Search - Frankie Paul :: Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng / Tidal Waves

Two Classic Frankie Paul Albums

Gavin B. | St. Louis MO | 12/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Frankie Paul was one of the first wave of new artists from the Kingston Jamaica dancehall scene that emerged in the early 1980s. When I visited Jamaica in 1984, Paul's monster hit "Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng" was on every turntable in every dancehall on the island.



Frankie Paul became a superstar in jamaica when he recorded "Tu-Sheng-Peng" a breezy celebration of the wonders of ganja complete with brass section that borrows George Harrison's sitar part from the Beatle's "Norwegian Wood."



The entire "Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng album was a brilliant tribute of the production skills of sound system wizard Henry Junjo Lawes. Each song was initially released as 12" vinyl single. The Roots Radics, Jamaica's top ranking studio band, lay down the deep riddims and the eternal groove of Flabba Holt's bass and Style Scott's one drop drumming make "Tu-Sheng-Peng"a bonafide reggae classic.



This CD is a moderately priced twofer that combines Frankie Paul's first two albums. It predates the rise of slackness D.J. style and the sleng teng craze that all but ended the great age of old school reggae that Marley's conscious lyrics and roots riddims began. The second album included is "Tidal Wave" another chestnut that was the 1985 follow-up to "Tu-Sheng-Peng."



Frankie Paul is a brilliant musical prodigy with a powerful voice and the master of several instruments. Blind since birth, he was initially encouraged by Stevie Wonder who heard Frankie Paul play and sing on a visit to the Salvation Army School for the Blind. Frankie began recording at age 15, but "Tu-Sheng-Peng", at age 19, marked a turning point as he became a protégé of Junjo Lawes. Both of these albums are a delight for anyone who loves the roots and conscious reggae of the golden age.



Since the early 1980's Frankie Paul has been a fixture on the Jamaican reggae scene, but he doesn't do a lot of American touring except for concerts in larger cities of the east and west coast where he still is tremendously popular among both the Caribbean expatriate and American black communities. He deserves a wider audience and who knows?... Frankie Paul is still in his thirties which is still young in "reggae years." Burning Spear and Joseph Hill of Culture are both pushing 60 years of age and both have busy touring and recording careers.



To their credit, the venerable American music label, Greensleves, has remastered all of the early dancehall hits by Frankie Paul's without losing the big booming hi-fi sound of Junjo Lawes' original dancehall mixes which were originally released as 12" vinyl singles. If you are a fan of classic reggae riddims, it really doesn't get any better than this, folks.

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