ARTHUR MEET AUGUSTUS

I was on my way home from the daily swim and, it being Wednesday, the farmers market was going on a block up from the beach, which in turn brings the usual Wednesday throngs crowding the park down by the beach. People selling their homemade crap (candles, tie dye shit, painted rocks, etc), hula hoopers, an amateur drum circle, gymnasts (and the gawkers who do what they do) and various and sundry street musicians. As I was walking towards the alley there was a guy with a nice looking melodica and I stopped to talk to him. I asked him if he knew who Augustus Pablo was and he said he didn't. I gave him a brief description, basically that Pablo was the shit, the best melodica player in reggae whose work with King Tubby was all time. He started typing it into his phone, and I thought that was going to take too long and I offered to send him some links. He told me his name was Arthur Bloom and he could best be reached at his website, Musicorps. That sounded somewhat familiar, and when I got home I found that this was the organization that helps vets with disabilities through music. Holy shit, I'd seen this guy on network news before but didn't recognize him (today he was wearing shades and his hair was a little longer). Now, there's a remote chance that it was someone who was putting me on, but he didn't seem like that sort. Regardless, Arthur Bloom, if that really was you I met today, thank you for helping vets with music. It is healing, you know that. Nice to have bumped fists with you. And if the person I met wasn't Arthur Bloom and was just blowing smoke, fuck him, he gets no Pablo.

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Listen:
Augustus Pablo - King Tubbys Meets the Rockers Uptown mp3 at Nintendo Planet Video
Augustus Pablo - Straight to Ethiopia mp3 at Mixtape Riot
Augustus Pablo - Slave Masters' Execution mp3 at Pfftp
Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile mp3 at Zachi Team Tree Tops
Augustus Pablo - Ali Babba Riddim Dub mp3 at Fredeeky
Jacob Miller with Augustus Pablo - Baby I Love You So mp3 at Noise From the Void
Augustus Pablo - Rockers Dub mp3 at Podcast Battle
Augustus Pablo - Cassava Piece mp3 at The Musicologist
Full LP:
Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (streaming) at YouTube Arthur, this is the one I was talking about. I had it mixed up with Firehouse.
Visit:
Musicorps
Augustus Pablo at Wikipedia
Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown at Wikipedia

TRES VIVA TIRADO. SI.

Did you know that Augustus Pablo did a cover of "Viva Tirado"? I did not. Cool, I have an excuse to re-post El Chicano's version too. And the original by Gerald Wilson. What the heck.

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Listen:
El Chicano - Viva Tirado mp3 at Internet Archive
Augustus Pablo - Viva Tirado (streaming) at YouTube
Gerald Wilson - Viva Tirado mp3 at Musica del Alma

200%? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Here's a mixed bag of reggae cuts, a compilation called 200% Dynamite!, with all sorts of odds and ends. I'm not sure what the underlying theme is; it really is all over the place. Toots and the Maytals' "Funky Kingston" is probably the best known. There's a U Roy ("Tom Drunk"!), Augustus Pablo, a surprisingly funky cut from the Skatalites, Prince Buster, the Upsetters, Jackie Mittoo and a bunch of others. Check out the Abyssinians' "Mandela". That thing is stoney.

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Listen:
Augustus Pablo - Rockers Rock mp3 at Internet Archive
U Roy - Tom Drunk mp3 at Internet Archive
The Abyssinians - Mandela mp3 at Internet Archive
The whole LP:
200% Dynamite! - 17 tracks at Internet Archive Note: In the right column, under "Download options" click on "VBR MP3 Files"

MONSTERS OF MELODICA

I've got this weird thing about a hot dry fall day and the melodica. It probably started with the Sandals, particularly their theme from The Endless Summer. It just fits a day like today (82 degrees with a water temp of 68). The inclusion of melodica had to have influenced a similar association with Augustus Pablo's "Cassava Piece", but even that one is long running. Whatever, they work.

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Listen:
The Sandals - The Endless Summer mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 
Augustus Pablo - Cassava Piece mp3 at Pampelmoose
Augustus Pablo - More here
The Sandals - Endless Summer soundtrack at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 12 songs

NOW EXHALE

It's the end of the week. Ease into it with the only musician who ever got famous from playing the melodica. I felt like a reggae break and couldn't decide on a vocalist. I just needed vibe. Augustus Pablo seemed fit. You've heard him before. If not, wiki him fool. We're not waiting around.  

