Customer Reviews

King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown Deluxe Edition

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I don't know what this reviewer is talking about "...also known as Glen Adams Upsetters keyboard player...". King Tubby is Osbourne Ruddock ONE of the originators of the style weh call 'rub-a-dub' alongside Lee "Scratch" Perry and another lesser known producer whose name evades me. For real the reviewer don't know what the bumclat she is talking about! very pretentious to think she can talk some bull-isht and get away with it! Augustus Pablo plays the melodica primarily, which is a children's instrument, a small keyboard which has a baffle and a mouthpiece to generate the tones. Clavinet is a floorstanding keyboard instrument which generates sounds similar to an electric guitar, and on some Jazz fusion records occupies the space of an electric guitar i.e. Herbie Hancock "Headhunters".
Christina Roden, you suck. Amazon.com please remove this dubious and inacurate review please!

To further clarify, the riddims herein are written and arranged by Pablo, voiced by various vocalists, notably Jacob Miller whose "Baby I love you so" is the foundation of the title track, and "Keep on Knockin" here in dub as "Keep On Dubbing". So these are dub versions of those tunes with many featuring Pablo blowing on top, therefor putting them in a 'Horn version' or specifically 'Melodica version' context. Semantics.

Anyway, King Tubby meets rockers is absolutely essential and needs no introduction, as it is maybe the most well known 'Dub' albums of all time. This newly issued CD looks great with the added tracks and hopefully correct tracking as previous reissues of this album had incorrect sequencing. You should buy this. Tubbs is eternally the master at the controls, Pablo is the heaviest producer next to Vivain Jackson, and his meditations onn the Melodica are trancendant.

Those who like hip hop, techno, or any other musical development of the last quarter century would do well to acquaint themselves with this masterpiece. This is where remixing began and no one has done it better than King Tubby in the ensuing years. Able to reduce a song down to its core elements and still make it utterly mesmerizing, Tubby paved the way for virtually all modern music. This is an album to play at maximum volume, while the bass and the groove wash over you with that perfect riddim. You can't call yourself a connoisseur of music without getting inside this rhythmic beast.

I am just adding to the voices disgusted by Christina Roden's writing on King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown, which Amazon.com used for their official review. Her so-called review is an insult to the music and its makers, besides not making sense.

For the record, Augustus Pablo plays mainly the melodica, which is an instrument played by blowing through while manipulating a small keyboard that is part of the instrument. Pablo also played various keyboards, including the clavinet. And no one "slowed" the music down to make dub. Dub is simply re-mixed reggae with the vocals all or mostly removed.

I could go on correcting Roden's misinformation, but you get the idea. Ignore Roden and read the other volunteer reviewers for additional proper info.

This album sets the standard by which all dub albums should be judged. though its almost 30 years old , no other album has approached this standard
IT'S SIMPLY THE VERY BEST!

Clavinet, flute?!?!?!?!? Augustus Pablo plays the Melodica people! And to say the album has "no names" on it! Maybe no names as far as pop music is concerned. Pablo and King Tubby are 2 of the most influential Reggae\Dub artists dead or alive!!!!! Comparing them to Bob Marley is equally as ignorant! Please review only items you have half a clue about!!! Thanks

not the first dub LP ever, but really a landmark by which all others are judged - essentially, it's a compilation of version/dub mixes from the B-sides of 7" singles for Augustus Pablo's Rockers label (which even today are not too difficult to find). over the years there's been a bunch of nonsense BS that's been written about this LP, Augustus Pablo and the mythology of King Tubby in general and the Amazon review does nothing to change that. some people have overly active imaginations combined with a complete lack of curiosity about researching. the truth is more interesting than any numbskull made-up crap.

the short story below:

the genesis of "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" is actually Herman Chin-Loy's "Aquarius Dub", released in 1972-73 and is among one of the first dub LP's - Augustus Pablo and Clive Chin of Randy's Studio could probably lay claim to the first LP, which was "Java Dub", released in 1972 and is also another essential dub classic although not as sophisticated technically as "KTMRU". these early "drum and bass" style dub LP's were meant primarily for sound systems and their fans, and were pressed in very limited numbers - typically a couple of hundred copies. the Jamaican record market at the time was overwhelmingly biased towards 7" singles for music buyers and the jukebox industry, so although "version" and early dub B sides were extremely popular and standard on a 7" single by 1972, LP's were minor sellers in comparison.

one of the basic rhythms for the "Aquarius Dub" series of LP's cut for Chin-Loy at Dynamic Studios in 1972 for his Aquarius label was the building block of "KTMRU".
"Jah Jah Dub" later became Jacob Miller's "Baby I Love You So" (Miller recorded a string of singles for Pablo before linking up with Inner Circle in 1975).

the dub, of course, was the B side of the single that is the title track of this "KTMRU" CD. the song is unique in that it started life as an instrumental, became a hit 3 years later as a vocal track, and became a longer lasting classic in the revised dub version. many who know the title track of "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" are unaware of "Baby I Love You So", and fewer still know that it was spawned originally from "Jah Jah Dub"

Herman Chin-Loy was a mentor of Pablo, and is the man who gave him his name. "Augustus Pablo" was a pseudonym artist name of Chin-Loy for several early Aquarius singles featuring different keyboard players, one of which was Horace Swaby - the man who is known as Augustus Pablo today. although originally a relatively unremarkable keyboard player that played at one point with the uptown Now Generation band, Pablo found a niche playing melodica and developing his unique "Far East" style of sparse minor key playing. other artists had used the melodica (including Peter Tosh) before him, but Pablo certainly turned it into his own thing. he and his brother started the Rockers label to release their own productions after Pablo saw little return doing sessions for other producers (like Bunny Lee and the Chin family that owned Randy's) that did well, although like many aspiring labels Rockers suffered from a chronic shoestring budget to operate from.

