things and time will tell.

Boogie Down Productions – Jack Of Spades / I'm Still #1 Jive – 1169-1-JD Vinyl, 12", US, 1988 info About a week ago, S sends a text to me and R saying "I know y'all are watching this brilliance!" Um... I had forgotten. A few seconds of panic followed as I tried to piece together what I had dropped the ball on. Another text or two and I realized it wasn't a union press conference or something that I was missing, but something far more important and profound: the KRS-One/Big Daddy Kane "Verzuz" battle! My son had it up on his iPad a minute later and we got to catch an hour that gave me more joy than anything I've seen on TV in years. Plenty of other places to  see what you missed ,  hear some highlights from the battle  or  read some color commentary . Of course I think KRS won, but I'm biased. My Boogie Down Productions cassette tapes were life changing. KRS-One got called "the Teacha," but it wasn't just that his rhymes and com...

The Brothers And Sisters – I Am Somebody Toddlin' Town Records – 128 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1969 info A quick break from the Lee "Scratch" Perry tributes to celebrate a birthday... (I hope you aren't too bored with the LSP productions yet though, still have a couple more planned!) Last weekend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. celebrated his 80th birthday. Far more important tributes were made, but I figured it was an excuse to share this with you. Reverend Jackson is an institution in my little corner of the world, and I don't say that critically. Organizations are ultimately just made of people. I've come to respect more every year just how fragile these things we build around us can be. And just how important it is to have institutions that weather the storms, that exist (even imperfectly) for our people to draw on, to find some basic structures and lessons when the time comes. The significance not just of his decades of activism, but of Black instituti...

Junior Byles – Curly Locks (Best Of Junior Byles & The Upsetters 1970 - 1976) Heartbeat Records – CD HB208 CD, Compilation, US, 1997 info One of the most wonderful people on the planet sent me a note saying she had read my last post and was "quite partial to curly locks, you know." I know it's *possible* she was referring to her hair (or mine?), but I'm choosing to believe she was moved by that last scratched up record I had shared . So, instead of what I was planning and inspired by my aunt (as always!), the Lee Perry tribute continues with more Junior Byles... this time with good sound, like I promised. ________________________________________________ Curly Locks: Best of Junior Byles & the Upsetters 1970-1976  misses a few crucial cuts, but pretty much does what it says on the cover. This CD gives a real sense of the magic created during those years when Byles worked with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. A revived Doctor Bird record label  recently ...

 Junior Byles – Beat Down Babylon Orchid – ORC 712 Vinyl, 7", Reissue, UK, (Late 1990s/early 2000s?) Original release: JA, 1971 info Lee "Scratch" Perry produced records for so many of the best reggae singers and harmony groups of the 1960s and '70s. For a lot of them, those recordings included their greatest, most creative and memorable music. Junior Byles is one of my favorite singers from that orbit, someone whose records I find myself regularly going back to. Byles was not very prolific during his too short career, especially by Jamaican music standards. The former member of the Versatiles was a particularly strong songwriter and his small discography contains more than his share of classics, songs that still get played, covered and versioned. Beat Down Babylon was Junior Byles' 1971 hit produced by Perry at Dynamic Studios. Recorded in the years before the Black Ark, it's still a great example of Perry helping to break new ground. The song, an anthem fo...

The Upsetter Revue / King Scratch – Play On Mr Music / Dread Lion Label: Rock A Shacka – DBUP 001 Vinyl, 10", 45 RPM, EP, Japan, Feb 2014 info The Upsetter, Lee "Scratch" Perry, died on August 29th. The man was a giant in the history of Jamaican music, but should also be seen as one of the originators that opened the door to most modern music. A handful of Jamaican producers and engineers developed ideas and techniques that realized the potential for the producer and recording studio to become the artist and instrument. They took the Jamaican "version," reusing a musical backing track, and pushed their experiments in dub until they had invented the remix. It's hard to imagine the path to hip hop, dance music, electronica and more without their contributions. This relatively recent release of much older Lee Perry recordings is one of a handful of Scratch related odds and ends I was feeling inspired to listen to, record and share. Like Scratch's previous ...