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Augustus Pablo - King Tubbys Meets the Rockers Uptown mp3 at Nintendo Planet Video
Augustus Pablo - Slave Masters' Execution mp3 at Pfftp
Augustus Pablo - Cassava Piece mp3 at Pampelmoose
Augustus Pablo - 1-2-3 Version mp3 at B3ta Cr3ation
Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile mp3 at Zachi Team Tree Tops

HEADS UP TERRY

This one is a no brainer.  Tame, uninformed or otherwise pedestrian reggae mixes are a dime a dozen, but it's not often you come across reggae mixes with vintage dubplates and four, count 'em four, blank labels, including one by Augustus Pablo and one by Tommy McCook.  This is good stuff folks, at times scratchy, exotic, and other worldly, it puts you smack dab at some dusty sound system four or five decades ago.  All seventeen songs are from 45s, and if you know Jamaican pressings, you know we're not talking audiophile (a guy I know said he once owned a JA pressing that had a fly pressed into the grooves.)  If you ask me that adds to it.  Listen for yourself, it's at the link below, both streaming and as a quick download.

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Listen: 
King Crab Reggae Selection by Frankie Francis at Sofrito 17 songs, all killer, no filler.  Go there for the song list.

KING OF THE MELODICA

There's reggae, and there's dub, and then there's Augustus Pablo, a vibe all his one. He could be the best known melodica player ever, and his King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown album is definitely one of the most significant reggae albums of all time. Think of it as reggae's Dark Side of the Moon. Though they differ in genre, they hold the same stature as absolute icons. What I like? Speaking strictly from an aesthetic perspective (because I love graphic design, both good and cheap ass), I love the fact that an classic, of any genre, was originally released with a so-horrid-it's-good LP cover. Your everyday Joe would take one look at it (below) and just move on to the next bin. Yet, a reggae fiend salivates when they see that cover. That's how good it is. (You ought to just buy it.) I think whoever reissues it next (because it's been reissued with different covers several times), ought to have a cover contest. Release it on vinyl with the package it deserves, the whole sheebang.

Here's a cross section of his career, including the "King Tubbys..." title track, and (right in the middle of all that below), the King Tubbys LP. There's a ton of other stuff too (10+ LPs). Oh yeah, he was born Horace Swaby, June 21, 1954, and died May 18, 1999. (Lengthy bio linked below.)

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Listen:
Augustus Pablo - King Tubbys Meets the Rockers Uptown mp3 at Nintendo Planet Video
Augustus Pablo - Straight to Ethiopia mp3 at Mixtape Riot
Augustus Pablo - Chapter 2 mp3 at Siblingshot On the Bleachers
Augustus Pablo - Tubby's Dub Song mp3 at Siblingshot On the Bleachers
Augustus Pablo - Ragga mp3 at File Den
Augustus Pablo - Java mp3 at Rraurl.com.br
Augustus Pablo - Slave Masters' Execution mp3 at Pfftp
Augustus Pablo - Cassava Piece mp3 at Pampelmoose
Augustus Pablo - 1-2-3 Version mp3 at B3ta Cr3ation
Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile mp3 at Zachi Team Tree Tops
Augustus Pablo - Dread Eye mp3 at Reggae Top Site
Augustus Pablo - Black Gunn mp3 at Reggae Top Site
Augustus Pablo - Please Sunrise mp3 at Reggae Top Site
Augustus Pablo w/Lee Perry & the Wailers - Satisfy My Soul Dub mp3 at 99.media.v4 This one takes a while to download, but it's worth it.
Full LPs:
Augustus Pablo - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown at Satta Massagana (via Easy Share)
Augustus Pablo Meets Lee Perry at Black Ark at You and Me On a Jamboree (via Z-Share)
Augustus Pablo - 5 more LPs at You and Me On a Jamboree
Augustus Pablo - 3 more LPs and a 4 LP box set at Satta Massagana
Video:
Augustus Pablo - Rockers Rock (live) at YouTube
Augustus Pablo - Rare acoustic footage at YouTube with vocals by Hugh Mundell and Augustus Pablo on guitar and melodica.
Augustus Pablo - Frozen Dub (live) at YouTube
Augustus Pablo - Java (live) at YouTube
Read:
El Rockers - Augustus Pablo fan site (Excellent)
Augustus Pablo at Wikipedia
Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown at Wikipedia
Augustus Pablo - Bio at Reggae Vibes
Related:
Earlier reggae posts here

