Thursday, December 31, 2009

1049. Mojo Special 7. Ska Bonanza: The Studio One Years (1961-65)





















Track Listing

Disc: 1

1. Nimble Foot Ska - Alphonso, Roland & The Skatalites
2. Spread Satin - Alphonso, Roland & The Studio One Orchestra
3. Arte Bella - Cole, Stranger & Ken Boothe
4. Streets Of Gold - Skatalites
5. A De Pon Dem - Marley Anderson, Rita & The Wailers
6. Black Sunday - Skatalites
7. Don't Want Your Loving - Campbell, Cornell
8. Old Fowl Ska - Alphonso, Roland
9. Enna Bella (aka Lena Belle) - Harris, Eric 'Monty'
10. Jezebel - Gray, Owen & Millie Small/Clue J Blues Blasters
11. Always On A Sunday - Anderson, Frank & Tommy McHook/The Skatalites
12. Sugar Bag - Perry, Lee
13. Settle Down - Sterling, Lester & Johnnie Moore/Tommy McHook
14. Turn Me On - Ossie & The Upsetters
15. When The Well Runs Dry - Bunny & Skitter
16. Wheel And Turn - Anderson, Frank & Tommy McCook
17. Oceans 11 - Lloyd, Cecil & Roland Alphonso
18. Over The River - Jiving Juniors
19. My Heaven - Ellis, Alton & Eddie Parkins/Aubrey Adams Dewdroppers
20. Set Back (aka Just Cool) - Alphonso, Roland & Carroll McLaughlin
21. Du Du Wap - Josephs, Chuck & Dobby Dobson/Aubrey Adams
22. Don Cosmic - Drummond, Don & The City Slickers

Disc: 2

1. Man In The Street - Drummond, Don
2. Simmer Down - Marley, Bob & The Wailers
3. Shining Light - Toots & The Maytals
4. Push Wood - Opel, Jackie
5. Wonder No More - Andy & Joey
6. Bongo Tango - Alphonso, Roland
7. Sucu Sucu - Alphonso, Roland
8. 20.75 - Alphonso, Roland
9. Stop Making Love - Gaylads
10. How Many Times (Do You Remember) - Marley, Bob & The Wailers
11. Heaven And Earth - Drummond, Don & Roland Alphonso
12. Sit Down Servant - Opel, Jackie
13. Go Jimmy Go - Marley, Bob & The Wailers
14. Stew Peas And Cornflakes - Adams, Aubrey & Rico Rodriguez
15. Answer Me My Darling - Harriott, Derrick
16. River Jordan - Eccles, Clancy & Hersang/The City Slickers
17. Salt Lane Shuffle - Clue J & His Blues Blasters
18. Jeannie Girl - Charmers
19. Lonely Moments - Perkins, Lascelles & Clue J & His Blues Blasters

Review

Yet another great collection of Ska tracks. In fact this ska list has been surprising me quite a bit in the wide ranging quality of the whole thing. IT is clearly party music and it does its job really well.

This being said it is not as spectacular a collection as the two previous ones, maybe I'm getting a bit jaded but the instrumental Ska Collection and the Duke Reid collection were frankly more impressive in the overall quality and sheer "stick-in-your-earness".

So, although I don't feel the need to add this album to my collection it has to be said that it is another amazing collection of tracks and should not be missed by anyone with more than a passing interest for Ska.

Track Highlights

1. Simmer Down
2. Spread Satin
3. Nimble Foot Ska
4. River Jordan

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

When the R&B craze ended in the United States, Dodd and his rivals were forced to begin recording their own Jamaican music in order to meet the local demand for new music. Initially these recordings were exclusively for a particular sound system but the records quickly developed into an industry in their own right. In 1959 he founded a record company called World Disc. 1962 he produced the Jazz record "I cover the water front" on the Port-O-Jam label, two of the recorded musician, namely Roland Alphonso and Don Drummond should become along Dood founding members of the Skatalites three years later. In 1963 he opened Studio One on Brentford Road, Kingston. It was the first black-owned recording studio in Jamaica (see 1963 in music). He held regular Sunday evening auditions in search of new talent, and it was here that Dodd first found Bob Marley, singing as a part of The Wailing Wailers. He gave the group a five-year exclusive contract, paying them £20 for each song they recorded; for a time, Marley slept in a back room of the studio. The Marley-penned song "Simmer Down", a Dodd production, went to number one in Jamaica in February 1964.

Simmer Down:


No comments: