Missed Opportunity In A Jam Jar

Reggae legends The Cimarons played The Jam Jar in Bristol on Friday (3rd), supported by the equally brilliant hometown heroes Talisman. All for £16.20 a pop.

You'd be a fool to miss it, right?

Unfortunately, I discovered this was happening way too late to do anything about it, so I have to console myself with watching their respective ets from the Uprising Festival in Slovakia (2023) and the Balla Coi Cinghiali Festival in Italy (2017).

Both are superb from start to finish, and I'm sad that I was stuck at work on, rather than immersed in the experience of seeing both bands live on stage.

However, I did get out and about earlier this week to see another legend. Whilst not especially known for their reggae excursions, they have worked many times with the mighty Dennis Bovell. I'll be telling you all about that unforgettable night on Sunday.

Growing In My Backyard

Sun is shining, bass is booming, rhythm is rocksteady...must be be another Sunday reggae and dub session.

Hometown rockers Talisman get things off to a superb start with the 11-minute 12" mix of Dole Age, originally a vinyl side in 1981, introduced to a whole new audience (me included) with the excellent 2011 compilation The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983. An essential purchase.

From there, it's a mix of 20th and 21st century sounds. The latter is represented by all-female combo Tight Spot with an unreleased song discovered and released by Happy People Records on 7" vinyl in 2021. An album highlight of the same year was Clarion Call by Xan Tyler and Mad Professor, delivering sharp lyrics with sweet rhythms. Rhoda Dakar delivers a David Bowie classic with aplomb, offering up a dubbed out version on the flipside. And three legends come together, with Horace Andy teaming up with Sly & Robbie for a modern dub colossus.

There's a brief stop in the 1990s to witness Benjamin Zephaniah and The Hazardous Dub Company with a cautionary tale that sadly resonates three decades later.

Back then to the 1970s and 1980s, a veritable who's who of reggae, lovers rock and dub legends, with Bob Marley & The Wailers versus a pre-'Scratch' Lee Perry, Louisa Mark, Tapper Zukie, Sylvia Tella and King Tubby dubbing up Yabby You. 

 

In 2021, Happy People also offered up a deep cut vinyl 7" by G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars. Remembered as the first white group to attempt an authentic reggae sound on record, their self-titled debut in 1974 closed with a version of Bob Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door. Sound familiar? Well, this guy had a hit with an 'inspired' version less than a year later...

Ending the selection the only way possible, Black Uhuru sing the praises of Sinsemilla, the title track of their third album from 1980 and the record that crossed over to a global audience. Michael Rose, Sharon 'Puma' Jones and Derrick 'Duckie' Simpson telling it how it is, Sly & Robbie laying it down. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

1) Dole Age (12" Mix By Talisman & UK Scientist aka Richard Grassby-Lewis): Talisman (1981)

2) Air Tight (Version By Spero Anthony): Tight Spot (2003)

3) Like Birds: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor (2021)

4) Spell (Album Version By Lloyd Charmers & Maxi Million): Sylvia Tella (1981)

5) The Man Who Dubbed The World (Cover of David Bowie): Rhoda Dakar (2022)

6) I'm Alive Dub: Horace Andy + Sly & Robbie (2006)

7) Allies (Album Version By Dr. Love & Dennis Rootical): Benjamin Zephaniah & The Hazardous Dub Company (1995)

8) Firey Dub (Version By King Tubby): Yabby You (1977)

9) Rush I Some Dub: Tapper Zukie (1977)

10) Sun Is Shining (Dub) (Version By Bob Marley & Lee Perry): Bob Marley & The Wailers (1971)

11) Keep It Like It Is (Album Version By Clement 'Bush Ranger' Bushay): Louisa Mark (1981)

12) People (Who Killed People) (Album Version By Gerald Thomas Moore & Tony Braunagel): G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars (1975)

13) Sinsemilla (Album Version By Sly & Robbie): Black Uhuru (1980)

1971: Soul Revolution Part II ('Rhythm' Version): 10

1975: Reggae Blue: 12

1977: King Tubby Meet Vivian Jackson (Yabby You): 8

1977: Tapper Zukie In Dub: 9

1980: Sinsemilla: 13

1981: Breakout: 11

1981: Dole Age EP: 1

1981: Spell: 4 

1995: Back To Roots: 7 

2006: Dubbin' It Up: 6

2021: Clarion Call: 3

2021: Time Heals Everything EP: 2

2022: The Man Who Sold The World EP: 5

Growing In My Backyard (57:45) (KF) (Mega)

Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Fancy a coffee? Take a seat and relax whilst I put some music on.

For someone who was born and grew up in Bristol, I've seen relatively few reggae acts live in concert and the vast majority of these will have been at either the St. Pauls Carnival or Ashton Court Festival in the 1980s and 1990s, the latter now sadly long gone. The former thankfully returned in 2023 as a bi-annual event and fundraising for 2025 is underway; you can donate here.

Over the years, I've amassed a modest collection of live concerts, some officially released, others bootleg recordings of variable quality but made more accessible via t'internet. Here's a 45-minute selection featuring some of my favourite performances.