SEE YOU ON THE COUCH

Here's a good selection of dub. Dub aids digestion when prone on a couch, semi-comatose from a tryptophan overload. It's also great for making plans on how to spend all the time you'll free up by not shopping or buying anything for one day. Friday is Buy Nothing Day, which I highly endorse. How many days can you celebrate by not doing anything?

King Tubby - Satta Dread Dub mp3
Augustus Pablo - Keep on Dubbing mp3
The Upsetters - Black Panta mp3
Scientist - Babylon Fight Dub mp3
More dub at For The Sake of the Song

More about Buy Nothing Day:
Buy Nothing Day at Wikipedia
Buy Nothing Day at Adbusters.org

BOSS SOUNDS FROM THE TRASTOS HI-FI

One advantage of being a certain age is that, when it comes to reggae, your objectivity isn't necessarily skewed by hippies, hacky-sack, Bob Marley, trustifarians or other such reggae cliches. My friends and I were lucky enough to be turned on to reggae as an ersatz chaser to a punk rock cocktail. When all other mellow music was getting tossed aside, reggae was not. Simply put, it was the best rebel music with a soulful beat available. It was an awesome awakening: the hunt for reggae on the shelf, any store shelf (Ratner's Electric in downtown San Diego?!?), the booming sound system of the reggae disco at North Park Lion's Club (you could feel the bass in your chest), the kind recommendations from reggae freak elders, and learning the proper way to spell New York ("a knife, a fork, a bottle, and a cork, that's the way you spell New York..."). And all of that discovering of this other acceptable genre comes flooding back when I hear anything from Horace Andy's first album, "Skylarking".

At the time, a lot of earlier reggae was getting licensed in the U.S. and issued at bargain prices. Marley had yet to break and it seemed like the reggae that was being released as if spattering paint, just hoping some of it would stick. The reissues were typically released with bland packaging with total disregard of the exotic covers of the originally issued LPs. It boggles the mind to think about what could have happened if these LPs were released with the original packaging (as seen here). What if the significance of these reissues was more widely recognized, and what would have happened if reggae music as a whole had broken before the rampant one dimensional Marley mania?

Before any miscreants start whining about how great Bob Marley was, let me pose this question: what would rock n' roll be like if the only artist most people were familiar with was the Rolling Stones? You get the picture, so make room on your plate. There is so much more essential reggae.

.

Horace Andy - Skylarking mp3 at KinoSport

All the ingredients are here: an essential 1969 Studio One classic
Horace Andy - Skylarking, the entire LP download at Global Groove
Sound Dimension - Real Rock mp3 at The Suburbs are Killing Us
The house band at Studio One with the rhythm that backs 250+ early reggae classics
Sound Dimension - Real Rock Version mp3 at The Suburbs Are Killing Us
The Heptones -Hypocrite mp3 at Ear It Now
The Maytals - Pressure Drop mp3 and 6 other Maytal cuts at I Predict A Riot
Sister Nancy - Bam Bam mp3 and 11 early reggae & rock steady cuts at I Predict a Riot
Bam Bam, from 1982, had to have been on MIA's turntable at some point
Alton Ellis - I'm Still in Love With You mp3 at Grand Panda
If the rhythm sounds familiar, you must have checked Althia and Donna's Uptown Top Ranking
Big Youth - Screaming Target mp3 at Djnodj
The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad mp3 at Motel de Moka
King Tubby - Take Five mp3 at 8106
How this is a King Tubby cut when there's no dub is beyond me, but a cover of Dave Brubeck with a groove keeps me from asking too many questions...

Augustus Pablo and King Tubby - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown mp3 and 3 others at Dollar Bin Jams

Another all time classic: melodica + dub = chill bliss