JACKIE MIT-WHO?
Locks Lion | Blue Mountain Peak | 12/13/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"WISHBONE: Wow! This is Jackie Mittoo? The same Jackie Mittoo that rocked Studio One, Kingston, Jamaica and the rest of the world with classic cuts like HENRY THE GREAT, DRUM SONG, HOT MILK, RAM JAM and just about a million more? The Keyboard King? The Champion Of The Arena?
Yes, apparently this is THE Jackie Mittoo, OUR Jackie Mittoo - but this 1971 session, recorded in Toronto, Canada, is so far out of sync with what he was doing before or after, that you'll probably do a double or even triple take. I mean, surely you weren't actually expecting pop-lite arrangements ever so tastefully underscored by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra? Probably not, and as such, it's hard to know what to say about WISHBONE. It's nicely packaged by American label Light In The Attic, with great sleeve notes and photos of Jackie in action, but it sounds like it was made exclusively for easy-listening AM radio airplay, and it's so outrageously over-polished that it almost slides right back out of the CD player before you can push play. So, at first, I was somewhat dismayed, but the more I listened, the more I found myself actually enjoying this very fluffy, very sugary confection. Okay, it's not in the same division as what you might call Jackie's "real" stuff, his trailblazing ska scorchers, or the bare knuckled reggae ghetto funk that he recorded with Bunny Lee, but nonetheless, it's Jackie Mittoo, and it's for real!
Thus, we're treated to Jackie commandeering The Beatles' CARRY THAT WEIGHT for the swinging title tune, turning out a great sixties-era film score on GRAND FUNK, and - check this out - even doing a Saturday matinee-style rendition of his classic THE SNIPER (GROOVY SPIRIT), which just left me shaking my head and laughing. Somehow, some way, WISHBONE actually works, perhaps because it's being released around the Christmas holiday, and the spirit of the season is merry and bright. Be warned though, this probably isn't what you're hoping for from a long lost Jackie Mittoo record, but I say build a big one, kick back and give it a try!
I have no idea where to even begin to rate this recording - so I'm just giving five stars because, yes, it's JACKIE MITTOO!
"