Customer Reviews

Reggae Anthology - Joe Gibbs: Scorchers From The Early Years (1967-73)

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The early years of Joe Gibbs' label jams on a developing roots reggae beat driven by the Upsetters and the Revolutionaries, and produced by the Great Lee Scratch Perry and the almost as incredible Niney the Observer. This is roots soul, this is roots power, this is where rap began, this is where dub began, this is where so much modern music began and it is all in the back room of a television repair man in kingston ja. Every cut is good, every cut demands to be listened to again and again, this songs were sold as singles, if you spent all your disposable income on a 7 inch it better be so good you could listen to the groove a thousand times, and you can, oh yes you can.

Every song is an experiment, every song is a discovery, every song is a SCORCHER! This particular collection may be the best collection in the Joe Gibbs series, may be the best collection in the 17 Parade Street series, and if you know those series, you realize that is a massive claim.

The songs also are very rare. I have a massive reggae collection (well, pretty big) and only recognized three songs (the standard Nicky Thomas Love of the Common People, Wreck a Buddy and Dennis Brown's Money in Pocket (and this last was a 12 inch version I hadn't heard before.). These songs are chosen from the early stages of reggae's golden era (in my opinion, 1967-1983) and are still exciting, vital and revolutionary musically.

Not only are these songs outstanding representations of the music of Joe Gibbs, they are also just really great songs. This needn't sit on a shelf for appearances sake, it's quite a listenable recording.