George Faith - To Be A Lover (Deluxe Edition)

George Faith - To Be A Lover (Deluxe Edition). The Original 1977 Island Records 'Black Swan' label first edition with bonus Black Ark recorded material from 1977/1978.

Born Earl George Lawrence, in the small, central Kingston, fishing village of Rae Town in 1946, Faith's vocals were spotted early when he was a member of his local school choir.

He began recording in the late 1960's for producer Clancy Eccles, using the name Earl George and eventually George Earl and his first single was entitled "See Me".

In the early 1970's he began working with producer Glen Lee, who worked a few doors down from producer Lee Perry's Upsetter Shop on Charles Street and started recording cover versions of American Soul and Pop songs.

By the mid-seventies George Earl began recording for producers Lloyd Campbell and Phil Pratt but his biggest hit came with producer Lee Perry with whom he recorded an early version of "To Be A Lover".

It was a very popular riddim and Perry cut many different vocals and DJ's over it and even gave copies of the rhythm to other producers including Bunny Lee, Tony Robinson and King Tubby.

Around 1975/1976 George Earl began recording at Lee Perry's Black Ark studio, beginning the process of what would become his first full album release.

Earl had been recording material at the studio for over eight months prompting Perry to tell Earl he had a lot of faith in this album and thus changing his name to George Faith.

Perry had often encouraged his singers to change their stage names, back in 1975 he told eventual Third World singer Bunny "Rugs" Clarke to become Bunny Scott as this would help sell the album in Scotland!
 

The first George Faith single, released on Island Records new 'Black Swan' label imprint, was an updated version of "To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy)". This version proved even more popular than the first, it was slower, deeper and heavier with horns and harmonies. The Jamaican issue of the single was an epic 12 minute mix with Perry's added toast towards the end whilst the UK release was shorter but strangely had out of sync parts of a previous Dillinger toast noticeably in the mix due to a tape error.

The second single release was a cover of The O'Jays "I've Got The Groove" accompanied by the b-side "Diana", a dub heavy take of the Paul Anka penned tune. A third single also appeared, a cover of Wilson Picketts "Midnight Hour" which also incorporates Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya" in a kind of medley. The b-side to this third single was another R'n'B standard, the Tyrone Davis classic "Turn Back The Hands Of Time".

All the singles and b-sides along with Faith's other Black Ark recordings, "Opportunity" (a George Faith original), "There's A Train" (a cover of The Temptations' "All The Love I've Got") and "So Fine" (a Johnny Otis song) were finally gathered together and were given a Jamaican only release entitled "Super Eight".

The album boasts backing vocals from The Meditations and The Diamonds, piano by Keith Sterling, Winston Wright on the organ, Ernest Ranglin and Earl 'Chinna' Smith on guitars, Black Ark's resident bassist Boris Gardiner, drums courtesy of Sly Dunbar and Mikey Richards and horns from the legendary trio of Headley Bennett, Glen Da Costa and David Madden.

Meanwhile Island Records would release the album in the UK and America under the title "To Be A Lover", after the popularity of the first single, on it's subsidiary 'Black Swan' label.

The track order was different to the JA release and the song "There's A Train" had been amended to "All The Love I've Got" but other than that it was the same album.

A further fourth single was released, "Opportunity", in early 1978 to help promote the album which sold well and the possibility of a UK and European tour, along with the full Black Ark session players and singers including Junior Murvin, Keith Rowe, The Congos and Full Experience, was being planned.

Unfortunately the "Upsetter Revue Tour" never came about due to Perry's increasingly erratic behaviour and unpredictability at this time.

Nevertheless, Island Records were impressed with George Faith's debut album and instructed him and Perry to return to the studio to work on a follow up.

They began recording new songs by mid-1978 and had enough for a full album according to Faith. The material had moved from soul covers to more conscious, roots reggae which had become the predominant theme at the Black Ark studio by this point.

It was around this time however that Island records had turned down a number of Perry's recordings including albums by The Congos, Candy McKenzie and the eclectic "Return Of The Super Ape" album.

Although two singles from the sessions appeared, "Working On The Guideline", which was due to be the title track and "Don't Be Afraid", both complete with dub versions, they were not released by Island. The rest of the album sadly remains unreleased and it's not clear if Island have the album in their vaults or not.

George Faith, disappointed with the album being shelved, took the material over to Phil Pratt with whom he recorded the album "One And Only" which contained new versions of songs he created with Perry including "Working On The Guideline" and "Sam Stone".

