Fire Burning (Trojan, 1995)

Bob Andy ranks up there with John Holt and Bob Marley (in whose honor Andy chose his stage name) as one of the legendary songwriters in reggae history.  His songs are timeless and enduring, as evidenced by the popularity of Marcia Griffiths' early '90s remake of his "Fire Burning" (see Strictly the Best Volume 6) and its DJ version, "Half Idiot," featuring Cutty Ranks (see Strictly the Best Volume 5).  Some -- though certainly not all -- of his best and most popular work is highlighted on Fire Burning, which focuses on his most successful time, the late '60s and early '70s.  Granted, about half of the tracks on this album are covers, but the ones that aren't are just as well-written, and considering how many rock steady/early reggae hits of that era were R&B/doo-wop covers, 50% ain't bad.  Of the remakes, standouts include Joe Smith's "Games People Play," Crispin St. Peters' "Pied Piper," the romp "He's a Cousin of Mine," Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand," and the smash cover of Nina Simone's "Young Gifted and Black," with oft-partner (in music and in life) Marcia Griffiths.  The best tracks on Fire Burning, however, are Andy's own, including the scathing title track, "Sun Shines For Me" (AKA "Salary Is Thin," later re-recorded by Gregory Isaacs), the escapist, tropical sound of "Weep," and "You Don't Know," along with "Life" and the soulful "Save Me."  It's particularly intriguing to listen to cuts like "Young Gifted and Black," "You Don't Know," "Fire Burning," and "Life" for the then-innovative social commentary in a music that had previously been dominated by remakes of soul love songs.  Fire Burning is pretty good, but it could (and should) be much better.  Missing are Andy-penned classics like "I've Got to Go Back Home," "Feeling Soul," "Unchained," and "Always Together," while limp covers of Bob Dylan's (another person after whom Andy named himself) "Lay Lady Lay" and Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell's "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" clutter up things.  Still, on the whole, a nice introduction to a legend of reggae.