Roots & Culture Vinyl 253 Items

This album here is a lightning roller coaster musical journey through the music of Studio One, the most important record company in the history of Jamaican reggae music. Ska and Rock Steady feature from the greatest names in reggae: The Skatalites, The Maytals, Marcia Griffiths and The Heptones alongside vocal and roots styles from Horace Andy, Willie Williams and Wailing Souls; DJ and dancehall styles from Michigan and Smiley, Prince Jazzbo and Lone Ranger; plus some wicked instrumental and dub. It's all here! 100% essential foundation style.

Studio One Freedom Sounds is the new collection from Soul Jazz/ Studio One focussing on the intense period in the second half of the 1960s when Studio One’s vast and unbeatable output of ska, soul, rock steady and reggae made it literally one of the hottest musical empires in the world.
During this highly successful period, Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd released hundreds and hundreds of superlative singles seemingly on an almost daily basis, in the process making huge stars out of Jamaican singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, The Wailers, Slim Smith, Jackie Opel and many more.
Powered by the finest in-house musicians working in Jamaica, whether it was The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo’s Soul Brothers, The Sounds Dimension or The Soul Vendors, Studio One functioned as hit factory on the scale of Motown in the USA, shaping and defining reggae music for decades to come.
Singlehandedly Studio One’s founder Clement Dodd was able to create the most successful vertically-integrated record company that Jamaica had ever known with pressing plant, printers, studio, shops, and sound systems all running at once, with over 50 employees and hundreds of artists working with Studio One during this time.
Studio One Freedom Sounds tells the story of Studio One in the 1960s with a stunning set of ska, soul, rock steady and reggae killer tunes as well as informative sleevenotes and track-by-track info by Noel Hawks. The album is released as heavyweight double vinyl (+ free download code), deluxe CD and digital album.

This is the second installment of deep roots Rastafarian reggae at Studio One and features classic music from some of the most important figures in reggae music – Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Jackie Mittoo, The Gladiators – alongside a host of rarities and little-known recordings, such as a truly rare Mystic Revelation of Rastafari seven-inch single, Willie William’s first ever recording ‘Calling’ and Horace Andy’s righteous (and equally rare) masterpiece ‘Illiteracy.’
Black Man’s Pride 2 extends the legacy of Studio One’s ground-breaking path in roots reggae which began at the end of the 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s. The album tells the story of how the rise of Studio One Records and the Rastafari movement were interconnected, through the adoption of the Rastafari faith by key reggae artists – everyone from the Skatalites and Wailers in the 1960s, major singers such as Alton Ellis and Horace Andy at the end of the decade, through to major roots artists such as The Gladiators in the 1970s – and how Clement Dodd consistently recorded this heavyweight roots music throughout Studio One’s history.
The sleeve-notes to this album also discuss the links between Rastafari and Studio One in time and place, noting how both the religion and Clement Dodd’s musical empire had their roots in the intense period of pre-independence Jamaica in Kingston, expanded in the 1960s following the visit of Haile Selassie in 1966, and how roots music then came to dominate reggae music in the early 1970s. Also discussed is how the outsider stance of both reggae music and the Rastafari movement relate back many hundreds of years to the original rebel stance of the Maroons, escaped slaves who set up self-sufficient enclaves in the hills of the Jamaican countryside.

"Step Forward Youth" takes a serious look at the reggae of the punk rock era in England and its resulting global impact. Here are 12 selected tracks especially for LP-Vinyl including the obscure roots reggae heat such as the Barry Ford Band's "Rebel" plus Prince Far I's "Heavy Manners", Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" and furthermore great tunes by Dr. Alimantado (as well pictured on the album's cover) alongside Jah Stitch, Lee Perry, Gregory Isaacs, Augustus Pablo, Keith Hudson, Michael Rose, Junior Murvin, Tappa Zukie and the dub version to Johnny Clarke's "None Shall Escape The Judgement.

Blue Opaque Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

Emotional Rescue is delighted to debut a first. Rather than a straight reissue of an (obscure) classic or a collection of music by an artist or label, here presented is a compilation of various artists centered around a sound and movement reggae-tinged music and how it influenced and spread from the Caribbean and diaspora.

Drawn from the off kilter digging of archivist, DJ and collector Bruno (perfectliv.es), Nowhere Like Here is not a follow up, but a sideways accompaniment, to his recent and already cult like 'Perfect Motion' collection of left field pop and new wave, recently self-released with Flo Dill (nts).

