This mixed bag all started with a post on
Funky 16 Colors, with Junior Murvin's original version of
"Police and Thieves." Near the end of the post is a quote from Max Romeo, on the loose
Lee "Scratch" Perry A&R process, using "Police and Thieves" as a reference. According to Romeo, Junior Murvin was one of many who lurked outside of Lee Perry's studio, strumming guitars and singing their songs, hoping to get noticed. It was not unusual for Perry to wander out of his studio, hear an unknown singer, and drag them immediately into the studio to cut their song, which is just what happened with Murvin. Now, that all sounds pretty cool, but when you consider that an incidental discovery became a reggae classic, it's pretty amazing. Then, following the songs lineage, you might remember that the same song, once played unassumingly outside of Perry's studio by a complete unknown, was
covered by the Clash , ultimately exposing millions of rock and punk fans to it. The whole thing becomes kind of mind blowing. Even if you, like myself, have heard both versions dozens of times, it's still hard not to appreciate them more in a different context.
Doing a little more digging, I ran across a few reggae mp3s on a blog called "
Streetkiss," (it's written in French, so I'm assuming it's from France). Stuck between reggae cuts was the
Impressions' "Minstrels and Queens," followed by a reggae version of the same, by the Techniques, retitled
"Queen Majesty." It's a great reworking, but the song really got the treatment a few years later by DJ toaster U Roy. Using the same rhythm and backing vocals used by the Techniques (though rerecorded), his version is renamed
"Chalice in the Palace," (from his 1975 LP, "Dread In a Babylon"). But U Roy takes radical liberties with the song, altering the storyline to include bringing a chalice (slang for bong) to the queen. So, today I learned something. I've been listening to the U Roy version for thirty years, and never knew the origins. This would probably explain why I spend an inordinate amount of time trolling music blogs.
I decided to hunt down the
Heptones' "Book of Rules,", because it's a personal favorite, one of those rare songs that would be incredibly tough to improve on. It has everything that makes the golden era of reggae so enduring; multiple layers of rhythm, a simple bass line, super smooth vocals, trodding tempo, and the textbook chunka-chunk guitar. If the true test of a good song is listening to it with your eyes closed to give it your full attention, then "Book of Rules" has passed mine, many times. Continuing a Heptones hunt, I found myself back on Streetkiss, for the
Heptone's cover of
Sam Cooke's "Only Sixteen," on a post that included a bunch of other great early reggae tracks, including an unreal cover of
Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" by
Tomorrow's Children.
Though most of us cannot read French, the three part series on Street Kiss is highly recommended. It's easy enough to figure out where the author is coming from, particularly in
Part One, where he seems to be writing about early sound systems, posting some early R & B that influenced the tempo and rhythms of early bluebeat and ska, with
Professor Longhair (yip, yip!), Lloyd Price, Wynonie Harris and others.
Part Two, has Prince Buster, the Skatalites, the early Wailers, and the Starlites.
Part Three has a great bunch, including cuts mentioned above,
Alton Ellis' cover of Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale," Peter Tosh's cover of the Box Tops "The Letter" (retitled
"Give Me a Ticket"), and cuts by the Sensations, more Price Buster, the Melodians and Derrick Morgan (among others). I just wish I knew French, because it looks like the guy put a lot of work into the series of posts.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
