Customer Reviews

Dawning of a New Era

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Two discs,57,59 minutes each approximately. The sound varies slightly from track to track,but is very acceptable. The upside is that this music retains that vintage sound and feel of the original vinyl releases of the era,1968-69. The information sheet gives a good background on the era of the beginnings of the skinhead movement,the songs and the artists. The graphics are very nice period photos,both on the cover and included on the info sheet. This set is a good companion to "Dancehall '69",another 2 CD set that's well worth checking out.

Included in this set are instrumentals and vocal tracks recorded in both Jamaica and England. Most of these tracks feature Hammond organ (played by Glen Adams,Winston Wright,Ansell Collins and others),or sax (often by the great Tommy McCook) as lead instrument,over a typically tight,rocksteady rhythm. The fact that the organ is the lead instrument on a number of these tracks gives this set a real unity in sound and feeling,and is a refreshing change from the usual instrumentation found in this music. Also included are a number of "B" sides that were passed over in their day by most listeners,but here they really stand out. Artists include Derrick Morgan,THE PIONEERS,HARRY J ALL STARS,Junior Murvin,THE ETHIOPIANS,THE TENNORS,and many others relatively unknown outside the skinhead movement or collectors.

All of this music on this intelligently chosen set is an aural snapshot of the music listened to in the early days of the skinhead movement,before this youth movement was widely publicized in the media for fights and riots. The music largely comes from a short period of time when this movement was still a loosely organized underground phenomena,and the music,sometimes referred to as "Blue Beat",which was listened to by West Indian youth,was tapped into and adopted by young white listeners looking for their "own" music. The "Mod" era had died down and people were looking to the next "thing",which was labeled skinhead music because of their short haircuts and appearance. But no matter why or when,this is great music. And anyone who likes catchy,bouncing rhythms with great vocals,organ or sax solos,will find much to like on this collection. It's not a "greatest hits" type of set,but taken as a whole the music forms its own identity. And while its from a particular time and place,the music still retains that initial excitement from all those years ago,when both music and the youth movements were exciting. When the listeners of this music were young and alive with the vitality of youth,and who are now grown older and are most likely "skinheads",not by choice,but by advancing age.

This set is one of the better collections of rocksteady/reggae music-when listening to it can send you back in time. Yet its still vital,exciting,good music in the here and now. Listen and hear what young people in England were tapping into 40 years or so ago-it still has the power and the fun of great music from an era long gone,but still vividly remembered today.

Though I am a much bigger fan of 45s and have been disapointed by most blue beat cds I was in love with this one it doesnt fouces in on songs that have the word skinhead in the name like the trojan boxset this one accualy shows a wide variety of music from the time and my all time favorite the duet between Desmond Dekker and Derrick Morgan on Revenge.

This album makes me wanna get up and move my feet! Nice little sampler of old skool reggae, with a little bit about its history on the insert. Happy with my purchase :) It's missing a couple of really great artists, but all-in-all a great buy.