He later went on to record albums with producers Alvin Ranglin and Bunny Lee before moving to Canada in the early 1980's. He returned to Jamaica in 1986, recording the "Sings For Lover's Only" album and making sporadic recordings into the 1990's. Earl died in 2003 after battling cancer.

In recent times Island records finally re-issued the album in it's original Jamaican form of "Super Eight" on CD and vinyl in 2012. The album never before given a re-mastered issue since it's original pressing in the late 70's. 

The alternative "To Be A Lover" version of the album was given a very brief, small quantity CD release on the Hip-O label in the U.S but was not re-mastered sound-wise and label information was minimal.

This Deluxe Edition contains the original Island album released on the 'Black Swan' label in 1977 and adds additional Black Ark sessions including the 12" Single Mix of  "To Be A Lover" and it's Dub Mix and also the second album singles "Guide Line" and "Don't Be Afraid" with the dub mixes.

Enjoy!  : )


Tracklisting:

Disc One - George Faith - To Be A Lover (Original "Black Swan" Album - 1977)


1) Midnight Hour / Ya Ya
2) To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy)
3) Opportunity
4) So Fine
5) I've Got The Groove
6) Diana
7) All The Love I've Got
8) Turn Back The Hands Of Time

Disc Two - Bonus Black Ark Material 1977 - 1978

1) To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy) (12" Disco Mix)
2) To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy) (12" Dub Mix)
3) I've Got The Groove (Dub)
4) Guide Line
5) Guide Line (Dub)
6) Don't Be Afraid
7) Conscious Guide
8) Conscious Guide (Slight Return)
9) To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy) (12'' Single Mix)

George Faith - To Be A Lover (Deluxe Edition)

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Lloyd Charmers & The Hippy Boys - House In Session

Another hard to find gem of an album from 1970, Lloyd Charmers & The Hippy Boys - House In Session.

Released on the 'Pama' Label, this album has never received a re-issue or re-release since!

The late Lloyd Charmers, born Lloyd Tyrell in Kingston 1938, started in the Jamaican music industry at the very beginning. During the late 50's he teamed with vocalist Roy Willis and the duo went by the name of The Charmers and they cut a number of Jamaican R'n'B singles before splitting in the early 60's just as Ska and Rocksteady was fast becoming the music of the day.

Lloyd then joined up with Slim Smith and Jimmy Riley to form The Uniques and went on to work with producer Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd cutting singles for the Studio One label including his early hit "Jeannie Girl". He also very briefly joined the supergroup The Messengers with Ken Boothe, B.B Seaton and Busty Brown.

Lloyd was enjoying a high profile between 1962 and 1967, it was during this time that, under the guidance of Alton Ellis, he began to learn the piano, read music and write songs.

In 1966 Lloyd began working with the instrumental group The Hippy Boys, made up of guitarist Alva "Reggie" Lewis and the Barrett brothers, Carlton (Drums) and Aston (Bass).

The group began working with producer Bunny 'Striker' Lee who briefly renamed them The Bunny Lee All-Stars and together they recorded a number of hit singles with singers including John Holt, Ken Parker, Max Romeo and Pat Kelly.

Lloyd and the Hippy Boys also found time to record their own tunes during this period and released them on the albums "Reggae Charm", "Reggae Is Tight" and this very offering "House In Session".
All of which became harder and harder to find as time passed and apart from the compilation "Psychedelic Reggae" released in 1998, the full albums have yet to be given a re-release.


The band quickly became highly sought after by the islands other producers including Sonia Pottinger, Harry Johnson and Lloyd Daley but the group chose to work next with Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Perry of course renamed them The Upsetters and the producer and the group went on to record some of Perry's finest creations of the late 60's and early 70's.

Lloyd Charmers would go on to create his own label, after watching and learning from the producers he had worked with, called 'Splash' and scored massive hits with Ken Boothe during the early to mid seventies including the smash "Everything I Own".

He also worked with another group during this period, The Now Generation, who were also very popular and he maintained a high profile throughout the 70's.

In 1979 Lloyd relocated to the UK and enjoyed some success during the early 80's, choosing to aim at the Lover's Rock market which had become very popular in England and avoiding the more Roots Rockers orientated Jamaican scene of the time.

Lloyd then maintained a reletively low profile throughout the 90's and remained a permanent resident of London, England until his death on the 27th December 2012, suffering a fatal heart attack whilst driving.

