Teem' labels, had begun a focussed re-issue of his back catalogue. "Soldier Round The Corner", "Herb Dub", "The Humble One", "Black Moses" and "Dread Lion Dub" were once again made available and new compilations appeared including "Final Judgement", which rounded up Lloyd's mid-70's productions and includes appearances from The Diamonds and Bongo Herman.

Another compilation was a shared, half and half, album featuring fellow deejay Dennis Alcapone called "The Good Old Days Of The 70's" which showcased some of Lloyd's late 70's material.

Pat "Jah Lloyd" Francis died on 5th June 1999, he had suffered for a while with bronchial asthma and obstructive airways syndrome which was the official cause of death.

Although he may not be as well known as other deejay's such as Big Youth, U-Roy or Dillinger, Lloyd's musical legacy and the quality of the albums, singles and productions he left behind will forever be treasured.

Rest In Peace. Pat "Jah Lloyd" Francis. The Black Lion.

The Black Lion: The Very Best Of Jah Lloyd (Deluxe Edition)

Disc One:

1) Know Yourself Blackman
2) High Society
3) This Ya Corner
4) Psalms One
5) Chapter Two
6) London Dub I
7) Ganja Crop
8) Sunshine Girl
9) Knight Of The Round Table
10) Green Bay Massacre
11) Zion Dub
12) Psalms Two
13) Soldier Round The Corner
14) Channel One
15) No Tribal War
16) Judge Natty
17) Zion Rock
18) Herbs Of Dub
19) Black Love
20) Piece A Banana
21) African Drums (With Bongo Herman)
22) Black Snowfall
23) Bongo Natty
24) Natty Come Yah
25) Eat Good Food

Disc Two

1) Doctor Natty
2) It A Go Dread
3) I And I Search For Survival
4) Natty Dread
5) The Lama (aka The Spiritual Whip)
6) Wisdom
7) Dread Ina Jamdung
8) Hay Fever
9) Flashing Whip
10) Colombia Colly
11) Fat Man
12) Bad Luck Natty
13) Black Lion
14) Little Sally Dater
15) Sata
16) Soldier And Police War
17) No Justice
18) Leggo
19) White Belly Rat
20) Mr. President (With The Heptones)
21) Crying Over You (With The Heptones)
22) Zion Rock
23) Clocktower Station

Disc Three

1) World Class
2) Baby Be True
3) Tom Shooter
4) Killer Flour
5) Stepping Out A Babylon
6) Saint Ann Collie
7) Special Request
8) The Humble One
9) Children Of Men
10) Time Of Weeping
11) Cocaine
12) Book Of Truth
13) Jah Lion
14) Upful Rastaman
15) Dis Ya Sound
16) Green Bay Incident
17) Regae Feeling
18) Black Moses
19) Dispencer
20) I.M.F
21) Rudy Come Back
22) Hold Them Natty Dread
23) Sound Of Psalms
24) Sweat And Tears
25) Punk Reggae

Disc Four

1) Reggae Stick
2) Forgive Them Jah
3) Girl Like You
4) Know Your Culture
5) Leggo Natty Hand
6) Cultural Education
7) Flood Victim
8) Dance Cork
9) Everything Crash
10) King Of Jamdown
11) Am Too Shy
12) Farmer In The Den
13) Life Story
14) Master Degree
15) Lots Of Loving
16) Action
17) Reagan
18) Fight Zero Wondelem
19) When I Went Away
20) Jah Say
21) Give Thanks
22) Everyone Happy
23) Gold Mine
24) Poor Little Fellow
25) No Surrendering
26) Anger And Strife (With Bobby Melody)
27) Defend Jah Love

The Black Lion (Deluxe Edition)   -  

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