At The Dance (Greenwich Farm)
Cornell Campbell – Dance In A Greenwich FarmClocktower Records – CT714Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, US, 1975
Quick post of another Jamaican favorite. Maybe a little more upbeat than my usual reggae picks, it seemed perfect for the beautiful weather earlier today. Hopefully people get a little peace and time away from work and the struggles of the world for Labor Day... and hopefully that provides some time to play this loud and enjoy.
Cornell Campbell tells the story of a dance in the Greenwich Farm neighborhood. The dreads are there to rub a dub, listening to latest sounds booming from King Tubby's sound system... but everyone has to worry about police busting up the dance and the baldheads are there to wreck the party. The song takes you back to the time of the foundation sound systems... If you're interested, the sound quality isn't perfect, but you can hear a tape of a 1975 session by Tubby's sound with the legendary U-Roy on the mic that someone has posted on YouTube. In the first few minutes alone you can imagine the reaction of listeners as a Linval Thompson track gives way to a wild dub version with U-Roy freestyling his chants into spaces created in the mix.
Cornell Campbel originally cut Dance In A Greenwich Farm as a "special" for King Tubby's Hometown Hi Fi to play as they clashed with other sounds. The record was released for others to spin in both Jamaica and NYC in 1975. I first heard the song about 20 years ago now and I swear it's been stuck in my head damn near that entire time.
The music is from the Aggrovators, the excellent house band of producer Bunny "Striker" Lee. The song features that great "flying cymbals" sound of so many Bunny Lee productions from around this time. Chinna Smith does double duty, singing harmony to back Campbell in addition to his guitar work. (And check his mini solo after the second verse!)
Naturally, King Tubby himself provides a dub version for side B. A typically brilliant Tubby remix extends the track for another two and a half minutes of bass, phasing, and Campbell's vocals repeatedly dropping in only to fall away into endless echo seconds later. I think the song is a classic, hard to believe the rhythm was only versioned a handful of times afterward. (I'm working on my copy of one of them to hopefully share in a few days though...)
These can be tough times. I hope you enjoy this and if some of you check it out, I hope it brightens things for you for at least a little while. And yeah, I know the real workers' day is in May, but hell- we deserve all the holidays for our team that we can get. So happy Labor Day!
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