Reggae Discomix Showcase, Vol. 2

Personnel: Lennox Gordon, Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont, Tony Chin (guitar); Herman Marquis (alto saxophone); Bobby Ellis (trumpet); Vin Gordon (trombone); Harold Butler, Ossie Hibbert, Errol "Tarzan" Nelson (keyboards); Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (drums); Sticky Thomas, Ruddy Thomas (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Errol Thompson.
Recording information: 24 Retirement Crescent Kingston 5. Ja; Joe Gibbs Recording Studio; The Golden Sound Of The West Indies.
In the open-air sound system dances of Kingston in the 1960s and 1970s, the crowd wanted the music to go on as long as possible without interruption. To that end, labels began putting out singles on LP-sized 12" records, in extended versions (much the same thing was happening with disco records in the U.S.). Because frugal reggae producers had long since learned that they could make more money with less studio outlay by putting a remixed instrumental version (rather than a second song) on the B-side of a single, it was only natural to tack the remix directly onto the end of the vocal version and extend the mix that way. Add a rapper (a "DJ" or "toaster" in reggae parlance) on top of the dub mix, and chances are you'd have a hit. No one used this technique with more consistently fine results throughout the 1970s than the production team of Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson, who soon became known as "the Mighty Two." The second volume in this three-disc series of discomix compilations from the Gibbs and Thompson vaults finds the pair working with Cornel Campbell (easily reggae's finest falsetto singer) on two excellent tracks, as well as with his fellow superstars Culture and Horace Andy, in addition to such lesser-known but worthy singers as Naggo Morris and Joe Tex. Campbell and DJ Lui Lepke team up for the brilliant "Rope In/Love in a Jamdown," Ruddy Thomas delivers some fine and soul-inflected lover's reggae on "When I Think of You" (whose extended mix features a dub version but no DJ), and a young J.C. Lodge reminds us how she became the queen of lovers rock with the brilliant "More Than I Can Say," which is paired with a top-notch DJ cut by Shorty the President. One or two clunkers mar the set a little bit -- "Friday Evening" is a so-so three-way DJ excursion featuring Joe Tex, U Black, and Welton Irie, none of them sounding at the top of his game, and Naggo Morris' "Jah Guide" is based on a rather tedious two-chord progression and suffers from half-baked (possibly improvised) lyrics as well. But overall, this set is more than worth the price. ~ Rick Anderson