RIDDIM DEPOT. YEAH, WE GOT THAT.

Garret Mimms's "A Quiet Place" was just a slow tempo soul song when it was released in 1964, making it to #78 in the charts. Hardly a smash hit. But when it crossed the water over to Jamaica, boy, did it ever get legs. The Paragons recorded it at Duke Reid's in 1968, and the riddim (rhythm) that it was laid over has been mined for the past four decades. Usually referred to as the "Man Next Door" riddim, it's been used by U Roy, Doctor Alimatado, and I Roy, to toast over, and the song itself, with the riddim (as opposed to Simms's original version), has been covered by everybody from Horace Andy and Dennis Brown to the Slits. My personal favorite (which you should rightly not give a shit about) is Dr. Alimantado's version, "Poison Flour", because he incorporates Horace Andy's vocal tracks as well as the riddim, and, of course, his own spouting off . He must have like the song, because he used it twice, as did U Roy, John Holt (solo and with the Paragons), and Horace Andy (solo, with the Paragons, and with Massive Attack). And you just know the session musicians that came up with the riddim probably got the paid for the session, but squat for coming up with the very part of it that has proved so enduring. I've no clue if you can be paid royalties for just playing a song differently, but that opens up the biggest can of worms in reggae, who did what? It's like a damn free for all over there.

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Songs:
Garnet Simms - A Quite Place (streaming at YouTube
The Paragons - A Quiet Place mp3 at Essentially Eclectic
Horace Andy - Man Next Door (streaming) at YouTube With dub version.
Dr. Alimantado - Poison Flour mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
I Roy- Noisy Place (streaming) at YouTube
U Roy - Peace and Love In the Ghetto (streaming) at YouTube
Dennis Brown - Man Next Door mp3 at Essential Eclectic
The Slits - Man Next Door (live) mp3 at Essentially Eclectic

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER RIDDIM

Just a quick one, because I ran into a post at Oliver Wang's trusty Soul Sides that's right up my alley.  It features three cuts from the Sister Nancy LP above.  One is "Bam Bam" which I happened to post a day later, in a thing about the Stalag riddim,  One of the other songs posted is "Roof Over My Head", which O says is based on the same riddim as the Heptones "Gonna Fight". They sound different to me, but it could be that I'm distracted by the horns in the Heptones' song.  Regardless, the "Gonna Fight" riddim is another one that seems to have legs, and if you've been paying attention, you'll know that the Heptones featured Leroy Sibbles, who was gushed about here a week ago. Check the "Gonna Fight" entry at Reggae ID. It's no stalag, but has a respectable history nonetheless. Enough of this for now.  The riddim rabbit hole is a deep one, and I need to eat dinner.

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Listen: 
Sister Nancy - Roof Over My Head mp3 at Soul Sides 
Sister Nancy - Two more cuts at Soul Sides 
The Heptones - Gonna Fight (streaming) at YouTube 
Bonus unrelated Heptones cut: 
The Heptones - Love Won't Come Easy mp3 (via DivShare) at Derek's Daily 45 Crucial Studio One 
Visit: 
Other Heptones posts

MEET THE RIDDIM MAKER

See that guy up there?  That's Winston Riley.  In 1973, he created what's known in reggae as the Stalag riddim, often referenced as the most used riddim in reggae.  Riley was a producer and owner of the Techniques record label, and former member of the Techniques.  After the Stalag riddim made it's first appearance, in the unassuming "Stalag 17" by Ansel Collins, produced by Riley, the floodgates were open, and the riddim had a life of it's own.   Today, the Riddim Database lists roughly 1500 songs that use it, and even if you discount versions and dub sides, that's a hell of a lot of mileage for one riddim.  You'd be hard pressed to find any sound sampled or copied that much, let alone a complete song.

Not too nuts about this one, but there is good footage, including some shots of Studio One 45s getting pressed. Geek out.

Hat's off to Club Cortez for prompting this. He did a post about the Stalag thing a few days ago. I'm tired of typing "riddim". But that's what it is. Textbook.

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Listen:
Ansel Collins - Stalag 17 mp3 at Fly On The Wall 1973
Sister Nancy -  Bam Bam mp3 at Pancakes and Beer 1982
Yami Bolo - When A Man Is In Love mp3 at Club Cortez 1985
Big Youth - Jim Screechy (streaming) at YouTube 197?
The Stalag riddim - Unadorned version (streaming) at YouTube
Winston Riley in the Techiques:
The Techniques - You Don't Care mp3 at  Full Songs 1968
The Techniques - Oh Babe mp3 at Dinosaur Gardens 1966
Visit:
Winston Riley at Wikipedia 
Stalag Riddims in Honor of the Late Winston Riley at Uncommon Caribbean 
Stalag Riddim entry at Riddim Database