Post by Bazza on Jun 24, 2009 9:46:57 GMT
By the dawn of the seventies, Laurel Aitken was well and truly established as one of the UK’s top Jamaican singing stars. Over the years following his move from Jamaica in 1960 he had acquired a strong and faithful following in Britain and well beyond, but the recent Reggae explosion increased this many times over. Eager to exploit Laurel’s astounding popularity, Pama Records fought off competition from esteemed rivals, Trojan and Doctor Bird, to acquire rights to issue his material, the bulk of which subsequently saw release on their newly launched Nu Beat imprint.
By the Spring of 1970, he had provided Pama with series of best-selling singles, and the hugely popular long-player, ‘Scandal in Brixton Market’, but with demand for his works showing no signs of diminishing, the company decided to collect a dozen of his most popular sides to date for what became the aptly titled collection, ‘The High Priest Of Reggae’.
Despite selling in huge numbers at the time, the LP soon became a rarity and this, added to the enduring appeal of Aitken’s work has resulted it becoming one of the most sought after Reggae long-players around, as illustrated by Record Collector’s recent valuation in excess of £200. Now, after four decades of waiting for its re-release, fans can finally obtain the LP at a fraction of that cost, with the added incentive of 13 bonus tracks from those ’69 sessions.
'The High Priest Of Reggae' has just been reissued on the shiny beer mat format (aka compact disc) by Cherry Red/Pressure Drop (nothing to do with us!). You can order the CD from Amazon for under £8 BARGAIN! - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0025T716A
Track listing:
1. JESSE JAMES
2. MR POPCORN
3. I GOT TO HAVE YOUR LOVE
4. (SLOOP) JOHN B
5. SHOO BEE SHOO BEE
6. HAILES SELAISE
7. LANDLORDS AND TENANTS
8. SAVE THE LAST DANCE
9. WALK RIGHT BACK
10. DON'T BE CRUEL
11. WOPPI KING
12. SUFFERING STILL - LAUREL AITKEN & GIRLIE
BONUS TRACKS
13. REGGAE 69
14. DONKEY MAN
15. BLUES DANCE - LAUREL AITKEN & GIRLIE
16. LAWD DOCTOR - LAUREL AITKEN & GIRLIE
17. BABYLON GONE
18. EVERYBODY SUFFERIN’
19. FREEDOM
20. PUSSY PRICE (GONE UP)
21. GIMME BACK ME DOLLAR
22. SKINHEAD TRAIN
23. KENT PEOPLE
24. SKINHEAD INVASION
25. BENDWOOD DICK