The King At The Control

A brand new release of "lost tracks" from the father of dub is something to look forward to. So when the cd " King Tubby's Classics The Lost Midnight Rock Dubs pt 2" dropped through the letter box yesterday it was immediately popped into the drawer of the cd player.

Most of the dubs on the compilation date from the early 80s when Ruddock was busy working on plans to refit his studio with modern technology and replace the four track mixing desk that he had used from 1972 onwards. It states that some of the dubs on the cd have probably been created by some of Tubbs' apprentices which included Scientist, Prince Jammy and Philip Smart and a plethora of others. But all of the tracks have the distinctive feel of the great producer and are worthy of having his name stamped on them.

The compilation if not essential will enhance anybody with an interest in dub's collection.

King Tubby - Kingston Dub

Grumblin' Dub

One of the things that confused me when I first started getting into Dub Reggae was that you would be listening to a compilation of the works of King Tubby, Lee Perry or Joe Gibbs when you would hear something vaguely familiar and you would rush to consult the track listing and be none the wiser as the title, for example Angola Crisis bears no resemblance at all to Uptown Top Rankin'.

Today's posting is a dub of Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves, re-titled Grumblin Dub and credited to the Upsetters. The track can be found on the excellent Arkology boxset.

If you have any interest in the music of Jamaica, I can thoroughly recommend Bass Culture by Lloyd Bradley.

The Upsetters - Grumblin' Dub

Joe Gibbs

Here is a little bit of dub to brighten up and hopefully warm you up if the weather where you are is anything like what it's been here over the weekend, still could be worse could be in the Mid-West of the States.

Joe Gibbs was an influential Jamaican producer, who started off working with Lee Perry in 1967 until Perry left to start his own Upsetter label. Gibbs was responsible for many rocksteady productions during the early 70's.

In 1973 he released the first of his African Dub series of albums with his in-house band The Professionals which included Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare . A further 3 albums followed in the series. Both tracks posted are taken from these albums.

The first track is from Chapter Two and is a remake of a track by Alton Ellis called I'm Still In love and was later used as the backing to a major hit single.

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Angola Crisis

The second track is from Chapter 3 and is a remake of Rockfort Rock by Sound Dimension.

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Dub Three

Two Sevens Clash

After listening to quite a bit of dub over the weekend. I thought I should post one of my favorite dub tracks.

Two Sevens Clash was the first release by roots reggae outfit Culture and was produced by Joe Gibbs. The song was based on an apocalyptic prediction by Marcus Garvey that there would be world wide turmoil on the seventh of July 1977 when the sevens met. In Kingston on that date many businesses did not open and many citizens didn't even venture outdoors.

I get this feeling of turmoil every Monday morning.

Culture - Two Sevens Clash