Ram Goat Liver: The Very Best Of Pluto Shervington

Another amazing compilation of work from yet another true legend of Caribbean music. Mr Shervington.

Ram Goat Liver: The Very Best Of Pluto Shervington showcases some of his classic songs alongside album cuts, b-sides and rare singles.

Pluto was born Leighton Shervington in Kingston, Jamaica on the 13th August 1950.

His musical career began in the late 1960's through early 1970's as a member of the psychedelic reggae group Tomorrow's Children. The group included John Jones, Ken Lazarus and Richard Daley, the latter would later become the bassist of massive international reggae group Third World.

Tomorrow's Children were reasonably popular in Jamaica, releasing a number of fine singles, predominantly covers of American R'n'B and Psychedelic numbers including Edwin Starr's "War" and Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime". One of the groups most popular covers was the Nancy Sinatra favourite "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" which was released as a single in the late 1960's.

The groups debut album was released in 1970 and was entitled "The Going's Great With Tomorrow's Children", it included covers of "It's All In The Game", "You Keep Me Hanging On" and "Wild World".

It also included Pluto's self-penned track "Bend Down", which he would later re-record as a solo artist. Their second album "The Thoroughbred Sound" included the popular single "Merci Cherie" of 1971.

Their final album entitled "Today" included covers of "Dock Of The Bay" and "Lady Madonna", released in 1972.

Tomorrow's Children eventually disbanded around 1973 and Pluto joined the short-lived group The Escorts who released the single "Sixpence".

Inspired by his good friend Ernie Smith, who had scored a fairly decent hit with "Duppy Or Gunman" which was sung in heavy patois, Pluto decided to embark on a solo career.

Pluto joined up with producer Paul Khouri, the son of Ken Khouri (who had been a pioneer on the Jamaican music scene). Paul had been working with legendary guitarist Ernest Ranglin as well as the groups The Gaylettes and Now Generation.

Pluto's early singles didn't prove remarkably successful, such as "Mocking Bird Song" and "Message To The People" but that was all to change when he released "Ram Goat Liver" in 1974. The song is a comical story about a bus hitting a goat and the passengers deciding to cook up various dishes with it's remains.

Pluto sings in heavy patois throughout, with almost a calypso style to his vocals and the song today remains one of the classic reggae singles of the early 70's.

Other singles followed including "Letter From Miami" and "Never Ending Song Of Love" before the release of his debut album "Ramgoat" released in 1974 on the Wildflower label.

The album included some nicely chosen covers including "Jambalaya", "Rock The Boat", "Kung Fu Fighting" and two Bob Marley cuts, "Knotty Dread" and "I Shot The Sheriff".

Later that same year Pluto scored big again with another cracking single, "Dat", the story of a down-on-his-luck Rasta who can only afford to buy pork despite it being against his religous views.
The song has also been viewed as having a double meaning whereby the butcher in the story is actually selling marijuana of various strengths.

The song was a massive hit in Jamaica and it quickly became a cross-over smash, breaking into the UK singles chart and climbing as high as number 6.

The UK based Trojan Records decided to capitalise on the success by re-issuing "Ram Goat Liver" which also entered the chart.

Back in Jamaica Pluto continued to release some excellent singles including "I Man Bitter" and the superb "Your Honour", another comical story of a man pleading with a judge over a case of mis-identity.

Another song, "Boogie Bump", appeared on the compilation album "Reggae Disco Hits" released on the Cactus label in 1975.

Pluto also began working in various other roles behind the microphone, he was an accomplished guitar and keyboard player but also worked as a studio engineer and songwriter.

In 1974 he recieved an engineer credit on Little Roy's classic LP "Tafari Earth Uprising", he also helped Paul Davidson on his massive hit single "Midnight Rider" (a cover of the Allman Brothers song), produced the single "Hooray Festival" for Roman Stewart and wrote "Let Go" for Ken Boothe.

A self-titled second album appeared in Jamaica in 1975, again on the Wildflower label and produced by Paul Khouri.

"Pluto" contained some great songs such as "Your Kiss Is Sweet", "Ride 'em Cowboy", "Laughter In The Rain" and "Doctor's Orders".

The UK version was released on Opal Records in early 1976, although still entitled "Pluto" the tracklisting was essentially a mix of tracks from "Ramgoat" and the Jamaican edition of "Pluto".

In 1976 more excellent singles appeared including "I Man Born Ya", another massive hit in Jamaica as well as the cuts "Head Above The Water", "What Da ...?", "Reggae Tonight" and "Dancing Mood".

Shortly after Pluto released his third Jamaican album entitled "Greatest Reggae Hits", once again on the Wildflower label with Paul Khouri on production.

The album has Pluto taking on some of the biggest hits from recent times including The Heptones' "Book Of Rules", Ken Boothe's "Everything I Own", Dennis Brown's "Cassandra" and George Faith's "Have Some Mercy".

