5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb overview of the seminal reggae record label....., November 17, 2008
This review is from: Randy's 50th Anniversary (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)
The '17 North Parade' offshoot of the VP record label has been issuing excellent reggae revive albums and compilations for a few years now but this might be their masterpiece which is appropriate as VP records evolved from the Jamaican based Randy's record label which is the subject of this compilation. The package includes two full hour plus music CDs and a "bonus" DVD telling the story of Randy's. Whilst the DVD is a pretty basic affair the story it tells is fascinating for reggae buffs like myself and the wealth of talent involved is amazing for the cognoscenti including many luminaries from the golden age of reggae. The music CDs are just fantastic, CD1 showing the evolution of the music on Randy's through the 1960s from raw R&B inspired ska through rocksteady to early reggae with an extraordinary range of talent including the Maytals, Alton Ellis, Lord Creator, John Holt and even the Wailers. CD2 though is the real deal (and ultimately why I purchased this item) showing what Randy's were up to in their early 70's purple patch with a quite brilliant selection of instrumentals (inc. Pablo's immortal 'Java'), lovers (eg. Alton Ellis' 'Too Late' and Dennis Brown's 'Cheater') and Roots (eg. Senya's 'Children of the Ghetto), all of it good and most of it great. I must also note that the sound quality is straight from the top drawer with the music sounding like it was remastered from the original master tapes, a rarity in reggae reissues believe me. My only wish is that there is enough in the vaults for a second volume, hopefully including 'Rolling Stone' by the Psalms, 'Won't Come Easy' by Sweeny and the Wailers and 'Evil That You Do' by Roots and the Wailers.
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