This is a special release to celebrate the label's 10th year and beyond, offering a treasure trove of lo-fi and often pop inspired reggae cuts, mixing heartfelt Lovers Rocks style paeans and quirky private press oddities, all guaranteed to 'make-a-move and tap', these are, in the main ridiculously rare or impossible to find alternative bombs, that are just as sound system rocking and massive bass line quaking showcases of the enduring legacy of this Jamaican music phenomenon. As with much of the early 80s period, the music community was in the throes of a Do-It-Yourself cultural renaissance as small labels, where crazy limited, one off White Labels Onlys came and went. Songs like Avalanche 's 'Your Love is Such a Good Thing 'or Warp Speed's 'Take It To The Night' were part of the claiming the means of production in to their own hands, pressing up the records and self-distributing. This raw, naive exuberance can be heard in the songs themselves. This is not reggae or Lovers as known, but something more expressive. Musical, simply produced, but with intelligible and uplifting optimism that is just superlatively catchy.

While Paul Thompson's 'Can I Take You Home' and Ras Ibuna's 'Black Beauty' are more straight-ahead Lover's style cuts, there is the parallel dance pop private pressing vibrations of the two Keith Robinson songs and Majority's 'Caroline' included all part of a thread; a joining the dots that Nowhere Like Here is at its most basic, a warmth the whole album exudes.

This is not a Lovers Rock Hits of some, but a left-of-center versioning, spread across Double Pack and cut loud for DJ play, fitting the ethos of Emotional Rescue by presenting something most will not have heard before and all the better for it.

The Jackpot Of Hits compilation features the best of the mid-to-late Sixties reggae sounds. It kicks off with The Pioneers “Jackpot” and is followed up by three other tracks of this popular Jamaican vocal trio. Also included on the 12-track set are The Mellotones “Feel Good”, Lynn Taitt & The Jets “El Casino Royale”, Stranger Cole “What Momma No Want She Get”, Hugh Malcolm “Good Time Rock” and Cool Sticky “Train To Soulville” amongst others. Jackpot Of Hits is available as a limited edition on orange coloured vinyl.

Here is the much anticipated volume 3 of the HOT Sauce compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975. HOT Sauce Volume 3 features outstanding original Rocksteady, Boss Reggae and early Reggae (“Reggay”) tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and a couple of hits. The record labels showcased on this third volume are Amalgamated, Duke, Gayfeet, Grape, Harry J, Rio, Randy’s, Treasure Isle, Upsetter and Trojan. The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity. These tracks are all outstanding tracks, “killer tracks”, there is no “filler” whatsoever. Particular attention has been paid to the way the songs are sequenced (or “mixed”) so that the album builds up nicely and gradually, generally starting with the Rocksteady songs on the A side and the 70s songs on the B side. HOT Sauce is a musical journey across early Jamaican Reggae - highlighting its diverse musical genres and outstanding artists – as it was once published by the U.K. record labels during this golden decade… Since the early 70s “Tighten Up” series, no compilations have really explored these labels in depth on vinyl.

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2022.

As Beatlemania approached its peak, Jamaican music was undergoing a transition that started with ska, and then morphed into rocksteady, before assuming its ultimate form as reggae. Inevitably these cultures collided, with artists such as the Paragons and Marcia Griffiths establishing a tradition of creating dynamic reggae covers of the Beatles’ hits that continues to this day. This album extends this lineage, as some of the best reggae Reggae artists set out on a series of version excursions that include some of the Fab Four’s best loved bitter-sweet cuts.

Cool Ska Inst. Cover Of Spanish Flea backed with a funky vocal cut.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

New life for a tune that hold a special place in the discography of one of the greatest rub-a-dub and fast-chat specialists in the history of the UK sound system movement, here comes a fresh version of Tippa Irie's powerful “I’m An African” ! First making an appearance as the highlight of O.B.Fs album “signz” in 2020, this fresh reworked version of “I’m An African” features on Tippa’s brand-new album of the same name. To celebrate this, the track was pressed onto 7” vinyl alongside its dub version “African Dub” ! Rufffff

Oscure 80's Jamaican roots by Oswald 'Timbo' Stewart.

Talented singer who used to sing alongside Larry Marshall back in the 70's.

The Slickers were an exciting Jamaican Rocksteady and Reggae group in the late 1960s and 1970s. Although their legendary song JOHNNY TOO BAD was included in the Jimmy Cliff movie THE HARDER THEY COME, their story is mostly unknown and full of hearsays and contradictions.
Here is our "version" of the story:
Firstly, it is often assumed that The Slickers were just an alias for The Pioneers but it seems now clear that they were in fact two distinct formations.
In fact, the group was formed by Derrick Crooks (of The Pioneers) and Winston Bailey (not to misunderstand with Winston "Shadow" Bailey a Calypso singer) around 1965. It seems that Derrick was the only constant member and the line-up was constantly changing and overlapping with both The Reggae Boys and The Pioneers.
Other known members were Derrick's brother Sydney Crooks, Roy Beckford (not to misunderstand with U-Roy), George Dekker and Abraham Green (later known as Ras Abraham) who joined at the time "Johnny Too Bad" was recorded in 1970. Abraham is said to have been the lead vocal on "Johnny Too Bad". Besides being featured on the soundtrack for the 1972 Jimmy Cliff film, the song was covered by the British reggae group UB40 and countless more.
The Slickers have recorded about 40 singles during the 60's and the '70s. It seems they disbanded after recording their second album BREAKTHROUGH in 1979...
Although nothing is written in stone about The Slickers, one sure fact is that they were a brilliant Rocksteady and Reggay band… Many of their singles were outstanding such as NANA, YOU CAN'T WIN, MAN BEWARE, JOHNNY TOO BAD and of course the two hot shots on this single: RUN FATTIE and HOOLA BULLA!

