So eventually, dub took off, and there are basically two schools: less is more, and kitchen sink. (I made these up.) Some dub stripped things down to the bone,and this may be the root of "all reggae sounds the same" -- you'd think there was only so much you could do with a bass/drum rhythm and the occassional 'chunka-chunka' guitar vamp -- and in most cases, this would be true. The genius of the best dub producers was their ability to use these basic elements and play them off each other, sonically and rhythmically. Augustus Pablo and "King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown" is one of the classics of this style, as is "Pick A Dub" by Keith Hudson and "Dub Me" (Morwell Unlimited Meet King Tubby's). Now these aren't hard and fast rules -- vocals float into the mix on "Pick A Dub", but generally, these are roots dub.
For me, it took a while to discover the genius in these albums. I was more a fan of the kitchen sink productions of (early) Lee Perry or the fantastically over-the-top "African Dub All-Mighty" series. Lions roaring, doorbells ringing, toilets flushing -- this was Spike Jones dub, and just the thing to hook a novice like myself.
For a taste, pick up on the Blood and Fire samplers. This label is run by reggae fans of the highest caliber, and they reissue the best (like the Morwells and Keith Hudson). Lee Perry is a stickier wicket -- too much of his catalog is over-indulgent and just plain weird, but for many folks, that's his genius. And we'll get to his Marley connection next...
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