Mento Madness

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: V2 North America
• ASIN: B000294T8S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,740 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hill & Gully Ride/Mandeville Rd.

2. Dry Weather House

3. Healin' in the Balmyard

4. Manassa with the Tight Foot Pants

5. Me Dog Can't Bark

6. Monkey Talk

7. Linstead Market

8. Country Gal

9. She Pon Top

10. Blu-Lu-Lup

11. Glamour Gal

12. Solas Market

13. This Long Time Gal a Never See You

14. Medley of Jamaican Mento: Fan Me Solja Man, Fan Me/One Solja Man/Yaho n

15. Come We Go Down a Unity/Old Lady O/Linstead Market

16. Swine Lane Gal/Iron Bar

17. Sweet Charlie/Mattie Rag/Nobodys Business

18. Big Big Sambo Gal/Mattie Rag

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!!, December 15, 2005

By 

Megan Romer (Lafayette, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mento Madness (Audio CD)

Mento is traditional Jamaican Folk Music, it came about before reggae, dancehall or ska. It's played on simple folk instruments, usually a guitar, a banjo or fiddle, hand drums or shakers and a rumba box (a very large mbira or thumb piano in the low bass register). The songs are traditionally chock-full of bawdy double entendres and poorly veiled sexual humor, which makes them rowdy and fun. Some people refer to this music as Jamaican Calypso, but its different in rhythm, instrumentation and lyrical content than Trinidadian Calypso.

This collection is a wonderful mix of some of the mento greats of yesteryear... and realistically, there aren't really any mento greats of today, The Jolly Boys and The Overtakers are about all that there is left. The songs included here are well-chosen and present a really nice picture of the mento sound, feel and, very importantly, the humor of this almost-lost genre of folk music. Of particular note are the Lord Fly cuts, Lord Fly was perhaps the only mento artist to become "famous" and his name might actually ring a bell to early reggae and ska fans.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorites before Ska era;, September 23, 2008

By 

MikeNYC "MikeNYC" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mento Madness (Audio CD)

I played this at a Jamaican picnic for teachers and they went wild when they heard these songs from childhood days. My father had these on 78 rpm over 50 years ago.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff!, April 21, 2008

By 

Seth W. Schenck (Commonwealth of Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mento Madness (Audio CD)

Considering this was recorded over 50 years ago on a 1 track recorder, then mixed in a very primitive "studio" the sound quality is great! even better is the music! perfect to play at a party, BBQ, or to just sit and listen to!
Also, if it weren't for Stanley Motta and other's like him, there wouldn't be ska, rock steady, reggae, etc, etc. for all of us to enjoy. this CD is just one 1 more reason to love JA music.

couple this with the Trojan Calypso box set, Sand and Steel and Sugar Belly's "Sugar merengue" and you can get a good idea of what the indigenous music of the Carribbean is like.

Good Stuff!