MIX: Dub Along - a late 70s Black Ark selection

Double episode - foundation stylee! Lee 'Scratch' Perry, a crazy genius! There's lot to say on the man and his works, but many already did so much better than I possibly could so I wont try. Check for instance David Katz' very nice book People Funny Boy on the life of Perry and his musical legacy. This lenghty mix focusses on the later period of recording in Perry's Black Ark studio, mid to late 70s, my favorite period of Perry as producer. This ofcourse does not mean that his earlier work can be ignored. On the contrary, it is great, I just prefer this a bit better. This selection draws from various sources, artists and type of riddims, though all with that 'Black Ark sound'. By no means a 'best of', but mainly a selection of both common and less common tunes that I rate highly. I could easily make a few more episodes like this, there's too many big tunes, but I wont. Let this mix take you on a trip down memory-lane, introduce you to unknown tunes or maybe a bit of both with Lee 'Scratch' Perry at the controls! As always, not full tunes, pieces blended to almost an hour of roots from the Black Ark. Details of sources are given if you'd like to track down the tracks to hear 'm sample-free, in full and in good quality. 7" tracks are mostly from CD-R copies, I wish I owned the originals of those.

* Lee Perry - Dub Along (Super Ape - Island LP)
* Gregory Isaacs - Mister Cop / Version (Micron 7")
* Jah Lion - Fat Man (Colombia Colly - Upsetter LP)
* Brent Dowe - Down Here In Babylon / Version (Upsetter 7")
* Tony Laidley - Happy Birthday Jamaica / Version (Tulsa 7")
* Earl 16 - Freedom (Heart Of The Ark 2 - Seven Leaves CD)
* Aura Lewis - Full Experience (Baffling Smoke Signal - Heartbeat CD)
* The Diamonds - Talk About It / Yama Khy / U-Roy - Yama-khy / Version (Upsetter 7" / Perries 7")
* Raphel Green & Almantado - Rasta Train (Upsetter / Trojan 12")
* Dub & Praise / Junior Ainsworth - Thanks & Praise (Build The Ark - Trojan LP)
* Preacher - Reggae Music (Heart Of The Ark - Seven Leaves CD)
* Horace Smart - Ruffer Ruff (Open The Gate - Trojan LP)
* Junior Murvin - Solomon (Police & Thieves - Mango CD)
* Leroy Sibbles - Rastafari / Combination Two - Rastafari (Heart Of The Ark - Seven Leaves CD)
* Max Romeo - Sexy Natty / Version (Upsetter / Trojan 12")
* The Shadows - Brother Noah / Version (Build The Ark - Trojan LP)
* Rupie Edwards - Three Pan One, A Murder / Version / Rise And Fall / Version (Cactus 7" / Succes 7")
* Keith Rowe - Groovy Situation / Version (Arkology - Island CD)
* Jackie Bernard - Economic Crisis (Excaliburman - Seven Leaves CD)
* Heptones - Now Generation (Party Time - Mango LP)
* Evan Jones - 4 & 20 Dreadlocks / Version (Cutting Razor - Heartbeat CD)
* Mystic Eyes - Forward With Love (Heart Of The Ark - Seven Leaves CD)
* Meditations - Running From Jamaica / Version (Wild Flower 7")
* Jolly Brothers - Conscious Man / Version (Cyprian 12")
* The Congos - Children Crying (Heart Of The Congos - Black Art LP)
* Eric Donaldson - Freedom Street / Version (Build The Ark - Trojan LP)
* Lee Perry - Disco Devil / Version / Prince Jazzbo - Croaking Lizzard (Upsetter / Trojan 12")

For more on Perry there's two excellent websites you can visit with discography, sounds and more:

http://www.smokeyroom.net [very extensive discography with label-scans and all]
http://www.upsetter.net/scratch [discography, bio, news and much more; this one also has a whole heap of mixes for download going all through Perry's carreer, check 'm out, recommended!]


Bless,
BMC