Customer Reviews

Original Rockers

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Augustus Pablo was one of the most original and gifted of the Jamaican artists who emerged during the 1970's. As well as releasing a large number of mainly instrumental and dub recordings under his own name, he worked extensively as a session musician and was also successful as a producer, with credits on a formidable array of great records by the likes of Jacob Miller, Hugh Mundell, Junior Delgado and others.

Pablo's music is instantly recognisable and is one of the most distinctive sounds in reggae: tight rhythms, sparse arrangements and simple but flowing melody lines, usually in a minor key, with either a keyboard (organ, piano or clavinet) or more often his famous melodica as the lead instrument. It has been described as his "far eastern" style, of which the sublime "Up warrika hill" on this album is a perfect example.

"Original rockers" was first released in 1979 and is a compilation of tracks that appeared on various singles from 1972 to 1975. It includes some of Pablo's very earliest work for producer Clive Chin alongside more accomplished self-produced material mixed by King Tubby, with whom Pablo enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership.

It isn't really a dub album, and with one or two exceptions (notably "Jah dread" and "Park lane special") contains little in the way of fx from Tubby's mixing desk. "Braces a boy" features a toast from Dillinger and other tracks have spoken intros or snatches of vocals which occasionally surface in the mix, but it's mainly instrumental. Overall, it's an immaculate collection of Pablo originals such as "Cassava piece" (an early version of the rhythm subsequently recut as "King Tubby meets rockers uptown") and reworkings of well-known rhythms like the excellent opener "Rockers dub" (based on the Heptones classic "Love won't come easy"). My only complaint is that it's so short. Thirty minutes of classic Pablo is simply not enough, so needless to say it's not the only Augustus Pablo album you need to buy....

look at the cover and you will understand that there is no finer soundtrack for a good irie vibe.

we're talking bone crunching dub with simple but beautiful melodies from AP. The album gets better with each and every track culminating in the AP Special, a true reggae masterpiece.

if this album has one fault, its that its pretty short. you might want to buy heart of the congoes or super ape to play right after it.

This album is a good introduction to the brilliant rhythmic style of melodica wizard Augustus Pablo and dub mixing techniques of King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock). For a suberb 70s dub album check out the CD "Return To Umoja" (Various Artists). It contains the mindblowing dub by Pablo himself, entitled "Spirit Of Umoja".

I stumbled onto this album by accident and was completely blown away!

This album has the sweetest, deepest, grooviest dub tracks I've ever heard. AP's melodica sounds so soulful amongst the chunky drum & bassline.

I've only listened to one other AP album so far (The great Pablo) and Original Rockers has better tracks and recording quality, but I'm sure there are some even better albums out there.

If you like Dub, you will love this album, although it is a bit short :-(

This album is full of wonderful melodies and has never dissapointed me over the last 15 years. In my opinion this album is a masterpiece because it has no weaker songs, only strong ones, the sound is very distinctive, and the melodica sounds so mysterious and haunting. Together with " Super Ape" from the Upsetters this is the most beautiful instrumental reggae album of the seventies, however there is so much more that I haven't discovered yet. By the way, " King Tubby meets rockers inna firehouse" is great dub music, but hard to get.

There is a MUCH BETTER version of this CD available! The version on Greensleeves Records (ASIN: B00005BJCW) has two KILLER dubs of "Original Rockers" tracks that this Shanachie version DOES NOT HAVE. The Greensleeves issue is also considerably LESS EXPENSIVE than this Shanachie issue. The SOUND QUALITY is also far superior on Greensleeves version, and is actually miraculously pristine. There is a mistaken belief that the audio quality of music from 1960s/70s Jamaica is horrible, but the fact of the matter is, we have simply been treated to poor reissues. Most of the stuff recorded in JA in the 60s and 70s sounds crisp and clear when the proper sources are utilized. For example, listen to Heartbeat's Skatalites set "Tribute To Tommy," which sounds as though it was recorded yesterday. Before "Tribute To Tommy" I thought all Skatalites sounded like my worse jazz records from the teens and twenties. Releases on Blood & Fire, Hot Pot, and Pressure Sounds have further exposed the lie. The truth is, by the 60s and 70s, even the cheapest recording equipment was able to give clean sound reproduction. The sound on the Greensleeves version of "Original Rockers" is phenomenal...so crisp and clean that it could have been recorded digitally in Los Angeles in 2008. Greensleeves' issue of "Original Rockers" not only puts this Shanachie version to shame, but actually renders it totally OBSOLETE. For an even starker comparison, put Shanachie's CD issue of "King David's Melody" next to Greensleeves' issue of the same title...the difference is shocking. I don't know about anyone else, but I want to hear the music as the musicians recorded it, and I want to reward the labels that actually go throught the trouble of finding the original masters and treating them with the love and care that this classic music deserves.

Now, as for "Original Rockers," the album? Yes, it is CLASSIC Augustus Pablo, and for me is the equal of "King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown." I think it forms sort of a trilogy of greatness along with "...Rockers Uptown" and "East of the River Nile." "Original Rockers" features dubs and some instrumentals, and some stuff which is in a twilight area between the two. Overall, there is much more of A.P.'s great melodica playing than on "...Rocker's Uptown." There is also a little bit of light DJ stuff on a couple of tracks, so there is some nice diversity of sound going on, with a thick, mystical, stoned vibe. The bass is DEEP. You'll also hear several familiar rhythms, including some used on other Pablo tracks ("Cassava Piece" which is the same rhythm as "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown"). "AP Special" is a smoked-out irie track, made even more interesting when Pablo trades his melodica for a xylophone. "Tubby's Dub Song" is actually more of a melodica instrumental, a slow killer skank, and the Greensleeves issue pairs it with a true Tubby dub of the same rhythm (not found here), which is heavy and trippy as any Tubby dub out there. There is no synth cheese or drum machine garbage anywhere near this album, and mixing comes courtesy of King Tubby and Prince Jammy. "Original Rockers" is easily within the top three of Pablo's original LPs, and is a definitive Pablo experience that will blow your mind again and again.

So, yes, put this in your Pablo collection, but just make sure it's the far superior Greensleeves version, which is also available on Amazon.

Augustus Pablo has emerged from the dub reggae scene as one of the top musicians. By use of the melodica, he has produced an innovative sound which will make you want to get up and skank. The cut "Thunder Clap" is especially phat with a deep baseline contrasting with the high tones of the melodica. By far the most roots, dub-style record out there.

I found out that there is a remastered version of this CD on Greensleeves after I picked up the Shanachie version for $8.50 at a used CD shop. I like nice clean sound as well as anyone but the quality of the Shanachie version is not all THAT lacking. Maybe I am used to a rough sound from listening to early stuff like Ethiopians, Skatalites, Maytals, etc. and vintage blues like Muddy Waters on Chess. The sound on this "Original Rockers" works for me, capturing the urgency and wonderful spirit of experimentation that reigned as Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, Prince Jammy, Chinna Smith, Family Man and Carleton Barrett, and Robby Shakespeare allworked their magic back in those legendary days in 1972-75.

This album is great and Augustus rips up the heavy beats with his Melodica I would definitly recommend this cd to anyone who enjoys the ROCKERS era! Peace one blood!

This album is full of wonderful melodies and has never dissapointed me over the last 15 years. In my opinion this album is a masterpiece because it has no weaker songs, only strong ones, the sound is very distinctive, and the melodica sounds so mysterious and haunting. Together with " Super Ape" from the Upsetters this is the most beautiful instrumental reggae album of the seventies, however there is so much more that I haven't discovered yet. By the way, " King Tubby meets rockers inna firehouse" is great dub music, but hard to get.