(4 / 5)
There’s nothing more stimulating that hearing a piece of music to conjure up memories – good and bad – of days gone by and places, people and even smells.
Reggae music never makes me think of crap British weather, hard times or anything other than the summer sunshine and great days past, and to come. Always. This little beauty is no exception.
A glorious 26 track set from one of the most popular Jamaican groups of all time. This one disc offering, delivers two of the most sought-after LPs from the boss reggae era. “Reggae Power” and “Woman Capture Man”.
Formed by Leonard Dillon, Stephen Taylor and Aston ‘Charlie’ Morrison in the mid-1960s, the Ethiopians were established as one of Jamaica’s best-loved harmony groups, enjoying significant local success from the close of the ska era through to the roots years of the late 1970s.
After a series of major ska and rock steady hits, the group began working with producer, Karl ‘J.J.’ Johnson, with whom they subsequently enjoyed some of the biggest reggae sellers of the late sixties and early seventies.
Most notably “Everything Crash”, “What A Fire”, “Feel The Spirit”, “Hong Kong Flu” and “Woman Capture Man”. These classic cuts, along with very best of the group’s other early collaborations with Johnson, featured on two popular Trojan LPs “Reggae Power” and “Woman Capture Man”, released in ’69 and ’70, respectively.
Now, both of these seminal boss reggae collections finally make their CD debut, which is further enhanced by an additional seven tracks from the era. We get the 10 from “Reggae Power” – which includes “Robert F Kennedy” and “One Dollar Of Soul”, which are credited to the JJ All Stars (not related to me!!) – then the nine “Woman Capture Man” tracks.
The set closes with the seven (and they are well worth hearing) bonus tracks: “Everyday Talking”, “My Testimony”, “Buss Your Mouth”, “Well read”, “My Girl”, “Mek You Go On So” and “Wreck It Up”. Very welcomed release from this respected re-issue label who keep putting a smile on my face with every dig into the archives for their releases. More please…
By JJ Bell
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’ (4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
