This weekend has definitely been a busy one. With the No Half Steppin’ Party I did with Jack the Ripper, a Red Bull match (a draw at that), and Sunday’s Hazlet Record Show, I wanted to slow down a bit. Before I push on, I wanted to give a shout out to the good people over at Dirt Castle. I’m honored that they would put the Flea Market Funk Vol. 1 Mix on their site along side DJ’s I’ve looked up to for years. Guys like Pete Rock, Kon and Amir, J-Rocc, Miles Tackett, and many, many more. It’s a good feeling to know that all this craziness with records and mixes can get out there. Good Look guys. On that note, here’s some Monday Reggae to get your week started. Say hello to The Rockers All Stars with “Clean Sweep” on Rockers International Records from 1978.
I bought this record from Psyche Dave, who has been kind of slow in the record game as of late. If I see him at the Spot, I usually buy vinyl crack from him out of his van. He usually holds good Reggae for me, and I’m hoping to get another load of it from him shortly. So as in many cases in Reggae records (Jamaica releases hundreds of records every week), there isn’t too much out there on this record. It is a collaboration of the great Augustus Pablo and Everton Da Silva. Pablo, the king of the melodica, producer, keyboard player, and genius of Roots and Dub would co-produce this side, as well as the full length with Da Silva. Legend has it, the whole record is really a reworking of 10 Da Silva productions. The backing band is listed by the Rockers All Stars, but no names are given at all. Prince Jammy may or may not be the Dread at the Controls, but one could assume Pablo has drawn from the usual pool of players and studio cats (Jamaica was always full of them) to lay the foundations of this piece of Dub.
“Jah Dub” moves along slowly like any one of the Augustus Pablo productions I have grown to love throughout the years. It’s slow, chugging drum beat and great guitar work, combined with just enough delay and reverb will have you nodding your head and dancing like Horsemouth from Rockers. Pablo had a distinctive sound, and what really makes this Dub treat special, is the flute (or fife as Bob Marley would say on Talkin’ Blues) sound. At first I thought maybe it was a melodica (with the Pablo involvement), but it’s definitely a flute or a recorder, and it separates this track from the rest. As seen in the photo above, Pablo is playing a recorder, and I’m hoping he put that piece of goodness on the track. Please enjoy some Monday Dub from one of the masters. Keep Diggin’!