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

On the 50th anniversary of the band's inception at an event in Harlem, NY to commemorate Malcolm X's birthday on 19 May 1968, influential spoken word artists, poets and commentators The Last Poets are set to make a glorious and relevant return with their first album in over 20 years, 'Understand What Black Is'.
Produced by Ben Lamdin (Nostaglia 77) and Brighton legend Prince Fatty, whose speciality is traditional reggae and dub production's, 'Understand What Black Is' is a ten-track album which speaks of a revolutionary struggle defined by both race and identity, that has never sounded more relevant. Released on Studio Rockers, there will also be an accompanying single featuring remixes of the title track "Understand What Black Is" by Mala (South London collective Digital Mystikz) and UK Dance music innovators Dego and Kaidi.
Since the initial line-up of Dahveed Nelson, Gylan Kain and Felipe Luciano formed in East Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, The Last Poets have produced under various guises over the subsequent years. However, it was their seminal output, namely 1970's 'The Last Poets' under both Umar bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole that secured their legacy, becoming one of the most important influences in early hip hop.
Throughout the last 20 years, the band have remained largely on hiatus. But their influence could still be felt with their tracks being sampled by The Notorious B.I.G, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr.Dre and Snoop Dogg. Umar has recorded various solo albums and featured on Common and Kanye West's Grammy Nominated 'The Corner'. Abiodun appeared on the Red Hot Organization's album, Stolen Moments which was named "Album of the Year" by Time. He also conducts weekly open house poetry readings, where he constructively critiques upcoming poets, helping to nurture them. He has also conducted classes at Columbia University, where he teaches creative writing.
The inauguration of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 inspired Hassan and Oyewole to resurrect the group to create a brand new record, modern and edgy, and deeply relevant and reflective of our times.
Tracks on 'Understand What Black Is' include 'How Many Bullets', which bridles with defiance as Oyewole works through a litany of injustices suffered by black people in the US: " You've Tried
To Blow My Brains Out With Bigotry, Chopped Off My Wings, So I Couldn't Fly Free, And Dared Me To Be Me, Took My Drum, Broke My Hands, Yanked My Roots Right Up Out Of The Land, And Riddled My Soul With Jesus" 'What I Want To See' describes a utopia - a refuge from hurt and those who'd make "our vision blurred, and our faith obscure", whilst the title track 'Understand What Black Is' aims to transcend ethnicity: "understand what black is….It's the source from which all things come...black is a hero, not a villain."
The album even takes reference from Prince's 2003 album of instrumentals, 'News', which Hassan drew comparisons from with his own childhood experiences: "That poem took me about a year to write….I just kept writing and writing but not getting too far and then I heard that album and the musicianship was amazing. I was left wondering if it was jazz, classical, rock or maybe something new but all those images that I write about came to me from listening to that album. I loved Prince in that movie Purple Rain because my father was a talented musician but he was into brutalising Mama at times and in the movie there's a Jerome and my name is Jerome, so it was like he was telling my life story as well."
The album acts as a body of work between individual members each speaking of their own personal journeys, but feeding into the much larger narrative of struggle and oppression, alongside a fervent hunger for social change. These are struggles and tests of personal resolve that have directly shaped and moulded the bands' unique sound over the course of an impressive 50 years, and their powerful and influential commentary remains as relevant as ever.

These two avidly sought-after early Reggay tracks are quite rare. Splash Down is the instrumental version of Sufferer and both songs have been produced by Derrick Harriott. This is the first time these two wicked tracks are released together on a 7inch vinyl single.

THE Kingstonians Jamaican vocal trio, the Kingstonians were formed around 1966 by Cebert Bernard (aka Jackie Bernard) and his brother Lloyd "Footy" Bernard, along with mutual friend Lloyd Kerr. They began their recording career with producer J.J. Johnson, but had their greatest success between 1968 and 1970 with producer Derrick Harriott, who helped steer the singles "Singer Man" and "Sufferer" to the top of the Jamaican charts. An LP of the Harriott material was released in 1970 under the title “Sufferer”. The album was the career high point for the Kingstonians, who left Harriott to work briefly with producers Leslie Kong and Rupie Edwards before breaking up as the roots reggae era began.

