Have you ever heard a good white reggae band? Yeah, I know. Most of them, practically all of them, just flat out suck. Their "roots" are either Sublime or if they're a little older, someone like Big Mountain. Horrid stuff. I really haven't heard many that are worth bothering with. Several years ago I had a relative in a reggae band with "roots" in the band name but their music could not have been further from it. This past week, a guy I know told me his brother was in a reggae band, yet another with "roots" in the name. With more then a little apprehension I went looking. Give the guy a chance, I thought. Alas, the streak continues.Again, if Sublime is your roots, then I guess the name would fit. Fine, I guess, for people that don't know any better. White reggae, with few exceptions, lacks heaviness. It's like new wave vs punk rock.
After hearing that second "roots" band mentioned above, I had to get their noncommittal milk toast out of my head, I went digging and ran into a cut by Dillinger. Mr. "Cocaine Running Around My Brain" was by default my ersatz safe harbor. The song itself (below) isn't the best of his, nor the worst, of those I've heard anyway (I have a few of his LPs, a two CD compilation, and a 12 inch of, you guessed it, "Cocaine"). Then I saw that the B side was a version of the Abyssinians' "Satta Massagana". Okay, cool, this was starting to do the trick. For the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the original I was hoping that the link to it I posted a few months ago was still good, and it was. It's such a cool song. It's been called a blueprint for roots reggae. You know what else is cool? All of the links for the whole LP are still good. Cool shit all over the place.
After hearing that second "roots" band mentioned above, I had to get their noncommittal milk toast out of my head, I went digging and ran into a cut by Dillinger. Mr. "Cocaine Running Around My Brain" was by default my ersatz safe harbor. The song itself (below) isn't the best of his, nor the worst, of those I've heard anyway (I have a few of his LPs, a two CD compilation, and a 12 inch of, you guessed it, "Cocaine"). Then I saw that the B side was a version of the Abyssinians' "Satta Massagana". Okay, cool, this was starting to do the trick. For the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the original I was hoping that the link to it I posted a few months ago was still good, and it was. It's such a cool song. It's been called a blueprint for roots reggae. You know what else is cool? All of the links for the whole LP are still good. Cool shit all over the place.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Dillinger - I Saw He Saw mp3 at Marley Discography
The Abyssinians - Satta Version mp3 at Marley Discography
The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana mp3at Internet Archive
The Abyssinians - Declaration of Rights mp3at Internet Archive
The Abyssinians - 12 more at Internet Archive In the right column, under "Download options" click on "VBR MP3 Files"
Dillinger - I Saw He Saw mp3 at Marley Discography
The Abyssinians - Satta Version mp3 at Marley Discography
The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana mp3at Internet Archive
The Abyssinians - Declaration of Rights mp3at Internet Archive
The Abyssinians - 12 more at Internet Archive In the right column, under "Download options" click on "VBR MP3 Files"
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