His legacy as one of Jamaica's all time greats is safe however, for as long as his music lives on.

Enjoy!  : )

Tracklisting:

1) Soul At Large
2) Soul Of England
3) Sweet Sweet
4) Confidential
5) House In Session
6) Cooyah!
7) Shang Hai
8) Everybody Needs Love
9) African Zulu
10) Stronger
11) Ling Tong Ting
12) Yes Sah

Lloyd Charmers & The Hippy Boys - House In Session  - 

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Johnny Too Bad: The Very Best Of The Slickers

This is a fantastic collection of The Slickers singles and b-sides from the early sixties through to the early eighties and includes all of the groups most popular cuts and some truely obscure gems gathered together for the first time on this incredible release.

The Slickers are one of Jamaica's most under-rated vocal groups, best known for their massive hit "Johnny Too Bad" which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie "The Harder They Come" starring Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff.  Despite the success of the song, for many, it's hard to name another of the groups singles.

This could be down to the fact that just who The Slickers were is surrounded by mystery, speculation and rumour.

In the very early days of Jamaican musical history, when the island danced to the sounds of blues and R'n'B that streamed down from the US, most of the recordings made in Jamaica were Blue Beat, the Jamaican equivalent to American R'n'B and it was during this period that singles appeared bearing a group named The City Slickers. For instance The Jiving Juniors & The City Slickers released some singles in the very early 60's and then a few more appeared crediting Theo Beckford & The City Slickers. Theo Beckford would later be a member of The Slickers when they would record "Johnny Too Bad" which is why this early connection to the name is relevant. Although it seems The City Slickers were a group of instrumentalists at this point and not a vocal group.

Confusing? Right?

As the R'n'B style changed in Jamaica and the new style of Ska came into being more singles appeared this time crediting The Slickers in a number of variations including Johnny Melody & The Slickers, Tyrone & The Slickers, Johnny Slicker and again The City Slickers. But just who made up these changing line-ups remains open to debate.

Then, as Ska slowed to Rocksteady and then eventually became Reggae, by the mid-sixties The Slickers output of singles increased and most would be credited solely to The Slickers.

An early hit came in the form of "Nana" and then a number of singles appeared including "Run Fattie", "Dip Dip", "Say You" and "Man Beware" amongst others.

One thing that was noticeable at this point was that some of the same songwriters credited on The Slickers releases were also the songwriters for material by the more established group The Pioneers.

The Pioneers were formed in 1962 by brothers Derek and Sydney Crooks and were joined by Winston Hewitt to make a trio. The group recorded at Treasure Isle and released the single "Na Na" in the mid-sixties along with a few other cuts that were popular in Jamaica.

In 1966 Hewitt left the group and emigrated to Canada, he was replaced by former Heptone Glen Adams for a short time before the group split around 1967.

It seems that during the periods that The Pioneers were inactive, the Crooks brothers along with Theo Beckford would record as The Slickers, occasionally drafting in alternative members including Winston Bailey and George Agard.

Throughout the mid to late 60's singles continued to appear by both The Slickers and The Pioneers.

In 1967 Sydney Crooks began working at Joe Gibbs studio where he met Jackie Robinson whom he drafted in as a member of a new Pioneers line-up which also included George Agard (half brother of Desmond Dekker). The new Pioneers recorded a number of singles at the studio.

At this time legendary producer Lee Perry was also working at the studio and it was he who wrote the song "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" which became a massive hit in 1969.

After Lee Perry left Joe Gibbs' stable the group recorded "Pan Yu Machete" which was an attack on Perry.

While the Pioneers were recording as a trio (Sydney Crooks/George Agard/Jackie Robinson) it seems Derek Crooks, Winston Bailey and Theo Beckford continued as The Slickers, releasing a number of singles into the late 60's. It's also said that Delroy Wilson and Lloyd Robinson (Jackie's brother) were occasional members of the group at this point and Roy Hylton Beckford is also credited, although this maybe a mis-credited Theo.

Essentially The Slickers and The Pioneers are one and the same, albeit with minor line-up changes, switching and swapping of members, particularly during the mid to late 60's, but they are two separate recording groups.

This is made clear in 1970 when The Pioneers scored big with their massive chart hit "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" and the group relocated to the UK whilst at the same time The Slickers charted with "Johnny Too Bad" back in Jamaica.

