With so many artists of today trying to fill the full 80 minutes playing time you get with a CD this album of only 7 songs may come as a shock to some, but this 30 year old classic is a perfect exponent of the less is more theory and one that some should take heed of. For here are 7 songs from the top draw that you can play over and over again and never tire of. Someone once said to me that to understand reggae music first you must understand soul. Well to me roots is the soul of reggae and this LP has heaps of soul. For a start you have the musical arrangement, the brass in particular, on songs like ‘Old Time Friend’ and ‘Unconventional People’, which could be straight from the book of people like Gamble & Huff.
Then there is Lincoln’s voice itself, so full of soul and one of the sweetest to ever grace the reggae field. A beautifully toned falsetto; not unlike Junior Murvin’s or Cutis Mayfield’s, but with a distinct and alluring tremble to it.
Beneath this bright and breezy sound however are songs making a strong social comment of the time and with a bit of slight tweaking these songs would be just as relevant today. ‘Henry Kissinger’ for example mocks the fact that he received the Nobel Peace Prize despite of what some perceive as his role in the bombing of Cambodia and other controversial American unseen and not so unseen interventions, while my favorite track from this set ‘San Salvador’ despite its warm, friendly, brass filled, foot tappin’ and head bobbin’ flow is a song drawing attention to the massacre of protesting university students in that country by the Military in 1975, plus a range of social injustices and struggles across Central America and the Caribbean during the Cold War. The rest of the songs are just as deep and meaningful, with lyrics of struggle, tolerance and above all one love all set to delicious and original riddims…..a true masterpiece.
Tracklist
Then there is Lincoln’s voice itself, so full of soul and one of the sweetest to ever grace the reggae field. A beautifully toned falsetto; not unlike Junior Murvin’s or Cutis Mayfield’s, but with a distinct and alluring tremble to it.
Beneath this bright and breezy sound however are songs making a strong social comment of the time and with a bit of slight tweaking these songs would be just as relevant today. ‘Henry Kissinger’ for example mocks the fact that he received the Nobel Peace Prize despite of what some perceive as his role in the bombing of Cambodia and other controversial American unseen and not so unseen interventions, while my favorite track from this set ‘San Salvador’ despite its warm, friendly, brass filled, foot tappin’ and head bobbin’ flow is a song drawing attention to the massacre of protesting university students in that country by the Military in 1975, plus a range of social injustices and struggles across Central America and the Caribbean during the Cold War. The rest of the songs are just as deep and meaningful, with lyrics of struggle, tolerance and above all one love all set to delicious and original riddims…..a true masterpiece.
Tracklist
San Salvador
They Know Not Jah
Old Time Friend
Unconventional people
Love the Way It Should Be
Henry Kissinger
Kingston 11
No comments:
Post a Comment