All Aboard The C.N Express – Rock Steady And Boss Reggae Sounds 1967-1968
• 17 tracks unavailable digitally
• Includes tracks new to CD
• Features some of the biggest late Sixties Jamaican hits
Having previously showcased Clancy Eccles’ output from 1969 and 1970 on “Freedom & Fire Corner” (DBCCD050) and “Foolish Fool & Herbsman Reggae” (DBCCD053), the music-maker’s influential rock steady and proto-reggae recordings provide the focus for this brand new collection.
Recorded between mid-1967 and late 1968, the tracks range from major Jamaican hits to painfully rare obscurities, performed by an equally diverse assortment of performers that include virtual unknowns alongside such eminent artists as Alton Ellis, Eric ‘Monty’ Morris, Ernest Ranglin and Eccles’s long-standing friend and associate, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.
With 17 tracks unavailable on any format for decades, this fascinating compilation is a must for fans of rock steady and boss reggae, with the set superbly demonstrating the ever-developing sound of Jamaican music over a period now widely regarded as the most compelling in its history.
The Full Experience: Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry Presents The Full Experience, CD
• Aura Lewis LP makes its CD debut
• Produced by the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry at his famed Black Ark studio
• Some of the finest female recordings of the roots era
By the late Seventies, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry was at the height of his creative powers, producing a succession of spellbinding recordings from his compact Black Ark studio in Kingston, Jamaica.
Among his finest, yet most underrated work from this period were various projects involving one or more of three female singers: highly respected South African-born Aurella (Aura) Lewis, US-born vocalist Pamela Reed and a young, ambitious British performer, Candy McKenzie. Collectively known as the Full Experience, much of the trio’s work for the producer remains unissued, but in 1977, a couple of 12” singles gave the record buying public a taste of their extraordinary talents: ‘Disco Fits’ c/w ‘Breakfast In Bed’ demonstrated MacKenzie’s developing abilities as a solo artist, while the enthralling ‘Disco Devil’, on which the she, Lewis and Reed together backed the producer, revealed the range and power of the three singer’s combined voices.
Yet astonishingly, the remainder of the trio’s work from this period failed to immediately see issue and it was not until 1988 that five recordings from an abandoned Full Experience album were finally gathered on a French mini-LP. Two decades on, Candy McKenzie’s showcase LP also finally surfaced and it is the recordings from both of these collections, along with the aforementioned ‘Disco Devil’ that comprise this celebration of recordings by arguably Jamaica’s finest ever female vocal trio
Annotated by official Lee Perry biographer, David Katz and featuring four tracks new to CD, this is an essential purchase for all fans of the legendary producer, female vocals and classic roots reggae.
