Rock Steady Documentary

Many of the great Rock Steady producers, singers and musicians have already passed on but it looks like they are assembling a good enough collection of those still living.

The musicians who are flying in for the film, album and concert, are singer Dawn Penn (No No No) from London, singer Hopeton Lewis (Take it Easy) from New York, and guitarist Hux Brown (The Dynamites) from California.

They will be joined on stage and in the recording studio at Tuff Gong by the legendary singers who still live in Jamaica: Ken Boothe (Shanty Town), Judy Mowatt (Silent River), Stranger Cole (Morning Train), Derrick Morgan (Conquering Ruler), Leroy Sibbles (Equal Rights), Marcia Griffiths (The Tide is High),The Tamlins and U-Roy (Stop That Train).

I thought U-Roy was no longer with us...and it was Keith and Tex who performed the great 'Stop That Train.' Desmond Dekker (Daicres) was the singer on '007 Shanty Town' - maybe Ken Boothe also has a song by that name or covered it (?). The 'Tide is High' is by the Paragons when John Holt was with them.

Well regardless of the dubious journalistic accuracy in this brief report from the Jamaica Observer, if they make a good job of it, this documentary could be great. It would be especially interesting and vastly more entertaining if they could involve some of the less well known but often more talented artists in this project.

Such as, Leonard Dillon (Ethiopians), the Melodians, Keith and Tex, Pat Kelly, the Gaylads, Lynn Taitt etc. Some of the more obscure artists from Joe Gibbs stable for example would be really great to include: Errol Dunkley, Keith Blake (aka Prince Alla), The Pioneers, Neville Hinds, Roy Shirley, Dennis Walks, Jackie Robinson, Eric 'Monty' Morris, Hugh Malcolm...
Sadly, Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook and Delroy Wilson, some of my all time favourites are permanently unavailable...

The brief Rock Steady period in Jamaican music is one of the richest veins of musical creativity in any culture and despite its short run its many astoundingly prolific exponents went on to be the great performers, musicians and producers of the reggae period and beyond. A truly golden era which richly deserves a fitting documentary tribute.

Piracy is OK!

This pokes a finger in the myopic eyes of the MPAA!

“People today have all this equipment available at home, and it’s a simple thing for them to copy movies and music. This is the time to play on the same team as the ones who make available this kind of materials. I hope those who watch this copy will think the quality is bad, and go watch it at the movies instead.”

Link Between Software Piracy and Terrierists?

I think not. Who buys pirated software, be it music, films, apps or other? One would need to be technically and technologically backward and pretty stupid to do so when it is freely available. Is this a deliberate effort to conflate file sharing with piracy of yore when physical property changed hands my means more foul than fair? Is this yet another effort by government to control dissemination of information, and by doing so keep the people ignorant, fearful and compliant?
But then Ars Technica has this angle on the speech which I should really read...

Blood and Fire's founder Steve Barrow interviewed

This interview with Steve Barrow reveals nice bit of background information on the runnings of Blood and Fire Records (best reggae and dub reissue label bar none).

Actually, now I notice more interviews with him so I may as well link them too:

Nice Up interview with Steve Barrow

Reggae News interview with Steve Barrow

Home Studio Recording then and now

I was dipping once again into Eddie Shaw's 'Black Monk Time' (a really entertaining read whether you like the Monk's music or not), when I came across this passage:

...We found the only studio in Heidelburg, situated in the house of of an elderly man. We had never seen a recording studio before, and he had never recorded a beat band before. We stacked our equipment against the wall, in a room containing just enough standing room for five people and a couch. The old man then warned us that the recording wouldn't sound good if we played loud. We recorded two songs, originally written by Dave and Gary. In compliance with the old man's directions, we almost whispered the words to "Boys are Boys," and "There She Walks."
Having listened to western music in East Germany, Angelika's new knowledge was somehow disappointing. If only the East Germans knew. It had to be one of the best kept secrets of the cold war. How many kids would enjoy those romantic reveries if they knew how the records were made? "Only You," her favorite song in the East Zone, would never sound the same. Certainly it had been recorded in someone's house, as in an old-fashioned photographer's studio with a couch and family photographs, and cooking smells from the kitchen.

I wonder what the 'old man' thought of this recording session - and exactly what was his 'studio' intended for when not being used by four ex-servicemen stationed in Germany 40+ years ago.
Strange how so much has changed in a few short years since the introduction of the digital audio work station. A few microphones, a functioning computer, some free software and you have a recording studio. Add some instruments, production skills and a heap of talent and you've got all you need to make great music and chase the big four out of town! They make product, not music.
I found out that Dave Day of the Monks, the world's foremost (possibly only) exponent of the electrified banjo passed on recently. His playing on 'Black Monk Time' is a great contribution to the music world and surely his like will never been seen or heard again.

It is 42 years since the release of "Black Monk Time" and it still kicks ass due in large part to Dave's staccato hacking and chopping on the banjo strings. Great stuff indeed. Surprisingly unavailable on iTunes so you might just have to find it on CD. A vinyl copy might actually be worth something. Very rare I'm sure. No sign of it on E-bay at present. You can get the CD as an import from Amazon, or so the Monks' official website says. Oh, and the 'Black Monk Time' album was not actually recorded in the old man's parlour! It was recorded in a 'real' studio...

... and a special treat is seeing and hearing the singular uberbeat style of the Monks in action in these YouTube videos.

The King of Dub

I don't know where this clip is from but it is a real delight to actually see video footage ('inchage' in this case perhaps) of Osbourne Ruddock better known as King Tubby. Thanks to Steve Barker for passing the link on.

Mikey Dread RIP

Sadly Michael Campbell aka Mikey Dread passed away on March 15th 2008.
Another great artist and performer has passed on.

Mikey Dread Battles Brain Tumour

Sending some positive vibes to legendary DJ and producer Mr. Michael Campbell - sincerely hoping he can overcome his illness.

A Very Bad and Desperate Idea

Music industry fools run around around like headless chickens
or something like that...

If the record companies receive this tithe from the ISPs there is little hope of it ever reaching the artists (as recently proven by the news that the millions in damages won by the RIAA have not been disbursed to artists in any significant amounts). This is yet another desperate bid by the big 4 to shore up their failing profits and to forestall the collapse of their antiquated business model. As I've said before, the record companies need to break apart their various departments and go independent if they wish to survive in business.

To be remotely fair, the record companies would need to agree to some kind of no contest clause - so that regardless of what music content is shared online they would not attempt to interfere in any way with the natural order of P2P file sharing. They should be legally required to take the undeserved pound of flesh and shut the hell up.

Judging by this report and several others in the recent past, these talking heads know very little about anything and their primary role is to protect failing businesses by curbing progress and creativity. The welfare of the artists is not a significant consideration in any of these discussions or proposals.

It is reassuring to know how desperate they really are and that it is now and ever will be safe to download freely with roughly a 0.000488% chance of being shaken down by the so called 'content providers'. One day, we will all look back at this time and laugh, grimly, because there is little chance that human stupidity is on the wane...

Amen

Crazy mixed-up NBC...why I oughta...

They don't really know what they are doing, do they?