The Slickers continued to release singles throughout the early 70's including an updated version of "Good Nanny", "Red Gun Court" and their own version of The Pioneers' "Long Shot Kick The Bucket".

Although the material The Slickers released in the early 70's was strong it never quite reached the heights of "Johnny Too Bad" which remained the groups key chart hit.

In 1976 The Slickers released their first full album entitled "Many Rivers To Cross" on the Klik label. The backing band is credited as The Cimarons and producer Sydney Crooks.

The album is made up of cover versions including Jimmy Cliff's title track, two Bob Marley cuts (Get Up Stand Up/I Shot The Sheriff) and Paul Simon's "Mother And Child Reunion".

An interesting side note is that the album is credited as having been recorded in Japan. In 1975 The Pioneers were the first reggae band to tour that country before splitting again in 1976 just as this album was recorded. It's therefore assumed that The Pioneers members Sydney Crooks and George Agard returned to The Slickers line-up for this project.

Meanwhile, back in Jamaica, The Slickers continued to issue singles between 1976 and 1977 including "Right On Time", "Zion Land" and "Must Surrender" which showed the group had moved into the Roots Rockers sound of the late 70's.

Then in 1978 The Slickers recorded their second album, 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. The songs are originals and includes an update of their earlier hit "Johnny Too Bad".

Vocals are credited to 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 and was recently re-issued on the Makasound label.

A few more singles by The Slickers appeared in the very early 80's including the song "St. Jago De La Vega" produced by Barry Biggs and "The Time Has Come" before it seems the group finally dis-banded and went their separate ways.

The trio of Sydney Crooks, George Agard and Jackie Robinson continued as The Pioneers throughout the late 1970's.  In the early 1980's The Pioneers reformed to collaborate with UK 2-Tone artists including members of UB40, The Beat, Madness, The Specials and General Public on an update of their earlier single "Starvation" for an African charity organization.

As of 1999 The Pioneers continue to tour throughout the world in places such as Brazil and South America, the UK, US and across Europe.

The Slickers may never have reached the acclaim and recognition of their close counterparts The Pioneers but this collection shows they were certainly more than just a one hit wonder.

Enjoy!  : )

Tracklisting:

Disc One:

1) Georgie & The Old Shoe {Theo Beckford & The City Slickers}
2) That's Me {Theo Beckford & The City Slickers}
3) I Want To Take A Chance
4) Man Is Going To Leave Earth (aka Man Is Going To Eat Man)
5) Na Na {Johnny Melody & The Slickers}
6) Run Fattie
7) You Done Me Wrong {Tyrone & The Slickers}
8) Dip Dip
9) Say You
10) Gold On Your Dress
11) Mother Matty
12) Frying Pan (aka What A Botheration)
13) Wala Wala
14) Too Much
15) Man Beware
16) Auntie Lulu
17) Fussing And Fighting
18) Go Back Home
19) Hoola Bulla
20) The Man I Should Be
21) Johnny Too Bad
22) Johnny Too Bad (Version)
23) You Can't Win
24) Red Gun Court
25) Good Nanny
26) Bamboo Bed
27) Bounce Me Johnny
28) Bounce Me Johnny (Version)
29) Coolie Gal
30) I A Dread

Disc Two:

1) Dread Selassie
2) Dread Selassie (Version)
3) Nine Millie
4) Nine Millie (Dub)
5) Dance Crashers
6) Long Shot Kick The Bucket
7) Many Rivers To Cross
8) Mother And Child Reunion
9) Hang On Sloopy
10) Jah Throne
11) Right On Time {Luddy Pioneer And Joe Slicker}
12) Right On Time (Dub) {Luddy Pioneer And Joe Slicker}
13) Caught You Red-Handed {Ranking Charlie And The Slickers}
14) Zion Land
15) Well Dread
16) Must Surrender
17) Breakthrough
18) Black And White
19) Run Come
20) St. Jago De La Vega
21) St. Jago De La Vega (Dub)
22) The Time Has Come
23) The Time Has Come (Dub)

Johnny Too Bad: The Very Best Of The Slickers  - 

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Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus - Love Thy Neighbour (Original Full Length Album) (1979)

A great album on offer here Reggae fans and one of the last full albums recorded at Lee "Scratch" Perry's legendary Black Ark studio. Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus and their brilliant album "Love Thy Neighbour" in all it's full length re-mastered glory.

