Reggae Golden Jubilee: Origins of Jamaican Music – 50th Anniversary

Hot on the heels of Out of Many: 50 Years of Reggae Music (reviewed in #88) comes this 100-track box-set, which, despite the ‘origins’ of the title, covers the whole period in greater detail and is all the better for it (only half-a-dozen tracks overlap). Part-compiled by former Jamaican prime minister and one-time record label owner Edward Seaga, it comes with a 64-page illustrated booklet and follows a broadly chronological sequence. Thus the first CD kicks off with Theophilus Beckford's seminal 1959 shuffle ‘Easy Snapping’ and closes with the Heptones’ ‘Hypocrite’ from 1972. In between, you'll find ska tracks by Prince Buster, the Skatalites and the under-rated Justin Hinds and the Dominoes; Delroy Wilson's transitional ‘Dancing Mood;’ rock steady (including Alton Ellis’ definitive song of the same name) and The Beltones’ ‘No More Heartaches’, one of the first records to feature the reggae beat. The Abyssinians’ ‘Satta Massa Gana’ is not the original, but is still superb. CD two contains mostly well-worn 70s classics from the likes of Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, Culture and Toots and the Maytals. But there's also a lesser-known track by Bob Andy, UK lovers rock from Janet Kay (‘Silly Games’) and pop-reggae from Pluto Shervington (hmmm…). The influence of disco, pop and soul is all too apparent on CD three, with Marcia Griffiths’ ‘Electric Boogie’, for example, incongruously sandwiched between the dub poetry of Mutabaruka and the digital rhythm of Wayne Smith's ‘Sleng Teng’. Once again, however, this is counterbalanced by some early dancehall and a number of jump-up tunes, such as Lovindeer's nursery-rhyme lyrics used to comment on Hurricane Gilbert. CD four covers the last 20 years, which says something about the state of Jamaican music over this period. Most of the big names of the time are featured, from Beenie Man, Buju Banton and Luciano to Elephant Man, Sizzla and Sean Paul. There are a few hardcore modern dancehall tracks, but also Damian Marley's ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ and up-and-coming female singers Etana and Queen Ifrica. As with any box-set, some track choices are debatable, but overall this is a fine representative selection.