The biggest hits however continued to appear as singles including the mega-hit "Dis Ya Hard Time (Can't Last)", "Screwface (Can't Frighten Blindman)" and the calypso flavoured "Gimme" / "We Kind Of Music" which appeared between 1976 and 1979.

In 1981 Wildflower released a compilation album of instrumentals entitled "Song Of The Sea" which credits Pluto for his guitar contributions.

By the early 1980's however Pluto decided to emigrate, moving to Miami, Florida, USA. This didn't seem to stop his musical ambitions though and he continued to perform and record new material.

In 1981 Pluto released the album "Ire Mass Rockers Carnival" on the Top Ranking International label, the album contained six new songs (four of which are 8 minutes or more long and feature an uncredited Toaster).

Also in 1981 the UK based KR label released "Your Honour" as a single in Europe, it had previously been unreleased overseas with only exported Jamaican 7 inches reaching the UK.

The song did very well reaching number 19 and prompting the BBC to book Pluto for an appearance on Top Of The Pops.

 

The single was also notable for it's b-side entitled "No Honour Among Tiefs" which instead of being the usual dub version was actually an instrumental take on Bob Marley And The Wailers' "Is This Love".

KR Records capitalised on the success of "Your Honour" in the UK by releasing the album "Pluto Again" in 1982.

The album is a collection of Pluto's biggest singles from 1974 to 1976, some of which had not recieved a UK release. The album also spread through the rest of Europe via the Edigsa label.

Back over in Florida at this time Pluto had recorded the album "Reggae Fever" for the Buck Ram label, the album is a mix of reggae, calypso and soca featuring such songs as "Obeah", "Soca Baby", "Rhumbo Fever" and "Lorraine".

In 1983 Pluto provided backing vocals on Bunny Maloney's classic album "On My Mind" released on the Moondisc label. A fantastic record, it's well worth tracking down a copy if you haven't already.

Pluto's next appearance on record wasn't until 1987 when he worked as a session musician (Guitar / Piano) on Eddie Lovette's album "A True Experience".

Throughout the 1990's Pluto continued to perform live in and around Miami, he also made periodic trips back to Jamaica and the surrounding Caribbean islands.

A number of greatest hits compilations were released on various labels, one of the finest being "Dat: The Best Of Pluto Shervington" on Trojan Records in the early 2000's.

In 2007 Pluto made a wonderful appearance at the St. Kitts Music Festival, headlining alongside contemporaries of modern reggae including Sean Paul and Steel Pulse.

Then in 2009 Pluto finally returned to the recording studio to put together his fantastic and appropriately named album "Second Wind", released on his own Pluto Shervington Music label.

A wonderful return to form featuring such musicians as Robbie Lyn, Moses Davidson, Nambo Robinson and Dean Fraser. It also features collaborations with calypso favourite Byron Lee, dancehall MC Tanto Metro and long-time friend Ernie Smith.

A truely wonderful artist Pluto Shervington continues to perform and record, he has dabbled in international success and has a back catalogue of material that any reggae or calpyso artist would be proud of.

This compilation showcases Pluto's classic hit singles alongside album cuts and rarities, from his early solo days of 1974 right up to his recent return to form in 2009.

Enjoy!

Ram Goat Liver: The Very Best Of Pluto Shervington

Disc One:


1) Ram Goat Liver
2) Sixpence
3) Letter From Miami
4) Rock The Boat
5) Jambalaya
6) I Shot The Sheriff
7) Never Ending Song Of Love
8) Here And Now
9) Kung Fu Fighting
10) Knotty Dread
11) Dat
12) Your Kiss Is Sweet
13) Doctor's Orders
14) Ride 'Em Cowboy
15) Your Honour
16) Rockin' Soul
17) Laughter In The Rain
18) Ms. Grace
19) I Man Bitter
20) Bend Down
21) Boogie Bump
22) Dancing Mood
23) I Man Born Ya
24) Head Above The Water
25) What Da ...?
26) Reggae Tonight

Disc Two:

1) Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
2) The Book Of Rules
3) No Joshua No
4) I Man Bitter (Album Version)
5) Cassandra
6) My Heart Don't Know When To Stop Breaking
7) Some Guys Have All The Luck
8) Everything I Own
9) Have Some Mercy
10) Mother Liza
11) Dis Ya Hard Time (Can't Last)
12) Screwface (Can't Frighten Blindman)
13) We Kind Of Music
14) Gimme
15) Winston Spree
16) Rass Mass
17) Charlene
18) Ethel
19) Making Love
20) Take You Time
21) Vampire Year
22) Sending Flowers
23) That's The Kind Of People We Are
24) Jamdown We Deh (With Ernie Smith)
25) Ivan (With Byron Lee and Tanto Metro)
26) Long-Blackwood

Bonus Versions:

1) Ram Goat Liver (Version)
2) Dat (Version)
3) I Man Bitter (Version)

Ram Goat Liver:  

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