Singles Going Steady (and yes, "Idol" is on...)

I've been featuring anthologies so far, and really, that's okay, because reggae is mainly singles driven. Burning Spear, Bob Marley -- they later developed the reggae album, but even their albums were usually a collection of singles (and we'll save the whole Marley catalog problem for another day...) I bought the "Rebel Music" double LP because the album graphics were pop and non-threatening for someone like me, dipping their toes in the water. (Actually, the first "reggae" album I bought was by Third World, who managed to sound like the music I was used to -- heck, they covered "Now That We've Found Love" by The O'Jays! -- but other than their earliest releases, they were a reggae crossover band.) "Rebel Music" is uneven, but that's the thrill of anthologies -- the song you hated last week is your favorite the next. The Treasure Isle collection is totally magnificent: superb remastering from Heartbeat, an inspiring selection -- with complete versions (including intro) and rare dub versions. What's dub? Ahh, stay tuned!

Studio One Returns

The reggae recordings from Studio One have been given a stellar reissue campaign from the Heartbeat label (some have since been spiffed up and re-reissued with bonus tracks -- here I refer to the first round.) "Downbeat the Ruler" features instrumental tracks that formed the basis of many later hits. Brian Eno once compared his mining of his various releases (a bass note here, drum track slowed down and rejigged there) as musical composting, and that's very similar to what happens with reggae, though the raw material hasn't had a chance to break down into its component elements but rather hijacked piece by piece -- more in common with stripping down a car, I'd venture. "Mojo Rock Steady" is an assortment of vocal and instrumental tracks. None of these could be considered 'hits', but they work as a solid collection -- and (unlike Trojan), these are remastered, and they sound great.

Motor-Town, Philadelphia PA -- All in One Little Island

Many people who don't like reggae complain it all sounds the same. Well, in one sense, that's very true, because reggae borrows/steals from itself and others blatantly. A bass run in one song becomes a lead line in another, a popular rhythm gets endlessley recycled, and copyright is ignored. I've heard dubs based on Beatles songs, whole melodies appropriated without proper credit -- it's part of the outlaw nature of reggae. And yet, from a little island comes an echo of Motown, the Philadelphia International sound, the Hi Records sound of Memphis, Stax-Volt -- it's like hearing '60s soul radio bounced back with an Island spin. A great point-of-entry is "The Trojan Story" Volumes 1 & 2. The CDs haven't been remastered (heck, some sound like field recordings) but the lo-fi is part of the charm. As the cover says: "ska, rock-steady and early reggae music". Volume 2 reflects the more politically conscious state of reggae as it matured, but Volume 1 is naive, goofy and irresistable. And you gotta love the double-entendre cover image (it's a speaker grille, but...)

Another Doomed Tragic Figure

There's quite the facination with the "live fast, die young" artist, but there's even more allure to the "tortured genius, unknown poet, dead too young artist" (though my attempt at defining the marketing aspect is dreadful!) Janis, Jimi, Jim Morrison -- there's your first example, Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley are in the second, sensitive camp (and I think part of Kurt Cobain's appeal is that he could stand in both). Add Judee Sill to the list: jail time, junkie time, Jesus time -- she did it all. 2 wonderful but woefully unknown albums, an accident that saw her slide back into illegal pain relief, and then the accidental OD. Her two albums are suffused with Catholic/gospel chords and metaphors, coupled with a laconic drawl and startingly inventive melodic meandering. Reissued and rediscovered on a small scale, she really is worth finding. I put her away for a while (there is a whiff of mothball that keeps her of her time), but a recent re-listening reminded me of our loss and her great gifts.

I Go Ape! (A Real Song)

Exotica borrows/mutates native musics, adds a truckload of kitsch, and sends it to America a Disney-fied jungle ride cartoon. Les Baxter, "Quiet Village", the whole tiki-lounge thing. The collection "Jungle Exotica" is loosely based on a Tarzan movie matinee version of Africa, but even there the theme falls apart and pretty soon it's just a collection of politically incorrect ethnic music parodies. Not that that's a bad thing. Think mutiple variations of "Tequila", honking sax and surf guitars, spiced up with the occasional fake bird call or bad imitation tribal grunt. What's great about this album is that there really are a couple of good songs buried here. The rest is fun in a junk food kind of way. Exotica was revived later as 'bachelor pad' music, and then there's the whole 'world music' thing to worry about, but this album is entertaining in its naive version of bandwagon-jumping.

No, not that one, the other one...

Fleetwood Mac: the name brings to mind billowy scarves, manic guitars, silky vocals, internal soap-opera strife and enough vinyl sold to roof a city. But there was an earlier FMac (actually, there were several editions of the band before mega-platinum status) -- but I'm thinking of the original Fleetwood Mac, blues band. No, really. While my wife still sings the praises of Mr. Clapton as the epitome of '60s/'70s era blues guitar, I place my pounds on Peter Green. Peter's had his share of rough times (at one point he dropped music altogether, became a gravedigger, and threatened a record company employee who attempted to deliver a royalty check) and his eventual return to music was as the ghost of the man who gave us "Albatross", "Oh Well" and "The Green Manalishi". So pick up on the early stuff, with one caveat: the box set is great, BUT you have to refer to the box booklet for the correct track info, since the CD sleeves just list the original tracks. But far worse is the fact that yes, you get studio chatter and false starts -- but you can't skip past them, they're all part of the same track. I enjoyed it once, but why do I have to hear 3 or 4 flubs before the full track commences?!?

White Sandy Beach

My first exposure to Israel Kamakawiwoole was a TV special some years back about contemporary Hawaiian music and its political/environmental aspects. With his former band The Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau, Iz performed "Hawaii '78", a version of which opens "Facing Future". Iz is most famous for his ubiquitous medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World". I never really liked that medley; for one thing, the sentiment of one song seemed the polar opposite of the other. And then there's "Take Me Home,Country Road" , a variation on the cover that Toots and the Maytals recorded, and the best argument for your CD player's 'skip' button. But reading the recently released book by Dan Kois (one of the best in the excellent 33 1/3 series) helped me put the dichotomy of "Rainbow/Wonderful" in perspective, and offered real insights into the plight of Native Hawaiians and Iz in particular. (I still skip right past "Country Road", though...)