Yeah, this record has been here before, a bunch. It's one of my favorite reggae LPs, early Horace Andy on Studio One. Seriously, this is the shit. As close to the true sound of classic Studio One from the golden age, the early seventies, as you're gonna get. The reason I'm posting it is because I had a jolt earlier today. I was going down my alley on the way to the beach and a car driving down the street at the end of the alley drove by playing, no, blasting Horace Andy's original version of "Skylarking", the Studio One version. I doubt seriously that anyone but me would get worked up about something like that, at least not in this neighborhood. Here's why: It's kind of obscure, you have to be into reggae to know the song, and you have to be really into reggae to know the Studio One version. Most Horace Andy compilations feature the song, but a later version recorded who knows where. And then there is the stuff he did with Massive Attack. Not my thing. Another thing is that my neighborhood ain't exactly dread central. There's a fair amount of rastas, but they don't typically broadcast their tunes from a car. Most of the reggae you hear around here is either Bob Marley, some digital type dancehall shit (not a big fan of dancehall nor digital reggae) or some horrid white reggae crap (Slightly Stoopid lives in town). In fact, I think that today might be the first time I heard any Studio One Horace Andy outside of my own apartment or house (years ago I lived in a house where we played it quite a bit).
Amazingly the link I've posted before for the whole LP was still good (it's been online for twelve years). So, yeah, if you like the samples below, go get it. For those of you who have been there, done that, there's a couple related things down there too. Someone posted a dub version of the Studio One "Skylarking"version on YouTube. I let it run while I was working on this post so I wasn't paying attention when the song ended. Then it started again and it wasn't the same version. So I opened the screen it was playing in and it was a cover, by a kid! What's more, this kid does all sorts of classic reggae, he sings and plays organ. This kid does a cover of Jackie Mittoo's "Ghetto Organ"!! Even if no one else thinks that's fucking awesome, I know my friend Scott will. He gets it.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Horace Andy - Skylarking mp3 at Tumblr
Horace Andy - Skylarking (+ dub) (streaming) at YouTube
Horace Andy - Where Do the Children Play (streaming) at YouTube
Horace Andy - Mamie Blue (streaming) at YouTube
The full LP:
Horace Andy - Skylarking (download) at Global Grooves Click on the green download button, fill in the captcha, and you're gold baby.
The wiz kid:
Kailash - Ghetto Organ at YouTube Jackie Mittoo cover
Kailash - Skylarking at YouTube Horace Andy cover
Kailash - His channel at YouTube
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