Some A Holla Some A Bawl (Various Artists)

Orange Street, Kingston, Jamaica: the epi-center of the reggae world. Where all the record shops, studios, pressing plants were based. The new cut 45s would be taken to the shops after a testing on various sound systems and passed to the record shop proprietors to sell. Bunny Lee as a former record plugger and now a leading producer knew what the people wanted and he had a great ear for a hit tune. Some-A-Holla Some-A-Bawl collects some of the stand out tracks from this period, when music was finding a new beat as rocksteady rolled into the late-60s early-70s reggae sound. The Ravers' "Mati And Fulli" telling the story that the "Rent Too High" to the Twinkle Brothers' "Miss Laba Laba" - you see and blind you must hear and deaf - clean up your own backyard before talking about others. All stories of daily life and love songs told over a cracking rhythm played by finest musicians on the island. So yes "Some-A-Holla Some-A-Bawl" as Max Romeo would say but it can't be denied that all the tunes on this selection are of a fine pedigree. Features The Ravers, Winston Shand, Max Romeo, Twinkle Brothers, The Claridonians, Doreen Shaffer, Slim Smith, Delroy Wilson, The Sensations, Derrick Morgan & Hortense Ellis, Roy Shirley, Ken Parker, and Dave Barker. CD version includes three bonus tracks featuring Max Romeo, The Melodians, The Ravers.