Tuesday, December 29, 2009

BUNNY LEE AKA (STRIKER LEE)








Lee began his career working as a record plugger for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label in 1962, later performing the same duties for Leslie Kong. He then moved on to work with Ken Lack, initially in an administrative role, before taking on engineering duties. Lee then moved into producing (i.e. financing) records himself, his first hit record coming with Roy Shirley's "Music Field" on WIRL in 1967. Lee then set up his own Lee's label, the first release being Lloyd Jackson's "Listen to the Beat".[3] He produced further hits during 1967-68 by Lester Sterling andStranger ColeDerrick MorganSlim Smith and The Uniques ("My Conversation"), Pat Kelly, and The Sensations, establishing him as one of Jamaica's top producers. Between 1969 and 1972 he produced classic hits including Slim Smith's "Everybody Needs Love", Delroy Wilson's "Better Must Come", Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby", and John Holt's "Stick By Me".
Lee was a pioneer of the United Kingdom reggae market, licensing his productions to the Palmer Brothers (Pama) and Trojan Records in the early 1970s.
The mid-1970s saw Lee work with his most successful singer, Johnny Clarke, as well as Owen Gray and Cornell Campbell, and along withLee "Scratch" Perry, he broke the dominance of Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid. This era also saw the emergence of the "flying cymbal" sound on Lee's productions, developed by drummer Carlton 'Santa' Davis, with Lee's session band, The Aggrovators.
Lee was instrumental in producing early dub music, working with his friend and dub pioneer King Tubby in the early 1970s. Lee and Tubby were experimenting with new production techniques, which they called "Implements of sound."[citation needed] Working with equipment that today would be considered primitive and limiting, they produced tracks that consisted of mostly the rhythm parts mixed with distorted or altered versions of a song.
With all the bass and drum ting now, dem ting just start by accident, a man sing off key, an when you a reach a dat you drop out everything an leave the drum, an lick in the bass, an cause a confusion an people like it...
Lee encouraged Tubby to mix increasingly wild dubs, sometimes including sound effects such as thunder claps and gunshots. In addition to King Tubby, dub mixers Prince Jammy andPhilip Smart also worked extensively on Lee's productions, with most of Lee's dubs from 1976 onwards mixed by Jammy.
In addition to dub sides and instrumentals, Lee would be one of the first producers to realize the potential of reusing the same rhythm tracks time and time again with different singers anddeejays partly out of necessity - unlike some of the other major producers Lee did not have his own studio and had to make the most of the studio time he paid for.
The latter half of the 1970s saw Lee work with some of Jamaica's top new talent, including Linval ThompsonLeroy Smart, and Barry Brown.
By 1977 Joe Gibbs and Channel One Studios with the Hookim Brothers became "the place to be", reducing Lee's prominence. However, during the late 1970s Lee produced almost everydeejay, notably Dennis AlcaponeU-RoyI-RoyPrince JazzboU BrownDr AlimantadoJah StitchTrinity, and Tapper Zukie. Most of these were quick productions, usually to classicStudio One or Treasure Isle riddims. The aim was to get deejay versions on the street quickly and were usually voiced at Tubby's studio in the Waterhouse district of Kingston. In the early 1980s, Lee purchased Gibbs' studio, and continued producing, albeit on a less prolific basis than in the 1970s.
In 1982 an episode of the Channel 4 documentary series Deep Roots was dedicated to Lee. Filmed in in the control room of King Tubby's studio it included a lengthy conversation with him and some of the musicians he has worked with over the years including Delroy WilsonJohnny ClarkePrince Jazzbo and Jackie Edwards. It then shows Lee producing a dub while Prince Jammy mixes. The program has been released on DVD in January 2008


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

THE BALLOON FARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A GREAT TRACK!




BLOSSOM TOES







Blossom Toes were an English psychedelic pop band active between 1967 and 1969. Initially known as The Ingoes, they were renamed and signed to manager Giorgio Gomelsky's Marmalade label. The original line-up comprised Brian Godding (born 19 August 1945, Wales) (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jim Cregan (born James Cregan, 9 March 1946, YeovilSomerset) (guitar, vocals), Brian Belshaw (born 25 February 1944,WiganLancashire) (bass, vocals), and Kevin Westlake (born Kevin Patrick Westlake, 5 March 1947, DublinCo DublinEire — 30 September 2004) (drums).
The band's debut album, We Are Ever So Clean, is a classic example of quintessentially English psychedelia. On release, it was presented in the UK music magazine Melody Maker as "Giorgio Gomelsky's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Although not a major commercial success, tracks such as "What On Earth" or "Look At Me, I'm You" have helped give the album something of a cult period status as it is unearthed by successive generations of 60s retro fans. It was recently voted Number 40 in Record Collector’s list of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Records".
If Only For A Moment saw the band taking a noticeably heavier and rockier direction, with Cregan and Godding's distinctive two-part guitar harmonies playing a prominent role. The album also marked the departure of Westlake, to be replaced, in turn, by John "Poli" Palmer and then Barry Reeves.
The quartet was dissolved in 1970. While Belshaw and Godding rejoined Westlake in B.B. Blunder, Cregan formed Stud with Jim Wilson and Charlie McCracken, before joining Family. He would find fame later in the decade with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and as a part of Rod Stewart's backing band.
The Blossom Toes contributed music to La Collectionneuse (1967), a film by French director Éric Rohmer and also appeared in "Popdown" (1967) by Fred Marshall.

Skip Bifferty






Skip Bifferty was a rock band formed in early 1966, when The Chosen Few (Featuring Alan Hull, later of Lindisfarne) from Newcastle upon Tyne changed their name and got a new singer, Graham Bell. Their outings on vinyl were few and far between, but included the much re-issued 1967 album Skip Bifferty, recently released with bonus Radio tracks as "The Story of Skip Bifferty" on Sanctuary Records. Some of their songs were covered by established artistes such as Cilla BlackThe Tremeloes and The Kingsmen ("Louie Louie"). They had a following on the "live" circuit and are remembered with great affection. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourn

Sunday, December 6, 2009

PRIMITIVE SOUL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! THIS FRIDAY!!!!!! AT THE BOOT!



IN HAPPENING NORFOLK VA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALL OR NOTHING AT COUS COUS NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT



NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT IN RICHMOND VA BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

DOBIE GRAY





The "In" Crowd is the song which first brought international recognition to Dobie Gray. Written by Billy Page, it extolled the cool sassiness and hipness of being "In" in the mid-sixties. The record was in the charts amid the top 10s and 20s for three months. The Ramsey Lewis Trio’s hit version of it came two years later.
   Gene Page, brother of Billy, was the arranger who gave "The 'In' Crowd" its big, Motown-like sound. In fact, the general perception at the time was that it was a Motown record. This, in part, was due to Gene’s highly identifiable arrangements and his choice of instrumentation - which in those days was being heard on a number of Motown’s hit records. 

Friday, December 4, 2009

THANKS BROOKE!


The Impressions









AFTER THE END OF A CRAPPY DAY I HEARD THIS SONG AND IT MADE FEEL A WHOLE LOT BETTER!