Originally released on the Jah Live label in 1979 and then again in the USA on the Live & Learn label in 1983 only 7 tracks appeared. The remaining Black Ark sessions then featured on the groups 1981 album "Disarmament".

Finally the full 10 song album is here for your enjoyment with a couple of bonus Black Ark cuts : )

Ras Michael, real name Michael George Henry, was born in St. Mary, Jamaica in 1943 and grew up in a Rastafarian community. In his teens he moved to the Waterhouse district of Kingston where he would join a group of Rastafarian bredren in the compound of elder Nyahbinghi drummer Solomon Wolfe.

 
Here he learned the music and drumming of the Nyahbinghi, a form of Rastafarian music in which hand drumming and chanting were part of the religious meditation experience and groups would gather for days on end, reasoning (debating) on a degree of philosophical subjects.

In the mid-60's Michael created the Zion Disc label with the intention of showcasing and distributing Rasta inspired music, a practice that was uncommon at this period of time as most labels refused to promote Rastafarian music.

 
Michael also got a job at the famed, Coxsone Dodd run, Studio One as a hand drummer and worked on a variety of sessions using the money earned to fund the first ever Rastafarian radio program in Jamaica entitled "The Lion Of Judah Time" on JBC in 1967.

Although Michael had been recording since the mid-60's the first recordings crediting the Sons Of Negus didn't start to appear until the early 70's. The group was made up of various Nyahbinghi drummers and chanters including Sydney Wolfe (Solomon's son), I-Marts (aka Brother Martin) and Brother Jack.

 
They would mix the natural drumming of Nyahbinghi with the electric sounds of reggae to great effect and released a number of fine albums throughout the early to mid-70's occasionally under the alternative group name of Dadawah.

Ras Michael had known Lee Perry from his early days in the Reggae industry and towards the end of the 70's had begun to frequent Perry's studio in Washington Gardens, the Black Ark, with a number of other Nyahbinghi members, predominantly during the time The Congos were recording their glorious "Heart Of The Congos" album in 1977.

 
The group also provided some hand drumming on Junior Murvin's album sessions and were also present during Bob Marley's recordings at the studio in 1978.

It was at this point, late 1978, that Lee Perry agreed to produce an album by the group, a Black Ark Nyahbinghi hybrid that would transcend genres and help to push the Rastafarian message.

 
The group recorded 10 tracks at the studio with Lee Perry on production providing massive quantities of echo, delay and reverb to the hand drumming, chanting style of the Sons Of Negus. The instruments coming in and out of the mix at random intervals, the vocals echoey and haunting, everything just adding to the power and menace of the highly religious Nyahbinghi works being created.

It was at this time that the Black Ark and Lee Perry were beginning to fall apart and little did the group realise (or maybe they did?) that the album they had recorded would be one of the last created at the studio.

Ras Michael managed to secure the master tapes before the studio fell into disrepair and the album was given a limited vinyl release on the Jah Live label in 1979 entitled "Love Thy Neighbour".

This first edition included the songs "Long Time", "Do You Know?" and "Dreadlock" but was missing "Perfect Love" and "London Bridge Has Fallen Down" despite being named on the tracklist.

Then in the early 1980's Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus headed to the USA and struck a deal with the Live & Learn label who issued a second edition of the album.

 
This second edition however did not include the songs "Long Time", "Do You Know?" or "Dreadlock", A very confusing thing for those who purchased this edition or the previous Jah Live issue.

Later editions included "Perfect Love" and "London Bridge Has Fallen" but were missing the three final tracks, this edition has become the standard and was re-issued on cd.

 
Other tracks from the album sessions appeared on the groups 1981 album "Disarmament".

This edition includes the full 12 songs from the Black Ark album sessions, re-mastered for the first time on one disc and includes bonus extra Black Ark sessions.

Enjoy!   : )

Tracklisting:

1) Don't Sell Daddy No Whiskey
2) Times Is Drawing Nigh
3) Hear River Jordan Roll
4) Wicked Got To Go
5) Little David
6) Perfect Love
7) London Bridge Has Fallen Down
8) Do You Know?
9) Long Time Ago (aka Wicked Man)
10) Dreadlock (aka Jesus Christus Is The King)
11) Unity
12) Stop Pay The Price For Sin
13) Midnight Hour
14) Midnight Hour (Version) {I-Roy}

Recorded at the Black Ark studio, 1978, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry

Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus - Love Thy Neighbour (Original Full Length Album) 

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Scratch & The Upsetters - Magnetic Mirror Master Mix (1989)

Scratch & The Upsetters - Magnetic Mirror Master Mix is a collection of rare Black Ark recorded tracks that appeared on this obscure album from 1989 on the Anachron label.

