The Greatest Roots Reggae Albums......ever

[Waxy]

 

[Wolfmancatsup]

Coincidentally I was playing this just t’other day:-



Mick

 

[Big Tabs]

Top Drawer thread.
Only just clocked it.

mmm,
a chin rubber.

 

[roach]

Love this one too!

One of my all time favourites, wonderful lyrics.

 

[Blue Belle]

One album from my youth, and not very original, nor the correct bracket of Reggae i'm sure. I think it was actually Dancehall, anyway, i'm a sucker for a bit of Barrington Levy.

 

[Tony L]

Coincidentally I was playing this just t’other day:-



Mick

Original pressing? I’d kill for one of those!

 

[boon]

Not often mentioned on pfm but…Ernest Ranglin, Below the Bass Line. He’s been around for years and played in loads of bands as well as doing his own stuff, worth a punt by any means.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ernest-ranglin-mn0000202187/biography

 

[Wolfmancatsup]

Original pressing? I’d kill for one of those!

Yep! One careful owner (me!) from new...

 

[mikechadwick]

One album from my youth, and not very original, nor the correct bracket of Reggae i'm sure. I think it was actually Dancehall, anyway, i'm a sucker for a bit of Barrington Levy.

Barrington Levy was one of those artists that spanned the dividing line between Roots & Dancehall - recorded some killer tunes! My personal favourite:

 

[Finnegan]

To my shame I only know the Live Counter Eurovision 79 album (where I’m lucky enough to have a mint original pressing which sounds amazing!). Their catalogue is really hard to find at all, let alone in good condition, so I’ve never stumbled across anything else. The song you link sounds great.

Wise And Foolish, if you can find it, is a really beautiful album.

 

[Locheeboy]

Legalise it
Wanted (dead or alive)
The man…Pete Tosh..

 

[Tantris]

I always liked Black Uhuru's album Sinsemilla, and especially this track;

 

[roach]

I need a sub!!

https://www.discogs.com/release/667...-The-Strange-And-Wonderful-Story-Of-Yabby-You

https://open.spotify.com/album/1CmSPTwqyLbLt4EDKISMTx?si=wKx5-MjzTEKtiid-DJzI4A

 

[Big Tabs]

This thread reminded me I have this from 1976

This was a good introduction to quite a few reggae singers for me all for the price of a single.

Track list here:

The Front Line (1976, Vinyl) - Discogs

The Front Line series is an excellent and cheap way to taste .

this is a cracker


More images

Various – Beyond The Front Line
Label: Front Line (2) – FRONT 1
Series: Virgin Front Line All-Time Reggae Classics
Format:
CD, Remastered, Sampler
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1990
Genre: Reggae
Style: Roots Reggae

 

[kjb]

Coincidentally I was playing this just t’other day:-



Mick

One of the CD version of this comes with the original Jamaican recordings of the songs. I think they've even better than the Island version and, in keeping with this thread, far more rootsy sounding. The harmonies are sublime.

 

[mikechadwick]

One of the CD version of this comes with the original Jamaican recordings of the songs. I think they've even better than the Island version and, in keeping with this thread, far more rootsy sounding. The harmonies are sublime.

I think it was the 2CD deluxe edition that had the original JA recordings on CD2. Agreed, much harder sounding than the original Island release.

 

[jason rockley]

Eek a Mouse Ganja Smuggling - YouTube

 

[Locheeboy]

Bush Doctor…Pete Tosh…Walk, don’t look back…

 

[klfrs]

Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus with Jazzboe Abubaka – Tribute To The Emperor

 

[neildalton]

I’ve never understood why Wayne Wade’s Black is Our Colour wasn’t more highly fated, particularly given Vivian Jackson’s involvement. Quietly, one of the most affecting roots albums of the late 70s.

In more recent times, Bim Sherman’s Miracle was a fresh and engaging take on the idiom.

Finally (and since the thread has taken a sideturn into dub), I’d recommend - and recommend strongly - that wonderful trilogy of albums, Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby’s in Dub Conference Vols 1,2 and 3. The African Dub trilogy was the big crossover success during the punk years, but it was this sequence of albums which, I suggest, really counted. Mudie deserves a bigger audience.