Misty In Roots are first up with Ghetto Of The City from their debut album, Live At The Counter Eurovision 79. As the title suggests, this was a recording of a show in Belgium and is quite rightly lauded as not just one of the greatest live reggae albums of all time, but one of the greatest live albums, full stop. You'll see this happening a few times in this brief Dubhed selection and I will not be arguing to the contrary.

 

Talisman are from my birthplace, so it's very likely that I saw them at one of the aforementioned live events. Unfortunately, as I was generally under the influence and these happenings were ticketless, I have no idea if I did or not. A shame as they were clearly on fire, as this extract from 1981 shows. I picked up the excellent 2011 compilation The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983 on CD which features Wicked Dem. It's now available on Bandcamp and is highly recommended, as is pretty much everything on Bristol Archive Records, to be honest.

What can I say about Bob Marley & The Wailers that hasn't already been said and more eloquently? One of the greatest songs of all time from one of the greatest artists of all time from one of the greatest albums of all time, Bob Marley & The Wailers Live! (or Live! At The Lyceum, if you're scrutinising the vinyl label). 

 

No Woman No Cry is credited to Bob's friend Vincent Ford, but is believed to be a pseudonym that Bob used in order to evade his publishing company at the time. Clearly, the courts agreed as Marley's estate gained control of these compositions in 1987 and successfully resisted a counter claim by the label in 2014.

Speaking of Bob, the Performing Arts Center in Montego Bay, Jamaica was dedicated to him and 18 months after his death, Black Uhuru performed there as part of the Jamaica World Music Festival. The quality of this 1982 bootleg recording is a bit ropey to say the least but the quality of the music shines through.

Another bootleg of slightly better quality is UB40 with a 'short' version of Madam Medusa, their damning indictment of Margaret Thatcher and a reminder of how very good they were in their early years. This was originally featured in the seminal music film, Urgh! A Music War. The version here is a rip from the VHS release that I found online. Incredibly, UB40 didn't make the cut for the vinyl album release, itself a must-have in any record collection.

Staying with another legendary reggae band from Birmingham, Steel Pulse are up next with Makka Splaff. The song originally featured (as Macka Splaff) on their debut Handsworth Revolution. The version here appeared on the legendary Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus album, released on 10" vinyl with a limited edition bonus 7". A copy on Discogs will set you back (I think a rather reasonable) £29.00, less if you're not bothered about the 7".

Another contender for greatest (live) album of all time is Aswad with 1983's Live And Direct, recorded at that summer's Notting Hill Carnival in London. I remember seeing a full-page ad in Smash Hits at the time, priced as a mini-album at £2.99. At 9 tracks (10 if you split the 2-song Rockers Melody) and 45 minutes in length, there's no 'mini' about it and the sound is as fresh and crisp now as it was three decades ago.

Closing today's selection is Matumbi, whose theme tune to the BBC TV series Empire Road was also included on the 1978 compilation Don't Walk, Boogie nestled in my parent's record collection. Both the TV show and the song made a big impression on me and - unknown to me at the time - introduced me to the genius of Dennis Bovell.

After Tonight is another classic from the Matumbi catalogue, which Dennis has revisited and re-recorded several times throughout his career, most recently in 2022 with Winston Reedy. This live version was recorded on day 2 of the Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea in December 1979. A fund-raiser for victims of the conflict in Cambodia, it was a mammoth 4-day event at the Hammersmith Odeon, kicking off with Queen, ending with Paul McCartney and Wings and featuring The Pretenders, The Specials, The Who and Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

The day 2 line-up was Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Matumbi, Dennis and other bandmates bolstering the former's line-up, followed by The Clash. What a night that must have been. You needn't wonder: with another name check for the Albums That Should Exist blog, you can find collated selections from all four days posted last summer. Zip file links are still live, though I had to close down multiple pop-ups and revisit the initial link page to eventually get the download. Well worth the effort though, as all three acts are on top form.

All that yakking and I need another brew! Let me just stick this selection on repeat...

 

1) Ghetto Of The City: Misty In Roots (1979)

2) Wicked Dem: Talisman (1981)

3) No Woman No Cry: Bob Marley & The Wailers (1975)

4) Guess Who's Coming To Dinner: Black Uhuru (1982)

5) Madame Medusa: UB40 (1980)

6) Makka Splaff (The Colly Man): Steel Pulse (1977)

7) African Children: Aswad (1983)

8) After Tonight: Matumbi (1979)

 

18 July 1975: The Lyceum, London, England: 3

02 October 1977: Electric Circus, Manchester, England: 6

31 March 1979: Cirque Royal/Koninklijk Circus, Brussels, Belgium: 1

27 December 1979: Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England: 8

28 August 1980: Arènes De Frejus, Fréjus, France: 5

28 July 1981: Bath Pavilion, Bath, England: 2

26 November 1982: Jamaica World Music Festival, Bob Marley Performing Arts Center, Montego Bay, Jamaica: 4

26 August 1983: Meanwhile Gardens, Notting Hill Carnival, London, England: 7

 

Everything's Gonna Be Alright (45:08) (KF) (Mega)