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I
Can Hear the Children Singing: 1975-1978 (Blood and Fire, 2002) One
of the ever-evident truths you face when choosing a reggae album to purchase is
that you can't go wrong with a Blood and Fire release.
Or should I say re-release? This
label never ceases to amaze me at their ability to scour the depths of studio
vaults, back alleys, under producers' beds, wherever to bring to light
overlooked and/or out-of-print reggae from the '70s and early '80s.
And this stuff is always good.
You'd think that at some point, they'd either: 1) run out of material
to uncover, or 2) relegate themselves to releasing less-than-stellar work just
for the sake of releasing it. But
such a situation has yet to arise, as evidenced by the wonderful I Can Hear
the Children Singing, which collects two albums previously unavailable on
CD: Prince Alla's Heaven Is My Roof and
Junior Ross's Babylon Fall. Prince Alla is easily the more well-known name (thus his face
is plastered on the album cover), having already had a Blood and Fire
retrospective of his '70s work in Only Love Can Conquer.
I hadn't previously heard of Junior Ross and thought that his album
might consist of DJ versions of the Prince Alla tracks, but actually he is a
singer himself, and the rhythms don't carry over from Alla's album to
Ross's. So what's the
connection between the two albums? Well,
aside from the artists having grown up together in the Greenwich Farm
neighborhood of Kingston, both sets were produced by DJ/producer Tappa
Zukie.
Indeed, I Can Hear the Children Singing is as much a showcase for
his production talents -- as he crafts a truly vintage, Golden Era-roots reggae
sound -- as it is for the singers and musicians (including a who's who of the
time: Sly & Robbie, Santa Davis, Bingy Bunny,
Chinna Smith, Augustus Pablo, Headley
Bennett, Ansel Collins, Tony Chin, et al).
Fans of Prince Alla's Only Love Can Conquer should undoubtedly
scoop up his classic 1978 debut album Heaven Is My Roof (released under
the name Ras Allah). Despite different producers (Bertram Brown did the tracks on Only
Love Can Conquer), Alla's angelic voice is consistent throughout both
discs, his expressive vocals effortlessly floating through placid yet
unwaveringly righteous cuts like "Funeral," "Go Down in Silence,"
"Jah
Jah Bird," and the title track, and perhaps peaking on the evocative "Slave
Master" and the refreshingly lovers rock-toned "Go to School." From start to finish, this is the real deal for fans of '70s roots. Despite relative
obscurity, Junior Ross proves that he's worthy of co-billing with Babylon
Fall, a 1992 collection of singles he recorded for Tappa Zukie between 1975
and 1977 under the name Junior Ross & The Spears (The Spears occasionally
claiming Prince Alla himself as a member).
Babylon Fall starts out every bit the equal of Heaven Is My
Roof -- with the electric "Judgement Time" (borrowing elements of The
Abyssinians' "Declaration of Rights"), the epic sound of "Man From
Zion" and "Send Me Over There," plus the melodic "Rough Way Ahead" and
"Jah Love."
The second half of
this disc isn't quite as sharp, however, hurt somewhat by the inclusion of a
dub ("African Border") and a DJ version ("Freedom fe Natty") of
"Liberty," which already wasn't one of the best tunes here.
Plus, Ross's voice just isn't as distinct or as appealing as Alla's.
Still, he constructs some wonderful roots melodies that compliment Tappa
Zukie's vintage rhythms well. Heaven
Is My Roof: Babylon
Fall: I
Can Hear the Children Singing:
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Track
Listing CD 2: Babylon Fall |
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