I’ve been depressed for a few days due to fucking my personal life up all over again. I think I have probably broken every spiritual rule of every ethical, mystical, or religious tradition out there in the last week or so, straying from righteousness in thought and word. Thoughts are not deeds but thought-forms that take shape and enter the air as words have force, have power, have to be cared for so as not to injure or bruise the ears they fall upon. I may not accept Jesus as my savior, but I do accept Yabby You into my life. Yabby You will set me back on the path of righteousness. His words do not enter into wickedness. My disturbed mental and spiritual state won’t allow for me to write a decent description in this moment, and the one below is just fine. Even better are the liner notes included in the wonderful booklet from Blood & Fire, one of the most righteous labels to ever stalk the earth. A labor of love, this set. All respect to Yabby You, may his soul be at rest.
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Yabby You – Jesus Dread 1972-1977
Released 1997 on Blood & Fire Records
Tracklist:
1 Love Thy Neighbour 3:35
2 Conquering Lion 3:25
3 Fisherman Special 3:16
4 Yabby Youth 3:13
5 Big Youth Fights Against Capitalism [King Tubby’s Version] 3:07
6 Covetous Men 2:56
7 Run Come Rally 3:16
8 Rally Dub [Upsetter Mix] 3:18
9 Antichrist 2:39
10 God Is Watching You 2:56
11 Pablo Dread in a Red 3:06
12 King Tubby’s Rock [King Tubby’s Version] 3:21
13 Warn the Nation 2:25
14 Honey Dub [King Tubby’s Version] 3:00
15 Carnal Man 3:04
16 Love of Jah 3:03
17 Love of Jah [King Tubby’s Version] 2:58
18 The Man Who Does the Work 2:42
19 Jah Vengeance 2:48
20 Revenge 2:53
21 Freshly 3:14
22 Natty Dread on the Mountain Top 2:58
23 Gwan and Lef’ Me 2:47
24 Tubby’s Vengeance [King Tubby’s Version] 2:57
25 Death Trap 3:07
26 Man of the Living 2:58
27 King Tubby Special [King Tubby’s Version] 3:22
28 Lord of Lords 3:19
29 Lord Dub [King Tubby’s Version] 3:15
30 Chant Jah Victory 3:31
31 Jah Victory Dub [King Tubby’s Version] 3:38
32 Walls of Jerusalem 3:40
33 Jerusalem Dub [King Tubby’s Dub] 3:40
34 King Pharoah’s Plague [Discomix] , 5:14
35 Plague of Horn 3:23
36 King Pharaoh Dub [King Tubby’s Version] 3:20
37 Jesus Dread 3:26
38 Chant Down Babylon Kingdom [Discomix] , 5:07
39 Chanting Dub [King Tubby’s Version] 2:43
40 Hornsman Chant 2:44
41 Fire in a Kingston 3:13
42 Fire Dub [King Tubby’s Version] 2:33
43 Judgement on the Land 3:06
44 Repatriation Rock [King Tubby’s Dub] 3:23
45 Deliver Me from My Enemies 2:52
46 Born Free [Discomix] Rose, 5:53
47 Love Thy Neighbour [King Tubby’s Version] 3:34
Review by Rick Anderson
The title of this two-disc set comes from the fact that Yabby You (born Vivian Jackson; his nickname comes from the chorus to his song “Conquering Lion”) is a devout Christian Rastafarian. The depth of his religious faith informs every note on this remarkable album, which contains some of the darkest, dreadest reggae ever made. The medium-slow tempos, the minor chords, the song titles (“Love Thy Neighbor,” “Carnal Mind,” “Warn the Nation,” etc.) all reflect an intent that goes beyond mere music-making. And yet the music itself is spectacular. Most of the songs featured on the album are presented in several versions — an original vocal mix, a dub version, a deejay version (with toasting performed by such deejays as Dillinger and Big Youth over the dub cuts), and, often, an instrumental version featuring saxophonist Tommy McCook. The McCook tracks tend to sound like filler, but the album is still utterly essential. It’s hard to imagine a better example of golden-era reggae at its finest.