The label secured the distribution rights to this material and more which featured on a separate release called "Turn & Fire - Upsetter Disco Dub" and Lee Perry's early dub album "Revolution Dub" which they re-issued in 1990.

It's essentially a selection of rare Black Ark singles from the 1976/77 period and was highly sort after for a long while being that it was the only source for certain tracks for many a year.

In recent times however much of it has finally been re-released elsewhere on the Pressure Sounds releases "Voodooism" and "Cutting Razor" which have made this collection obsolete.

But you can still enjoy them here on this rare and no longer available vinyl release.

Enjoy!   : )

Tracklisting:   
  
1) Leo Graham - Voodooism
2) The Upsetters - Voodoo Dub
3) Lloyd & Devon - Wolf Out Deh
4) The Upsetters - Shepherd Rod
5) Errol Walker - Better Future
6) The Upsetters - Future Dub
7) Lee "Scratch" Perry - Baffling Smoke Signal
8) Lee "Scratch" Perry - Captive
9) The Upsetters - Dub Captive
10) Brother Roy - Different Experience
11) Keith Rowe - Living My Life

Scratch And The Upsetters - Magnetic Mirror Master Mix  - 

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Earl Sixteen - Phoenix Of Peace (Special Edition)

Here's a strange one released in 1993 on the 'Seven Leaves' label that has quite the story behind it. This 'special' edition expands on the original release with extra songs and dub versions.

Earl Sixteen was born Earl John Daley in Kingston Jamaica, 1958 and grew up in the Waltham Park district where he would hang around on the streets, meeting a wide variety of characters.

When he reached his early teens, Earl decided, like many of Kingston's youth, that he would try and make a living in the growing music industry and he started entering the many talent contests in the city.

After winning one particular talent contest he met up with some other youngsters and formed the short lived group The Flaming Phonics.

Earl also did some early recording sessions with the legendary producer Duke Reid and also with Herman Chin-Loy and one of his very first singles appeared entitled "Hey Baby".

After working with another producer legend, Joe Gibbs, in the mid-seventies Earl found his way into the Boris Gardiner session group The Happening. It was in this group that the name Earl Sixteen came into being when he was simply asked by a fellow group member "why you go around like a big man? how old are you?", Earl replied "Sixteen" and thus Earl Sixteen became his moniker!

The Happening were working the tourism scene at local Kingston hotels and clubs but due to his dreadlocks appearance and reluctance to change, Earl was released from the group but Boris Gardiner did point the young singer in the direction of yet another big name producer, Lee Perry.

Earl arrived at Lee Perry's studio, The Black Ark, sometime in the mid to late seventies and began hanging around waiting, hoping, for a chance to record some material of his own.

Lee Perry often used the youngster as a backing singer, apparently his vocals appear on the Bunny "Scott" Clarke album "To Love Somebody" and other works of the time.

The first recording Perry offered to Earl was the song "White Belly Rat", a song that has been suggested was written as an attack on Bob Marley who Perry would often fall out and make up with again over the years.

The song was initially given to Max Romeo but he had refused to record it and so Perry offered it to the young Earl Sixteen but Perry was unhappy with the final vocal and eventually sang the song himself.

Earl continued to hang around the studio however hoping for other opportunities, which came his way including an appearance on Yabby You's cut "Chant Down Babylon Kingdom" and the Debra Keese classic "Travelling".

His first major recordings at the studio surfaced around late 1977 this included the mighty "Freedom" aka "Give Black People Freedom" and a beautiful single entitled "Cheating" which appeared with two different mixes on two different labels.

Earl has said in interviews that he was at the studio during the period when all sorts of shady characters were starting to hang around the place and some were even extorting money from Perry.
He recalls Bob Marley recording "Blackman Redemption" at the studio in 1978 and after it's release more and more gangster types were arriving at the studio asking for money or master tapes!

This is of course at the time when Lee Perry had his major breakdown and had begun the process of removing the Rasta's from his yard and this included Earl Sixteen who left to seek other opportunities.

Throughout the 80's Earl recorded for many producers including Linval Thompson, Augustus Pablo, Yabby You and Sugar Minott. He was also closely associated with the late Hugh Mundell.

