STUDIO ONE RARITIES

Oh yeahhhhh. If you're at all into reggae, particularly early and rare, you're in for a treat. Here's a new one. a massive mix of more than sixty early and rare Coxsone Dodd productions, from his Studio One and Coxsone labels. If you're thinking, "yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before, Studio One, blah, blah, blah..." think again.  This is a recently posted mix and there's a lot of stuff here you probably haven't heard, obscure artists, familiar riddims with different vocals, and versions available only on the flips of records that are rare to begin with. Speaking of versions, can any of you reggae eggheads ID the DJ toasting over Burning Spear's "Rocking Time"? That's one of the more recognizable cuts here. Without going into specifics about each and every cut, take my word for it, this is dynamite stuff. As I've posted a lot of Dodd's work before, you guessed it, it's recycled text time. If you've stopped by the earlier Studio One post, just skip the next three paragraphs. It's for the new people:

Dodd was the owner of Studio One, the most prolific reggae studio in the sixties and seventies. He had his own studio, his own house band, and his own, often copied, rhythms. He was so good at producing reggae hits, that he had over ten different record labels so Jamaican radio stations wouldn't shy away from the records fearing charges of favoritism. He gave a lot of reggae artists their first breaks, and while many would record elsewhere, most owe their musical identities to Dodd.

His chief competitor in the early years of rock steady and reggae was Duke Reid, who ran Treasure Isle records. But Dodd got consistently better results from the artists that the studios shared. Many attribute that to the differences in demeanor. Duke Reid was an ex-cop, who often wore a side arm in the studio, and was known to shoot into the studio ceiling when something pissed him off; and, being an ex-cop, he prohibited the smoking of weed by the musicians. Dodd, on the other hand, was more open minded, and chose to look the other way when the weed came out, which led to an entirely different creative process. Most reggae rhythms at the time were written in the studio, the results of in-studio jams; in the case of Studio One, loose jams.

Coxsone Dodd's adult life was all about music. It all started with a trip to the U.S. to work in the fields. He came back with R&B records, and began playing them at sound systems,. He then opened a recording studio, and a record store, and created multiple record labels. He discovered dozens of artists, and created rhythms still recycled today. He was there, from the beginning of ska, through rock steady and on into reggae, a key proponent of all. Even after he started to slow down in his later years, he moved to the U.S. and opened another record store. He is one of the most significant figures in history of reggae. In these parts, Coxsone Dodd is the man.

There's a handful of other random Studio One mp3s down there, to satisfy the cherry pickers. The real show, though, is the mix. Here's a quick how-to guide for this one: It's posted at Zippy Share in a 172 mb zip with over sixty individual mp3s (it takes six minutes). Just make sure to enter the Captcha, and then click on the "Download Now" link (not the button that just says "Download"). The song list resides at the host of this baddass puppy, Underground Undercover.

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Listen:
Jackie Mittoo - Hot Milk mp3 at Badminton Stamps
The Minstrells - People Get Ready mp3 at Club Cortez 
Errol Dunkley - Way Down Low mp3 at Pixie Radio
Ken Boothe - Set Me Free mp3 at Surface to Air 
Alton Ellis - Tumbling Tears mp3 at Snuthing Anything
The mother lovin' mix, 60+ songs:
Coxsonne Dodd Rarities at Underground Undercover (where it says "LINK" at the end to the text) NOTE: Once at Zippy Share, enter the Captcha, and then click on the "Download Now" link, not the button that just says "Download"