Every time I hear anything from Big Youth's "Hit The Road Jack" LP, I'm instantly transported to a house I lived in years ago (along with what seemed like half of the ragtag music scene in San Diego at the time). It was part of the running soundtrack of that house (more about that here, here and here) and, I'm sure that there are more than a couple old roomies from that house, who, like me, will feel a pang when they hear it. I've said it before, records are like old friends, comforting constants that, no matter what crap fills your day to day life in the now, will be there to take you to that place. Somewhere buried in a box of photos, I have one from Christmas day (either 1980 or 81) at that house, that has a gift of herbal origins a roommate received, spread across the back cover of the LP, like some sort of trophy, Big Youth's K2 sunglasses peering through. That all flashed through my head in just the first few seconds of "Hit the Road Jack", so this one goes out to those roommates, who after many years of separation, have almost all been reconnected via Facebook.
So, anyway, Big Youth was a toaster, DJ or whatever it is you want to refer to the vocalists of the most badass strain of reggae as. For the uninitiated (in short), reggae DJs are not those who play the records. Originally they introduced records at reggae sound systems (usually outdoors). Gradually these introductions started getting longer, and more stylized. Before you can say "play the version", they took over. Each with their own trademark catch phrases and inflections, sometimes improvised and sometimes half sung, they were the happening thing back in early 70's Jamaica. And that was where rap really originated. True story. Jamaican DJ Kool Herc, brought the style with him to the Bronx, roughly around '73. You can read his bio here. Meanwhile (skipping all over the place), back in Jamaica, though not one of the very first DJ's, Big Youth was workin' it, with records all over the charts; and DJ music in general was at its peak. If you have a half hour, watch the Sound Class video (it's been linked at the top right of this page for the past couple months).
About a few of the cuts below: "Hit the Road Jack" was the one that got me all worked up way back when, and it worked up a fuss over here again, just today. "Cool Breeze" uses a rhythm track from Scotty's "Draw Your Brakes" (which was the first DJ song for many, due to it's inclusion on the soundtrack of film The Harder They Come). "Dread Is Best" is also from the "Hit The Road Jack" LP, and "Streets In Africa" borrows liberally from War's "The World Is A Ghetto" (listen and compare below). All of the songs below are pretty tough, and since I don't know any full on Big Youth completists, I'd bet that there's something for about any level of Big Youth fiend among them.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Big Youth - Hit the Road Jack mp3 at PashPash
Big Youth - Cool Breeze mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Scotty - Draw Your Brakes mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Big Youth - Big Youth Special mp3 at Broklyn Beats
Big Youth - Johnny Reggae mp3 at Reggae Total
Big Youth - Screaming Target mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Big Youth - Solomon Grundy mp3 at DJNo DJ
Big Youth - My Time mp3 at Reggae Top Site
Big Youth -Dread Is Best mp3 at Reggae Top Site
Big Youth - Streets In Africa mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
War - The World Is A Ghetto mp3 at Looker.Hostlandia
Video:
Big Youth at Reggae Sunsplash 1982 video at YouTube
Big Youth - Train to Rhodesia (stock JA footage) video at YouTube
Scotty - Stop That Train (audio only) at YouTube
Read:
Big Youth profile at Perfect Sound Forever
Big Youth at Wikipedia
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