In 1985 Earl relocated to the UK where he worked with Ariwa records founder and popular producer of the time Mad Professor.

By the 1990's Earl, still in the UK, met up with an old acquaintance of Lee Perry's named Tony Owens who ran the Seven Leaves label.

Back in the late 70's Owens had initiated a project at the Black Ark with Perry and the Jolly Brothers called "Conscious Man" that was shelved at the time due to a disagreement between Perry and the label but in 1993 Owens sold rights to the material to the UK based Roots label who would finally release the long awaited album along with some other Black Ark material.

One of the albums that appeared on the Seven Leaves imprint in 1993 was this very album, Earl Sixteen - Phoenix Of Peace, which at first was thought to be another long lost Black Ark album due to the sleeve notes crediting the studio and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry.


                                                      

However what the release failed to mention was that although all the rhythm tracks are indeed Black Ark recorded - Perry produced material, the vocals were recorded in the early 90's at a UK studio.

It's not clear whether Earl Sixteen and Tony Owens conspired to mis-lead the Reggae community by releasing it as a fake but were caught out or whether it was a genuine mis-print and that Earl wanted to release an album of new songs over old Black Ark rhythms, either way the release was issued in small quantities in 1993.

In my opinion it probably was meant to be a scam, Tony Owens had a big falling out with Lee Perry at the time of the failed Jolly Brothers project in 1978 and had sat on the material for over 10 years before finally selling it over to the Roots label, most likely with this Earl Sixteen project and tried to pass it off as another long lost album.

The album itself is quite good however as Earl sings his rootsy lyrics over some of Perry's most well known rhythms, most of which appeared on the albums "Megaton Dub" which were also issued on the Seven Leaves label.

It's an album worth checking out and is often cited as Earl's best but remember that it is more or less a hoax, albeit a pretty good one.

Enjoy!  : )

Tracklisting:
  
 Disc One:
    
1) Cheating (Disco Mix)
2) Apartheid Struggle
3) Things In Life
4) Soldiers Of Jah Army
5) Set The Captives Free
6) Leaving For Zion
7) Stepping On
8) Freedom
9) Hold On
10) How You Been Doing?
11) Pot Of Gold
12) Give Jah The Praises (Discomix)
13) Concrete Castle King (12'' Single Mix)
14) Cheating (Upsetter 7'' Mix)
15) Cheating (Black Art 7'' Mix)
16) We Want Freedom {Earl Sixteen And U-Brown}

Disc Two:
  
1) Cheating (Dub)
2) Apartheid Struggle (Dub)
3) Things In Life (Dub)
4) Soldiers Of Jah Army (Dub)
5) Set The Captives Free (Dub)
6) Leaving For Zion (Dub)
7) Freedom (Dub)
8) How You Been Doing? (Dub)
9) Give Jah The Praises (Dub)
10) Concrete Castle King (Dub)

All rhythm tracks recorded at the Black Ark studio, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13  Voiced in the UK in 1993.
Tracks 1, 8, 14, 15, 16  Voiced at the Black Ark studio 1977 / 1978
Tracks 1, 8, 14, 15, 16  Produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry at the Black Ark studio.

Earl Sixteen - Phoenix Of Peace (Special Edition)  - 

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

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The Jolly Brothers - Conscious Man (Deluxe Edition) (1978)

Another classic Black Ark album from 1978 given a deluxe make-over which includes rare songs and dubs.

The Jolly Brothers debut masterpiece "Conscious Man", produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry.

The Jolly Brothers are another one of those obscure groups that not much is known about, what is known though is this:

The Jolly Brothers consisted of vocalist trio Winston Edwards, Lennox Miller and Willis Gordon but sometimes also included Clevian Lewis and Hendrick Nicholson. They were based in the Hellshire Beach area of St. Catherine which is to the west of Kingston.

In late 1977 the groups friend and musical tutor of sorts known as Mattis arranged for the group to record a session at Lee Perry's Black Ark studio in Washington Gardens, Kingston.

The result of the session was two tracks, "Conscious Man" and "Colour", two original songs with all the trademark production of Scratch and the Black Ark sound.

At this point an old acquaintance of Perry's from England named Tony George Owens arrived at the studio looking for songs to issue on his new label 'Seven Leaves' in the UK and so The Jolly Brothers tracks were given over as well as some other Black Ark recordings of the time.

