Okay, Enough About Reggae For Now..

Thank you, patient reader, for getting through my reggae marathon. I promise you, the end of the course is in sight...
So, what's the deal with Bob Marley? You can find his stuff in the pile 'o crap bins at Wal-Mart -- isn't he supposed to be really good? Yes, but...licensing can be pretty dicey in Jamaica, apparently. Just as Bob couldn't seem to control the fruit of his loins (heck, how many kids did he have???), neither could he control which or how many contracts he must have signed, so his early works have been packaged and repackaged with varying consistency and quality. Ironically, most of these bogus discs are the result of a great partnership between producer Lee Perry and the early Wailers. Much of what Bob later recorded for Island Records is a reworking of these earlier tracks, as was the same for many reggae artists -- Toots and the Maytals and Burning Spear for Island, the Mighty Diamonds and the Gladiators for Virgin are just some examples. Island made reggae an international sound, not without some controversial 'sweetening' for Western ears (guitar solos, keyboard gloss).
So here's Part 1 of my favorites, neither essential nor Desert Island, but a fan's collection, in no particular order:



Bob Marley: Kaya
Many of these are recuts of earlier versions, and there's more of the better known tracks on "Legend", which apparently everybody in the world owns (spend the extra bucks and buy the 4 CD box set "Songs of Freedom" if you can -- a fantastic career overview, and proof that Bob was still writing great songs until the end), but this and "Exodus" are usually the first Marley CDs I reach for.



Burning Spear: Chant Down Babylon
The subtitle is "The Island Anthology", and this is the best of his work for Island Records. A good investment, since you get the best tracks from his first 4 albums on Island, plus dub and extended versions. You also get the (shudder) 80's studio production and the irritating Energizer Bunny drumming of later releases, but there's the Dead cover "Estimated Prophet" to pull it out. Winston Rodney (who IS Burning Spear) has a smoky, jazzy voice (my wife insists he's braying) and the tracks from the album "Social Living" are mesmerizing.



The Upsetters: Super Ape
Lee Perry, again an Island release, in the full force gale of his genius. Sludgy, dubby, magnificent.



Toots and the Maytals: The Very Best of..
Toots has been called the Otis Redding of reggae, and it's true that American soul music is essential to his music. Again, much of these are revisited versions, but man, what a catalog of songs!