King Tubby's studio was a spartan, no-frills affair, located in an unassuming house in West Kingston that also contained his electronics business - there was a closet that had been converted to a makeshift vocal booth, a 4 track and 2 track tape deck, a unique second hand MCI 12 x 4 channel mixer that came from Dynamic Studios, echo and reverb unit and not much else. it was for vocal overdubs and mixing only, and it was known initially for being cheap to use. producer Bunny Lee, a long time friend of Tubby, utilized the studio extensively as a way to save money rather than mixing at the bigger commercial facilities like Dynamic. it was Lee who had brokered the sale of the mixer and 4 track from Dynamic to Tubby, the same gear used to record "Jah Jah Dub" and many other early reggae tracks from 1969-1972.

Tubby also did a solid business cutting acetate records on Fridays of one-off mixes ("specials" and "dub plate" mixes) for many local sound systems which were intensely competitive. his own Home Town Hi-Fi sound system, later called King Tubby's Hi-Fi was very popular up until it was shot up and disabled by Jamaican police in 1975. Tubby abandoned his sound system business afterwards, as the political climate had deteriorated by that point where dances were often too dangerous to play. although not affiliated with any political party, King Tubby's Hi-Fi had unfortunately gathered a large and sometimes rowdy Spanglers (PNP gang) following, which was to be the downfall of the sound.

mixing singles at Tubby's was typically very quick, one or two takes, and what's amazing about "KTMRU" is that probably little time at all was spent on anything - every cut was just one more session to come through the door, throw a 2 or 4 track tape reel on the deck, record any overdub, mix it, then on to whoever else was waiting to get something done. this was no different than most of the studios in Kingston, everything was done quickly because time was money. eventually Tubby had to concentrate mainly on his electronics business and there were a few other people mixing there during that era - singer Pat Kelly, Phillip Smart, and primarily Lloyd "Jammy" James who took over most of the mixing and went on to be very famous in his own right. a young Scientist was also mentored at Tubby's studio in the late 70's (he had started winding transformers for Tubby's electronics business). the thriving output of the studio happened despite an era of intense political/gang warfare in the Waterhouse area where the studio was located. sessions stopped abruptly when JLP-vs.-PNP badman gun battles sometimes erupted unchecked in what was once a quiet residential area not too many years before.

by the time KTMRU was compiled in 1976, there were already at least a few King Tubby compilations that had been released and had done well - mostly due to the tremendous amount of music Bunny Lee had mixed there. so, the idea of compiling a Rockers greatest hits of dub sides was a no-brainer..... the mixes had already been paid for and there was no overhead except for pressing, and the guy who mixed them was the top ranking mixer in town with a popular sound system. combined with Pablo's new status as a rising star producer with some serious roots tunes, it was bound to do well. nonetheless, with Rockers not having the means to get it distributed internationally it was licensed to various foreign labels over the years, originally released in LP form to foreign markets by Clocktower in 1976 - "Baby I Love You So" was issued with "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" as a single by Island the following year, which probably gave it the most international exposure. there aren't nearly as many JA copies of KTMRU LP floating around, it was released in Jamaica by Rockers sublabel Yard Music in 1976 as well.

this "deluxe" CD has some extra music on it, the original LP only had tracks 1 - 11, if i remember right. if you like "KTMRU", then it's a safe bet that you'd like Augustus Pablo's "Original Rockers" LP/CD which has some of the same tracks in a different mix, plus some other dubs from the same time period.

for people who may not be as familiar with Jamaican music as others or how the music biz in JA at that time worked, to better understand the context of "KTMRU" you might also check out Jacob Miller's "Who Say Jah No Dread?" LP/CD (vocal and dubs for many of the KTMRU tracks - the dubs are identical, as they would be with the 7" singles), and also the aforementioned "Aquarius Dub" (unofficially sometimes called Volume 1, because there were 3 or 4 "Aquarius Dub" LP's), and know also that there were 7" singles with full vocal and dub for most if not all of the tracks that existed before "King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown" was even conceived.

its nice to read so much love to dub,
and one thing i remember reading this great
and true stuff here was like there's no other dub specialist
than pablo and tubby, hey wattabout Scientists?
hey, they're G R E A T..2

So quit picking on her. Anyone who uses the word "sophomore" ( wise fool- thus an apt name for a know- it- all in their second year of school, but little else) to describe a second album doesn't realize they are quietly insulting the effort. This is an innocent error, born of the software thesaurus. Cut the girl a little slack. Her review for Amazon may have been a sophomore effort, after all. ;)

Heard some of this in a friend's collection and realized I did not own this masterpiece. How did that happen? No worries, it's taken care of now. Absolutely essential dub.

I don't claim to be an Augustus Pablo know it all. My introduction to him was the song "King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown" through it being on GTA: San Andreas. But I do own 2 of his albums, this one and one called "Dub, Reggae, and Roots from the MELODICA King". As you can see, the title is MELODICA King, not clavinet. So I have to agree with the people who say get it right, Amazon. It's apparently NOT a clavinet, or that would be the title. Anywho, this is a great album. Nothing better than putting this in and driving through the mountains, talk about peaceful. If you haven't heard Augustus Pablo, please give it a shot, you won't be sorry. This is truely beautiful music from one of JA's dub masters, do not overlook this one!!!