Credits:
Errol Alphonso Performer
Family Man Barrett Organ, Bass
Steve Barrow Liner Notes, Compilation, Interviewer, Annotation
Big Youth Performer
Dicky Burton Performer
Basil “Benbow” Creary Drums
Santa Davis Drums
Dillinger Performer
Sly Dunbar Drums
Bobby Ellis Trumpet
Clinton Fearon Bass
Carl Gayle
Albert Griffiths Guitar
Dirty Harry Hall Fife
Bernard Touter Harvey Piano
Dave Katz
King Tubby Mixing
Earl Lindo Organ
Tommy McCook Saxophone, Performer
Kevin Metcalfe Editing, Mastering
Dennis Morris Photography
Augustus Pablo Piano, Melodica, Performer
Lee “Scratch” Perry Voices, Mixing
Prince Jammy Mixing
Prophets Performer
Michael Rose Performer
Robbie Shakespeare Bass
Phillip Smart Mixing
Earl “Chinna” Smith Guitar
Adrian Talbot Design
Uziah “Sticky” Thompson Percussion
Trinity Performer
Wayne Wade Performer
Bunny Wailer Percussion
Earl “Bagga” Walker Organ
Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace Drums
Andy Walter Digital Restoration
Michael Williams Design
Yabby You Vocals
Tapper Zukie Performer
Password in the comments
password: vibes
Don't be felled by dark thoughts. Just find one thing to happy about & say "Thank You" for that thing & your energy will change back to the path of thankfulness. Magic!
Many thanks. Mp3 is just not the same.
RIP Blood & Fire. You will be missed.
I think all this MP3 bashing is a lot of pooh-pooh. Most mastering happens at the recording end of things. If it sounded good when it was recorded, then it should sound good when it's re-presented. Spock would say that this is "Illogical". He is right!
mmmm… Yes and no. You have to have super-sonar-bat ears to actually here the difference between an MP3 encoded at 320 and a FLAC file, but I *can* definitely hear the difference going into lower bit-rates. Particularly transient frequencies found in drum kit cymbals, reeds or woodwinds, or upper-register vocals.. But the real issue is archiving purposes: You can't — or at least you really SHOULDN'T — transcode from mp3's. Whether your ear can here it or not, any mp3 loses digital information the minute its encoded, and I've heard too many shitty low-bit rate mp3's in my day not to realize that a great deal of them were transcoded from higher bit-rates. Like making a cassette copy off of another cassette copy and so on, except probably worse. I archive my entire collection in FLAC with EAC extractions so that I have a bit-to-bit backup in case I ever need one. Such as burning copies for friends or myself, or if an old CD develops "CD rot" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot) which has happened to a few titles, or of course if I or one of my more careless or drunken friends happens to scratch a disc. It's far easier to #@#&% up a CD beyond playability than it is to do the same to vinyl, so I like the security of knowing I have a bit-to-bit backup. So I guess what I'm trying to say is: If I thought lossless audio was pointless or 'not logical', I wouldn't post it here; likewise, mp3's have their place too and if I didn't think so then I wouldn't post *those*. So, all is well under the sun.
Thank you, Flabbergast. What a collection!
Thanks very much for the post. I think flabber is right on about lower bit rate mp3s. I'm usually plenty happy with 320k ones, but halve that and worse and they start to sound a little ragged.
"Yabby You will set me back on the path of righteousness. His words do not enter into wickedness."
Selah
thanks allot for this great piece of art.
such a shame… i can't even put in to words my sorrow… he'll sure be missed
Thank you so much for this post. What an upfull vibe. I had never known the source of those Big Youth versions, so what a pleasure to discover the original. You-Yabby-Yabby- You. Duh?
Hello! Truly a great blog… There's so much dedication and care in your posts.
Now I still want Yabby You's Dub It To The Top-CD by Blood & Fire…But I think I buy that one myself!
great blog, and much appreciation for posting the tunes in flac. thank you.
many thanks for this amazing album 😀
Many thanks for leaving my credit to the Yabby booklet notes – it's possibly my favourite of all the comps I did at B&F. Yabby of course has now gone on, as has my company B&F, but just like to say thanks for keeping the vibes going.
I'm a fan of your blog too, some wonderful Brazilain music here, along with jazz and African.
Forward ever, backward never
Steve Barrow
thanks