The Vintage Series (VP, 2000)

Though not as highly regarded as fellow rock steady/early reggae crooners like Alton Ellis and Slim Smith, Dobby Dobson played no small part in the early development of the music we now call reggae with his enduring classic "Loving Pauper" (later covered by Gregory Isaacs, Freddie McGregor, and others).  His love songs are smooth, old-fashioned, romantic...and often NOT reggae.  In fact, about half of this compilation is in a straight '50s/'60s R&B stylee --all the more odd considering several of these tunes were recorded in the '70s.  Dobson apparently couldn't let go of that sound, even after Jamaican R&B had evolved into ska, then rock steady, and finally reggae.  There is some reggae to be found on this "best of" compilation, the best being "Loving Pauper" and the catchy, tender "Words."  Among the rest, though, only "Halfway to Paradise," "Here Is the Reason," and perhaps "Seems to Me I'm Losing" approach that level.  And the R&B songs, while not bad, have a fairly generic, dated sound...and THEY'RE NOT REGGAE.  If this album does nothing else (and it does do little else), it helps illustrate the link between R&B and reggae.