Thursday, March 5, 2009

First Reggae and Soul Post



So first I'll drop a small Early Reggae nugget. "Too Experienced" was made famous in Jamaica first by Bob Andy. Many years later Barrington Levy would do a super popular Dancehall version that may still be the most recognized version, especially among younger folks, in Jamaica. I have no idea where this version fits into the mix, as the copy I have is from 1969 on a label based in New York called Steady Records, who also put out some great reggae compilations from the same time period. I randomly found it in great shape in a record store in Pennsylvania among some other rather pedestrian R&B and old pop 45's, for the princely sum of $1.00. The B-side is a soulful, faster, uptempo early reggae tune called "You're My Girl." Some might consider these songs "Skinhead Reggae", as this was the kinda stuff that was popular in England around 1969. Download below(had to use megaupload, mediafire is being wonky right this second):







And here's the first soul 45 I'm upping. It's not the rarest 45 in the world, but I haven't seen another copy since I found this one for 49 cents. It's The Chairmen of the Board - "Chairman of the Board" b/w "When Will She Tell Me She Needs Me." "When Will She Tell Me She Needs Me" is among my favorite soul tunes of all time. It's an uptempo, urgent plea delivered with serious soul. Think "Give Me Just a Little More Time" but sadder and in minor keys. I could never find a digital version of this, so here's the rip from my 45. "Chairman of the Board" is a bluesier tune with a good groove, as well. This stuff is on the Invictus label, from the brilliant minds of the Holland-Dozier-Holland team. Pretty much everything they put out was top notch, you can never go wrong with an H-D-H record. Download below(again used megaupload due to mediafire appearing to be down right now):



http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JG3YZOCZ

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