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Bass Culture

Linton Kwesi Johnson
1 disc

1. Bass Culture
2. Street 66
3. Regga Fi Peach
4. Di Black Petty Booshwah
5. Inglan Is A Bitch
6. Loraine
7. Reggae Sounds
8. Two Sides of Silence
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 576
Credits

Producer Linton Kwesi Johnson; Blackbeard
Engineer John Caffrey; Dennis Bovell; Mark Lusardy
Personnel: Linton Kwesi Johnson (vocals); John Kpiaye (guitar); Julio Finn (harmonica); James Danton (alto saxophone); Buttons Henry Tenyve (tenor saxophone); Patrick Tenyue, Dick Cuthell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell, Webster Johnson (keyboards); Jah Bunny (drums, percussion); Winston Curniffe (drums); Clifton Bailey, Everald Forrest (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Dennis Bovell; Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell.
Recording information: Goosberry Sound Studios.
I remember at the time of its release that many reviewers considered Bass Culture a slight disappointment because it didn't reach the highs of Forces of Victory. Granted, following up a record as great as Forces of Victory is no easy task, but all these years later I wonder what were people thinking. Bass Culture is tremendous, another successful collaboration between Johnson and Bovell with songs that are, at times, even more confrontational (e.g., "Inglan is a Bitch") than anything he had previously recorded. I will admit that the Dub Band sounds better on Forces of Victory, but Johnson is hitting his stride at the time of this release and experimenting with song structure and lyrics a little more (i.e., not everything is explicitly political here). Still, I defy anyone to come up with a reason to not own this record. An extra added bonus is John Kpiaye's great guitar playing. ~ John Dougan