Little Masterpieces and Unknown Gems
Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 12/23/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Reggae collectors have complained at the dominance of the Trojan label in the mainstream record stores, but when the music in the grooves is of this calibre, it seems churlish to criticise, especially when offered at such a reasonable price. These sixties tracks first appeared on labels such as Island, Blue Beat, Rio, Doctor Bird, Treasure Isle and Black Swan, and are gathered here because of their popularity in this country, both at the time and in subsequent revivals. Introduced by West Indians who had settled in areas like Brixton and Notting Hill, Ska and Rock Steady were quickly adopted by the Mods and played in their clubs as the music evolved into Reggae. Jamaica had an abundance of excellent jazz and dance hall musicians from the forties and fifties who were recruited into the new musical forms, explaining why the playing on bands such as the Skatalites, who feature in various guises on many of the tracks, was of such a high overall standard. Furthermore there was no shortage of street corner vocal groups and aspiring singers at the studio door. Many classics are here, such as John Holt's Ali Baba, Baba Brooks' Guns Fever, Lee Perry's The Upsetter and the Crystalites' Stranger In Town. Most of it is original material but Rosco Gordon's No More Doggin' turns up (uncredited) as Owen Gray's Running Around; Lee Perry produces the Gaylettes on Brenda Lee's Here Comes That Feeling; Roland Alphonso covers Mongo Santamaria's El Pussy Cat in ska style; the unknown (to me) Syko and the Caribs revive Rufus Thomas' The Dog as Do The Dog (also uncredited, but possibly the source of the Specials' version using the same changed title a few years later) and Laurel Aitken and the Soulmen provide a version of the Mar-Keys' Last Night that arguably surpasses the original. Some are obscurities which were well worth rescuing from oblivion. The Zodiacs' Renegade (aka Little Renegade), written and produced by Duke Reid, only appeared here as the B-side of Baba Brooks' Duck Soup, and was their only ever appearance on vinyl, but is a minor classic. The proliferation of this music over such a short period in Jamaican history is quite astounding and as little masterpiece follows unknown gem one wonders how this tiny poverty-stricken island could have got it so right so consistently so uniquely"
One of my favorite Trojan boxes
David Dwyer | Richmond, CA United States | 01/06/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Trojan's Mod Reggae box offers a bit more sonic variety than some of the other sets, which is nice. I really enjoy the ambience of this set; though the recordings span 1960-1970 and who knows how many studio settings, they tend to have a unified sound, not unlike classic fifties and early sixties Atlantic R&B recordings. So many of the tunes make me smile, whether just because of their supple, joyful playing or the throwaway humor of a song's content -- enough so that Lord Kitchner can get away with chiding a "stupid girl" in his double entendre "Dr. Kitch" and it comes off as playful rather than malicious. (Mick Jagger could have taken a cue from this, had he wanted to.)
I give the box five stars, and that's even more subjective than most usual ratings. You might adjust it according to your own values, because the box ain't perfect. The music itself is probably about a 4 1/2, and it's tempting to dock the set half a star for having skimpy annotation Yes, it's a bargain set, but a booklet wouldn't jack the price up that much, would it?
But maybe that's as it should be -- it's all about the music, after all. And if I start thinking that this lack of thorough annotation is a disservice to the artists, listeners, and history, I also check myself and say, "Yeah, but the sounds are available, pretty widely, and for cheap."
So, what the hell. Five stars. Snag a copy."
Good Job Trojan!
Shona | Clairton, PA USA | 01/19/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I think this compilation is one of those that just shocked people a bit. It is well-known that skinheads were into reggae; but mods? The kids that zooted around on scooters listening to The Who and The Small Faces and looked like poster children for Vidal Sassoon? Well it's a bit more accurate to say that mods were into a lot of stuff; whatever they saw as "trendy" for the time. And Black music, was trendy...and being in the UK, Black music often included Jamaican music.
Nevertheless, although I am not an expert on the mod movement (nor do I know any British mods/ex-mods), I do feel that some of the tracks in this collection are a stretch as far as defining the musical tastes of mods (Lester Sterling's "Wiser Than Solomon" for example) but that does not mean the music still isn't good. The collection contains a lot of early ska (like "Country Town" by Baba Brooks and "Music Is My Occupation" by Tommy McCook and Don Drummond) some calypso treats from Lord Kitchener ("Kitch You're So Sweet" and "Dr. Kitch" respectively) as well as some songs that step out of the reggae genre a bit and go back to rock-n-roll's R&B roots (like "Renegade" by the Zodiacs). But my favorite track in this entire collection has to be "The Ugly One" by King Stitt; which is just a very cool song. As good as these individual tracks are...I don't know how well they fit together. In fact, stylistically, they're just all over the place...not even presented in chronological order (which Trojan doesn't generally do anyway so...)
So this set does not really fit nicely into any one category; but then again, neither did the mods. From a purely musical standpoint, you don't get enough of any one genre of early reggae to really satisfy you. But then again I'm grateful still because I feel that if it weren't for the mod set, some of these songs would not be released at all. Or maybe they would have been released, but just overlooked if they were presented in a different way. Anyway, this is not a set that I regretted buying...even if it is a little awkward to listen to in its entirety.
"
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1
