Customer Reviews

Duke Reid's Treasure Chest: Treasure Isle Rock-Steady

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the compilations that taught me what good vintage Jamaican music is all about! Here are some of the things that makes this music great:

1)Excellent musicians-Duke Reid's studio band consisted of some of the best musicians on the island such as Gladstone Anderson, Ernest Ranglin, Hux Brown, Tommy McCook, Baba Brooks, Jackie Jackson, Winston Wright, and Lyn Taitt. Collectively known as the Supersonics and later, as the Jets.

2)Great singers-Jamaicans are serious about singing. Treasure Isle had some of the top vocalists and vocals groups of the era such as Alton Ellis, the Techniques, Phyllis Dillon, the Paragons, the Melodians,and the Ethiopians to name only a few.

3)Quality recordings-Treasure Isle had excellent recording equipment for that time period. (early 1960s to the early 1970s)In fact Treasure Isle's sound is often compared to the Motown sound in Detroit.
(Plus all the tracks are taken from the original master tapes for the best quality sound. Much better sound quality than the Trojan reissues, although I love Trojan too!)

4)Historically significant-These Treasure Isle recordings(along with Studio One)formed the template for much of the reggae that came later in the 1970s till the present day. The rhythms("riddims" in Jamaican patois)and melodies of these original recordings are still being recycled and versioned to this very day. In other words, without Treasure Isle(& Studio One)there would've been no 70s roots or rockers reggae, let alone dancehall from the 80s to the present. Elephantman knows this and so does Sean Paul!

Do yourself a favor and pick this one up! It's much more than a CD, it's a slice of Jamaican musical history!

Vocals : 4 Backing : 5 Production : 5 Sound quality : 3 Sleeve : 3



The selection presented here is impressive -- and with over fifty tracks to choose from, it covers a diversity of styles, from doo wop influenced grooves, to 50's r n' b Etta James/Johnny Guitar Watson styles, onto Bluebeat, Rock Steady and very early embryonic roots sounds.

The other interesting point for roots Rockers lovers, is how many of these bass lines later reappeared in the dub era -- The Techniques "You Don't Care" appeared as one of the dub tracks on Big Youth's "Dreadlocks Dread", whilst The Three Tops' "It's Raining" was later re interpreted by King Tubby as the cavernous "King Tubby at the Controls" ( See Pressure Sounds, "Sounds and Pressure Vol me Three"). The profound, dark loneliness of The Jamaicans' "Things You said you Love" was also later versioned to huge effect with wild dub effects on one of U Roy's late 70's Front Line albums.

Listening to these grooves, the dub lover will keep on recognising vocal melodies and bass lines from many much later 70's Rocker's records, and even from some dancehall records from the 80's and 90's. Duke Reid's label clearly provided many a later reggae style with vibes to be reworked.

Another pleasurable surprise here is the addition of Tommy McCook's early work -- much of his later work sounded as if it was influenced by Pharaoh Sanders, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman et al ( albeit with in a far more disciplined,tight framework ) whilst these Duke Reid productions display a consciousness of more conventional Charlie Parker and earlier 1930's jazz styles.

The Techniques "Out of Many" features a conscious lyric -- be a peaceful ,calm , reflective spirit -- but never humble yourself in the face of unbalanced oppression and bullying aggression.

Phylis Dillon chants her melodramatic, eerie torch song "Perfidia", a cover of a popular Mexican song from the 1930's, as well as the melancholy "Don't Stay Away."

CD 2 is perhaps not as varied and as consistently impressive as the first side, but nonetheless, offers a very good selection of early ska styles, with thunderous bass mastering, and, in the final analysis, is redeemed by the inclusion of further beautiful Tommy McCook blasts.

There are really only a couple great rocksteady cds out there, and this is one of them. The thing that probably makes it stick out is the fact that it is all from one producer. Duke Reid had great style and quota of excellence that creates a real sense of consistency during the whole listen. A great collection of hits from a short, but improtnat time in jamaican music history

It doesn't get much better than this. This is a moment in time (c. '64-'66) captured forever. All fans of reggae, rock steady, ska, lounge, heck - MUSIC!, should give this a listen. It deserves a place in your collection.

Duke Reid Is God. I first heard about him from my IT teacher Alisdair Reid. He introduced me to the ways of Duke Reid, as I think they are related in some way. Absolutely incredible. If there is only one album you ever buy: make it this one!!

It's hard to put into words exactly how much pleasure this set can give: this is the aural equivalent of a cool drink on a hot day.