THE Crystalites The Crystalites were the backing and studio band for legendary producer Derrick Harriott and included top 60s Jamaican musicians e.g. Bongo Herman, Bongo Les, Boris Gardiner, Gladstone Anderson, Karl Bryan, Winston Wright among others!

They were extremely productive between 1968 and 1974 and recorded 4 albums and countless singles covering many styles from Boss Reggae to Dub. More specifically, they recorded many wicked and awesome “versions” of hit songs of that time e.g. Sufferer by THE Kingstonians!

unklar, ob farbige direkt von Daptone kommen.

Before Dan Klein's unfortunate passing, The Frightnrs agreed to keep a promise he asked of them - continue making music together. Part of that promise has been made manifest here... Daptone Records is proud to present ALWAYS - the raw, soulful new long player from The Frightnrs.

The road to Always began with a period of intense songwriting back when The Frightnrs and producer Victor Axelrod (Ticklah) were working on the group's debut, rocksteady masterpiece, Nothing More to Say. In addition to the scorchers heard therein, Axelrod and The Frightnrs agreed many of the recordings were too sweet to tamper with in order to fit the rocksteady mold. Some were created at their headquarters in Queens with Dan on the mic, some were elaborations on older ideas, others were brand new creations made at the finish line.

Thanks to the vocal stems they had captured in this golden period, Dan Klein's other-worldly voice lived on, giving The Frightnrs all the raw material they needed for an entire album's worth of new, original music. So with that, The Frightnrs and Axelrod returned to the studio and painstakingly conceptualized, tracked, re-tracked and mixed them into a complete album with their beloved friend singing lead. The fruits of this arduous process lay bare the undying love and respect between musical brothers.

The last song written for this album, "Why Does it Feel Like a Curse", married two song concepts with one of Dan's original vocal performances - creating a beautiful, flawless composition that not only serves as a highlight reel of their editing skills and songwriting prowess, but also as a kind of metaphor for The Frightnrs jour ney. The per fect ending f or ALWAYS.

Heavy Roots Track called Ethiopian Romance by The Cimarons recorded in the early 80's @ Easy Street Studio.
Has been released on CD back in the 90's but unfortunately never on vinyl.
Now released for the first time on vinyl !

Dub version was sadly never recorded…
Now the flip side received a proper Dubwise recorded & mixed @ Honey Studio.
Mastered @ Rectape Studio.
Limited Edition /// Letterpress printed the old fashioned way.

Love & Fire is the seventh full-length studio album from the multi-platinum selling reggae hybrid band The Black Seeds. It was developed over the past few years, beginning with a series of creative sessions in 2018 at the band’s creative incubator The Surgery in Wellington, New Zealand.

The original plan was to then do a classic “band in a room recording,” which got thrown out the window once the pandemic hit and lockdowns began. At that point, the group got creative, working remotely between various home studios of the band members, and the result is as strong a record as they’ve ever done, managing to capture the feelings of the past few years in a cohesive set of new songs.

The Black Seeds continue to evolve musically while defying expectations, yet still always seem to sound like no one else but themselves.

In September 2021, The 18th Parallel unveiled their first collaborative LP with Lone Ark, Showcase vol. 1, which was unanimously acclaimed by international critics. After a series of singles in collaboration with key artists from the golden age of Jamaican reggae such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Linval Thompson, Dennis Walks, Burro Banton and Mike Brooks, the Swiss musician-producer combo is back with a new project on November 18th, 2022, Downtown Sessions, to delight the ears of old-school roots music fans.

Downtown Sessions is the result of ten years of studio sessions between Geneva and downtown Kingston with legendary drummer and Rockers movie star Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace (Studio One, Black Disciples, Soul Syndicate, Pierpoljak, Groundation,...). The 18th Parallel hits hard by inviting some of the biggest names in Jamaican reggae on this new record: Cornell Campbell, Max Romeo, Ras Michael, Fred Locks, Big Youth, I Kong, Leroy Brown, The Silvertones and Hopeton James, not forgetting a Swiss guest, Lala Love. A real anthology of roots reggae legends who blossom on original and varied riddims that pay tribute to different eras of Jamaican roots music production, from the raw sound of Randy's to the Studio One discomix drenched in reverb of the late 1970s, via the polished arrangements typical of Geoffrey Chung's productions at Dynamics studio or the sound of Ras Michael's nyahbinghi drums! An exceptional record that combines tradition and modernity by bringing together the original voices of roots reggae with the refreshing vision of the young Swiss collective The 18th Parallel, all under the leadership of the legendary Horsemouth and producer Mathias Liengme. A future must-have for any music lover's collection!