However once Owens returned to the UK he gave the single over to Mo Claridge who was operating the Magnum label, a subsidiary of Pye records, which would give the song major distribution across the UK and also into Europe.

Then in early 1978 Mo Claridge started the Ballistic imprint label after striking a deal with United Artists and "Conscious Man" would be it's first single release. With major label backing the single sold well and eventually broke into the UK singles chart reaching as high as number 45.

This sparked an interest from Claridge to have the Jolly Brothers return to the studio to start work on a full album and so Tony Owens returned to Jamaica to initiate the project.

When the Jolly Brothers and Tony Owens returned to the Black Ark studio Perry was in the middle of a ground-breaking collaboration with two Congolese musicians, Seke Molenga and Kalo Kawongolo, and their project "Monama" which would be yet another album by Perry that would be declined for release by Island records.

The Jolly Brothers joined in on the sessions providing harmony and instrumentation, likewise the two Africans would do the same for the Jolly Brothers when their album sessions began.

The Jolly Brothers recorded between 10 to 12 songs at the studio, mostly very rootsy numbers and a couple of lover's rock tracks. Their style was that of the vocal trio (one lead, two harmony) but often they sang in union with all three on lead.

Overall the material was very good, not unlike previous Black Ark recordings by the likes of The Congos with yet another strong production credit for Perry.

Tracks like "Brotherly Love", which credits Hendrick Nicholson as lead vocalist, is a nice mellow tune, "Dread Dreader" highlights the growing frustration of the ghetto people and "Cool Down" reminding the people that violence is not the answer.

Also the group recorded a couple of love songs, "Right Before My Eyes" and "Play Play", the latter opening with the depressing lyrics of  "Play play with fire, fire will burn you / play play in the water, water will drown you".

At some point, once the recording sessions had finished however, there was some kind of disagreement between Tony Owens, Lee Perry and Mo Claridge that resulted in the material being held back.

Claridge instead struck a deal with producer Prince Jammy, a protoge of King Tubby, who took the Jolly Brothers into Harry J's and Channel One studios to record a separate albums worth of love songs.

These recordings are still pretty good, Jammy's sound is not unlike Perry's but still they are somewhat weaker compared to the Black Ark recordings.

Ballistic eventually released the album "Consciousness" in 1979, the album includes the Black Ark recorded "Conscious Man" as it's opening track along side the Jammy produced material.

"Consciousness" failed to sell in sufficient numbers for the label to press for a follow up and the Jolly Brothers slipped into obscurity.

Tony Owens continued to release Jolly Brothers material on his Seven Leaves imprint, mainly 45's and 12 inch singles that would fail to acknowledge Lee Perry as producer, instead Owens was given this credit. Also many of the track names and artists on the seven leaves releases were incorrect too making it difficult to track down certain songs or work out what was really on the vinyl.

They did however release two volumes of excellent Black Ark, Perry produced material, as "Megaton Dub".

The remaining material that the Jolly Brothers recorded with Perry at the Black Ark was shelved remaining unreleased for over 10 years!
 

  

This truly was a real shame as, based on the positive response to the "Conscious Man" single, an album would have most likely seen the Jolly Brothers reach a similar success to that of artists such as The Congos.

Eventually, in 1993, Tony Owens sold the publishing rights to the material and gave the master tapes over to the Roots label in the UK who pressed limited quantities of the album on both vinyl and cd.

The album contained ten tracks, all recorded and mixed at the Black Ark but by this time the album was unknown, as were the Jolly Brothers, and so it sold only to those in the know.
   

This deluxe edition adds eight bonus tracks to the ten released in 1993 including the vinyl only 7" singles and the b-side "Right Before My Eyes" as well as a number of dubs.

Better late then never as they say!

Enjoy!   : )

Tracklisting:    
    
1) Conscious Man (Discomix)
2) Brotherly Love
3) Have A Little Faith
4) Back Biter
5) Cool Down
6) Babylon A Fight Rasta
7) Dread Dreader
8) Play Play
9) Oppression
10) Colour

Bonus Tracks:

11) Right Before My Eyes (7" Single B-Side)
12) Conscious Man (7" Single Mix)
13) Conscious Man (Dub)
14) Brotherly Love (7" Single Mix)
15) Brotherly Love (Dub)
16) Dread Dreader (Dub)
17) Oppression (Disco Mix)
18) Colour (Dub)

Recorded at the Black Ark studio, 1977 / 1978, Produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry.

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


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