Search - African Dub All-Mighty :: Chapter Three & Four

REview African Dub All-Mighty Chapters 3 & 4

jo moenen | elsloo, the netherlands | 04/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Joe Gibbs was one of Jamaica's most influential producers during the seventies and early eighties. His long lasting relationship with sound engineer Errol Thompson, who had left Randy's Studio 17 prior to working with Joe Gibbs, resulted in producing more than well over one hundred #1 hit records. They became famous as 'The Mighty Two'.
Dub versions of popular Jamaican songs started emerging in the late 60's. Eventually, studio engineers and producers such as King Tubby, Derrick Harriot, Clive Chin, Errol Thompson and Harrie Mudy mixed and modified the dub tracks, occasionally using the voice as an additional instrument. The evolution of dub finally resulted led to point were the dub tracks stood on their own. Consequently, full length dub albums began te appear, initially in small pressings with high prices. The African Dub series was instrumental in this popularization, making the UK rock charts in 1977.
This album brings together Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of the African Dub series. The albums were released in 1978 and 1979. Chapter Three was the most commercially successful of the series and genuinely brought the dub format to the ears of many listeners outside the reggae community. Part of the appeal was the broad use of bizarre sound effects such as ringing bells, buzzers, phones, whistling birds and shooting sounds. For some dub purists this distracted from the impact of some of the original riddims.
The musicians on all four African Dub albums included members of the Soul Syndicate and Llloyd Parks' We The People Band, working under Gibbs' conservative moniker, The Professionals. The main players were drummers Sly Dunbar, Carlton 'Santa' Davis, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace and bassists Lloyd Parks, Robbie Shakespeare and George 'Fully' Fullwood, with guitar playing from Winston 'Bo Pee' Bowen, Earl 'Chinna' Smith and Tony Chin, on keyboards Franklin 'Bubbler' Waul and an impressive horns section featuring Junior 'Chico' Chin, Bobby Ellis, Dean Fraser, Vin 'Tommie' Gordon, Richard 'Dirty Harry' Hall, Tommy McCook and Ronald 'Nambo' Robinson.
As with the two first sets in the series, Chapter Three and Four reveal many rock steady and reggae riddims, originally cut at Treasure Isle and Studio One, updated to a late 70's rockers style. A few tracks are rockers originals, remixed from massive vocal attacks by artists like Dennis Brown (Jubilation Dub, Angolian Chant and Fashion One), and the Mighty Diamonds (Freedom Call).
The opening track -Chapter Three- is a remake of the riddim used on Augustus Pablo's dub anthem 'Rockers Meet King Tubby's Uptown'. Studio One riddims found here include 'Ten To One' (Zion Gate), 'Rockfort Rock' (Dub Three), 'Swing Easy' (Crucial Attempt), 'No No No' (Behind Iron Bars), 'Fattie Fattie' (Iron Gate), and 'Drum Song' (Power Pack). Rhythm Attack is a remake of the Paragons' 'Danger In Your Eyes' from Studio One and is introduced by British journalist Snoopy, who was writing for Echoes at the time.
Just as the first two chapters of the African Dub series these volumes are crucial and essential material !"