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Englishman/Robin
Hood (Greensleeves,
1991 [orig. released 1979-80])
Englishman: ![]()
Robin Hood: ![]()
Englishman/Robin Hood: ![]()
| Track Listing Englishman: 1. Englishman 2. If You Give to Me 3. Sister Carol 4. Don't Fuss Nor Fight 5. Look Girl 6. Look Youthman 7. Send a Moses 8. Black Heart Man 9. Money Makes Friends 10. Bend Your Back Robin Hood: 11. Robin Hood 12. Rock and Come In 13. Love Sister Carol 14. Gonna Tell Your Girlfriend 15. You Come to Ask Me What Is Love 16. Why Did You Leave Me 17. Many Changes in Life 18. Na Broke No Fight Over No Woman 19. When Friday Come 20. Like How You Kiss and Caress Me |
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Too Experienced: The Best of Barrington Levy (VP, 1998) In the fleeting world of dancehall reggae, Barrington Levy has displayed remarkable resilience in maintaining his stature through more than 20 years of performing. Throughout the '80s and into the '90s, he had a string of massive hits that became anthems in the dancehalls of not only Jamaica but all over the world, and since then, he has even enjoyed crossover success as a guest vocalist on a pair of hip-hop hits by Shyne. Those of you who were hypnotized by Levy's trademark scatting/wailing on these rap songs and want to hear more of him owe it to yourselves to check out a "best of" collection like Too Experienced, which compiles most of his hits from the early '80s to the late '90s. This album leads off with perhaps his two most recognizable (and best) hits, "Murderer" and "Under Me Sensi," each riding classic old school digital riddims that have been used and re-used to death since then, but rarely as well as on these monster tracks. "Murderer" and "Under Me Sensi," along with the equally potent "Teach the Youth," display Levy’s admirable ability to slip social messages into modern (post-1985) dancehall, a sub-genre of reggae that has lyrically always been more about boastfulness, partying, sexual innuendo, and violence than anything else. Other tunes here that will undoubtedly sound familiar to even casual reggae fans include "No Fuss, No Fight," "Shine Eye Girl," (these two have an older, non-digital sound which makes Levy sounds somewhat like Horace Andy; normally, he’s sort of a combination of Horace Andy, Michael Rose, and maybe even a little Eek-A-Mouse), "Black Roses, "She’s Mine," the irresistible title track, and "Girl Salute," which may sound familiar because it’s a re-working of the classic Cables hit "What Kind of World," the music of which has been sampled heavily in recent years (most notably on Morgan Heritage's "Down By the River"). Some of the songs on Too Experienced -- "Living Dangerously," "Work," "Prison Oval Rock" (which borrows from the Wailing Souls' "Fire House Rock"), and "Dancehall Rock" (a take on Bob Marley's "Trenchtown Rock") -- deserve to be on an album of Levy's hits, but I don’t consider them among his best. A couple of other tunes -- the poppy "Don’t Throw It All Away" and the sappy ballad "Vice Versa Love" -- frankly need to be erased altogether. In their place should be the legitimate classic "Mini Bus" and any of several cuts from the Englishman and Robin Hood sets. |
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| Track Listing 1. Murderer 2. Under Me Sensi 3. Prison Oval Rock 4. My Time 5. She's Mine 6. Shine Eye Girl 7. No Fuss, No Fight 8. Black Roses 9. Girl Salute 10. Teach the Youth 11. Too Experienced 12. Don't Throw It All Away 13. Vice Versa Love 14. Living Dangerously featuring Bounty Killer 15. Dancehall Rock featuring Cutty Ranks 16. Work featuring Jigsy King |
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Wanted: Live in San Francisco (2b1, 2006)
2b1's Live in San Francisco series continues with the solid production, sound quality, and song choice that we've come to expect, but
Wanted falters when it comes to music and crowd participation. This live album opens, oddly enough, with a non-live track, a funky hip-hop remix of "Under Mi Sensi," before transporting us to San Fran. It becomes apparent early on that the concert audience isn't the most vocal bunch (or perhaps the microphones were to far away to pick them up), but Levy insists on keeping them involved, pausing for them to finish lines and exhorting them to repeat after him
(of course, "shiddi-liddi-liddi-liddi-liddi-liddi-liddi-liddi-waaay-o" might be a bit much to expect), thus leaving us with frustrating holes of near-dead air. He even stops during "Too Experienced" and "Murderer" and admonishes the crowd, sounding a little
pissed at their lack of participation. Complicating matters is the fact that when he goes to the audience, the band tends to minimize its playing to a basic, dull drum beat. Hearing a dancehall artist who relies on digital riddims perform with a live band is always an interesting -- for better or worse -- prospect, and in cases like "Under Mi Sensi," the hard rocking "Murderer," and "Here I Come,"
the band just can't properly recreate the sound. "Here I Come" in particular is painful, with generic music not resembling anything close to the original riddim, and with Levy pausing every other line to have the crowd sing along.
That said, this
is still Barrington Levy, and he does perform a lot of his biggest hits -- most successfully "Too Experienced," "She's Mine," "Teach the Youths," and "Prison Oval Rock" -- and he does so with his unrivaled energy and distinct style.
As is to be expected with a legend like
Levy who's recorded so many fan favorites, there are a few songs left off that you'd
probably like to hear -- such as "Mini Bus," "Living Dangerously," and "No Fuss, No Fight" (especially in light of the
inclusion of the lesser-known "Mandela Free," "Love of Jah," "Be Strong," and "Loving You," only the latter of which strikes a chord).
| Track Listing 1. Under Mi Sensi [Remix] 2. Intro 3. Teach the Youths 4. Mandela Free 5. Under Mi Sensi 6. She's Mine 7. Be Strong 8. Too Experienced 9. Murderer 10. Love of Jah 11. Work 12. Prison Oval Rock 13. Vice Versa Love 14. Black Roses 15. Here I Come 16. Loving You |
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