This month, Doctor Bird Records
(via Cherry Red Records) released a superb twofer CD featuring 2 album reissues
from The Upsetters – Return of Django & Eastwood Rides Again.
The 2 albums (from 1969/1970) were
a featured part of the whole subculture linked to Eastwood’s Dollar trilogy, predominantly
within the UK. The albums were originally released by the famous Trojan Records,
a British label (founded in 1968) which specialises in ska, reggae and dub
music. For those with a full on interest in the whole Dollar mythology, this
release will certainly be welcomed. I certainly didn’t hesitate in adding it to
my collection.
Compiled and annotated by leading
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry biographer, David Katz. Perry still regularly performing
live in the UK and Europe A year after embarking on a
career as an independent producer in 1968, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry hit the big time
when the mesmeric sax-led rock steady instrumental, ‘Return Of Django’ made
number 5 in the UK charts.
Soon after, Trojan released a hugely popular
collection of the producer’s finest instrumentals to date, suitably titled
after the best-selling single.
Perry remained at the cutting
edge of the reggae scene throughout the months that immediately followed, with
tracks by the Upsetters (essentially the name given any set of musicians
employed for his recording sessions) proving particularly popular among both
Jamaican and British music fans.
In response, Trojan issued a
second Spaghetti Western theme instrumental-based album comprising the
enigmatic Jamaican’s work which further demonstrated his increasingly bold and
innovative approach to music making.
Now, almost 50 years after the
original release of these historically important long-players, they have been
brought together to form this immensely fascinating and hugely enjoyable CD
collection.
Annotated by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry
biographer, David Katz, this is a must for all fans of both the producer and
vintage reggae sounds.
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