Customer Reviews

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was going to name this review "One Of The Best Reggae Albums EVER!", but why? This truly is one of the best collections of songs ever recorded by any band regardless of musical style. On this 1981 effort, Michael Rose and company offer a stunning hybrid of roots-rocking and rub-a-dub reggae styles not heard before that time or in the twenty years since. Each of the CD's seven cuts are intense musically and political lyrically. Often that is the formula for a dark and/or depressing output. However, the uncanny hooks to each of these songs keep the listener's mood upbeat.

The CD's first two cuts, Shine Eye Gal and Leaving To Zion, remind us that Black Uhuru is a vocal group. The emotional yet smooth lead from Rose is rivaled only by the late Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson's crisp backing vocals. The haunting General Penitentiary is a fine song in its own right, and also acts as an effective prelude to the title track (the CD's strongest track?). Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (the song) makes no reference to the Sidney Poitier movie of the same name. Instead it speaks of Jah Rastafari and the herb that keeps his people together. In fact, the strange sound effect in the background sounds almost like the bubbling sound made by a water bong when it is smoked. The final three tracks all feature the distinct, dub heavy rhythm section of the CD's producers, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Sheakespeare.

Though I would not recommend this CD to a person just starting to discover reggae music, I cannot recommend it enough to you reggae veterans! One listen is all it will take! - fpr.

This album, along with Sinsemilla and Red, is one of the best of the Michael-Duckie-Puma glory years....the first four songs in particular are wonderful, they set a mood that gets you outta whatever lame one you were in prior....soulful vocals augmented by Sly and Robbie's great riddims! Fans of real reggae must have!

One of my favorites! If tomorrow I was "Leaving To Zion," I would take this CD with me! "Shine Eye Gal," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "Plastic Smile," - how could you not enjoy this CD. Great for road trips or just kickin' back at home. The blending of the voices of Michael, Duckie and Puma are phenomenal. Once you've heard Michael's distinctive sound, you'll never forget it. Black Uhuru was one of reggae's tighest bands! Puma is surely missed!

Some Albums you will never forget. Some albums are good from the start to the stop. Like this album. Killer vocal versions from Black Uhuru in, as some say, their best congregation. Puma Jones, Michael Rose and Duckie Simpson. It is a fact, that Mikael Rose has one of the strongest voices in reggae. It is also a fact, that Sly and Robbie created some of the hardest riddims in reggae. And these two are combined on this album. You will even hear Keith Richards (as some say) in a distorted guitar riff in a beautifull song called "Shine Eye Gal". Plastic Smile is another beauty. The moment the vocal turns into a version (the original into the dub version) always makes me exited on this album. Long echo's of Mikael's voice, mmm I love them.

This album is awesome! each song has a wicked dub version right after the track with vocals.

Not only best among the best reggae albums, but among my favorite albums of all.

Depending on what mood I'm in, I may think Sensimilla, Red, or even Brutal, Positive, or Mystical Truth (don't hate) are what the doctor ordered. But more often than not, what I'm after is this one, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. I just find it combines all of what makes early Uhuru great. Start with the heaviest rhythm section you can imagine with Sly and Robbie, throw in perfect backing harmonies with Puma and Duckie (plus give Duckie ups for writing some of the lyrics), and then top it off with what may be Michael Rose's best lyrical and singing effort on balance in his career. Sure, he had other great songs all over the place, but cuts like shine eye gal, plastic smile, abortion, and the title track are serious social commentary, not just endless praise to weed and jah (though we get a little of that too, natch :)) Some of the lines he delivers still send shivers down my spine, like in Leaving to Zion, when he says "I&I the happy warrior stay / returning with good news today / from my Jamaican people / To my AAAfrican Nation, whoooaaoaaoa yeaahhh." And you get free dubs at the end of each track, basically the whole song over again minus the lead lyrics. You can provide your own, use the music as an irie backdrop for some project (with permission, of course), or do what I do and just sit back with the headphones on and chiiiiillllll to those sections. You know what I'm talking about. This album is short but has not a single bad track. 5 stars without a single doubt.

Michael Rose, Puma Jones, & Duckie Simpson backed by Sly Dunbar and Robbie Sheakespeare were unstoppable. They provided us with great music, great lyrics and everlasting melodies. RASTAFARI LIVE!!

Buy it. Because if you don't have it, you might as well just curl up with that Legend cd and cut those dreadlocks and call it a night :)

I was playing this CD on my way home from a road trip and I musta let it run 3 times straight before popping in something else. This CD is soooooooooooooooooooooo on point it's not even funny. Every song on this CD is a perfectly perfect masterpiece. I can't even pick a favorite. If you even like reggae a little bit, this CD should be in your collection.