Ev'rything You Fling Rock Stone

Burning Spear : Throw Down Your Arms

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The 70's streak continues for Burning Spear who follows up the one-two punch of Marcus Garvey and Man in the Hills with another excellent album, Dry and Heavy.  That's despite the fact that Burning Spear is no longer a trio but Winston Rodney all on his own. Robert Christgau gave the album a B , writing:

 The sweetness of Winston Rodney's vocals here is surprisingly acute--especially on the unselfrighteous nonviolence sermon "Throw Down Your Arms," the generalized love song "Any River," and the title cut, an impressionistically spaced-out reminiscence of his schooldays. But despite the welcome crib sheet I don't find that any of the other tracks holds my attention. That's the way it is with sweetness.

His anti-war song "Throw Down Your Arms" ends with laughter, infusing it with optimism.

40 Year Itch : Come Along My Brother

Burning Spear : Man in the Hills

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On August 18, 1976 Burning Spear released Man in the Hills, the much-anticipated follow-up to the trio's legendary Marcus Garvey. The title cut --taken literally--is a nostalgic list of errands Jamaican kids in the countryside do for their mothers, from fetching water to washing dishes to gathering brambles for cooking fires. Not the place to start your Burning Spear collection, but eventually Man in the Hills rewards repeat listening.

40 Year Itch : Do You Remember the Days of Slavery?

Burning Spear : Slavery Days

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    Don't let the trancelike, easy skanking rhythms and bright horns distract you from the powerful lyrics of Winston Rodney ( aka Burning Spear) who appealed to Black Pride by updating the "Back to Africa" messages of Marcus Garvey. On a future album he would castigate an Italian hero with the line "Christopher Columbus is a damn blasted liar". On this one he asks us all "Do you remember the days of slavery?" Rodney, now 70,  remains the consciousness of roots reggae music.

1973 in Reggae

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With 1972's The Harder They Come soundtrack finally entering the US charts, Johnny Nash scoring hits like "I Can See Clearly Now" and "Stir It Up" and The Wailers touring with Sly and the Family Stone, Reggae was ready to seduce black record buyers. And yet, for whatever reason, it was white audiences that bought albums like the Wailers Burnin' and Toots and the Maytals Funky Kingston.

The second of the Wailer's great albums of 1973, Burnin' is the last to feature Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, both of whom would go on to solo careers. Highlights like "Get Up, Stand Up", "I Shot the Sheriff" ( a #1 pop hit for Eric Clapton in 1974) and "Bunin' and Lootin' " reveal Marley at his most political. And yet the music never fails to groove. One of the year's essential albums.

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For infectious, joyful reggae nobody beats Toot and the Maytals.  After contributing two cuts to The Harder They Come soundtrack ( " Sweet and Dandy" and "Pressure Drop") , the band released Funky Kingston with its cover of "Louie Louie" and the the classic title cut. In 1975, Island Records would release a different version of the album with the same title and cover art but featuring mostly songs from1974's In the Dark.

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THE first dub record. Only 300 copies were originally released in Jamaica by producer Lee "Scratch" Perry's house band which at one time included Sly Dunbar and future Wailers Aston "Family Man" Barrett and brother Carlton. 

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 As Burning Spear, Winston Rodney released his lo fi debut album in 1973, His lamenting of the days of slavery would make 1976's Marcus Garvey and Man in the Hills his classic albums.

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Deejay I Roy ( Roy Samuel Reid)is one of the world's original rappers. First class dance hall toasting.

[Out of Print]

To keep him out of trouble,  deejay Tapper Zukie's mom send him to the UK where he recorded the songs that would make up his debut album Man Ah Warrior.

[Purchase]

Jimmy Cliff's follow-up to The Harder They Come has some decent tunes ( the title cut, "Better Days Are Coming") but sounds as though he was trying too hard to go pop.