At King Tubby's

Philip Smart was one of the great engineers to learn his trade as understudy to the legendary dub master himself, Osbourne King Tubby Ruddock. Alongside other luminaries such as Prince Jammy and Scientist, Smart would step in at the controls when the demand for King Tubby's studio dubs grew to such an extent that each single was expected to carry a version or dub on the flipside. Smart moved to the United States in the late '70s, and in 1981 he opened his successful HC&F Recording Studio in Freeport, Long Island, New York. It produced some sizeable Jamaican dancehall hits for his two record labels, Tan-Yah and Eclipse Records. The studio's creations have included tracks like Dirtsman's Hot This Year, Rikers Island, and, most notably, Shaggy's Oh Carolina, Big Up, and Angel. But it's the heady days of the early 1970s, up to 1976, that this release focuses on, when the version was king and Smart was at the controls mixing up some fine dubs with Jamaica's finest musicians The Aggrovators, working some of producer Bunny Striker Lee's rhythms in fine style.