your favourite REGGAE songs?

[::::BASSIST::::]

I have a youtube playlist that has some great reggae songs, but aside from that I'm not that familiar with the what's good in reggae....other than Bob Marley. I suppose just like any genre there are some real gems along with some very mediocre songs.

What are your favourite reggae songs?

I like this one. Great bassline:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT6K5...4C6A7F&index=5

Looking for specific songs not just artists.

[bass12]

Oh boy, that's a tough one (given the musical output of Jamaica). There are so, so many. Here are just a few off the top of my head:

"Your House" and "Ravers" by Steel Pulse (I could name any number of Steel Pulse tunes, really).

"Rocking Dolly" by Cocoa Tea

"Bucket Bottom" and "Only Love Can Conquer" by Prince Alla

"Bide Up" by Bunny Wailer

"Jah Houphouet" by Alpha Blondy

"King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" by Augustus Pablo

"Two Sevens Clash" by Culture

"Cockney Translation" by Smiley Culture

"Mr. Coke Seller" and "Hot Stepper" by Gregory Isaacs

"Three Piece Suit" by Trinity

"Love And Unity" by Ginjah

"Robberman" by Barrington Levy

"Declaration Of Rights" by The Abyssinians

"Rougher Yet" by Slim Smith

"My Conversation" by The Uniques


Man, there's just too much - I could go on all day/night...

[::::BASSIST::::]

Cool. Thanks I'll check those out.

[bass12]

I would strongly recommend picking up the book The Rough Guide To Reggae by Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton. This will really give you a good overview of the history of Jamaican music with tons of album recommendations by a couple of guys who really know their stuff. For reggae (and classic reggae bass lines), you should be checking out as much Studio One stuff as you can. That will give you a "solid foundation" and will acquaint you with many of the classic "riddims" still used today.

[::::BASSIST::::]

Thanks man. I find that good reggae is *really good* and otherwise its so-so at best.

I checked out "ravers"... great song.

[bass12]

Jamaica is known as "the loudest island" for a reason. The musical output per capita is staggering. As one might expect, a lot of what gets put out is less than stellar. The more you check out, the more you'll begin to make links and identify the stuff that does it for you. In Jamaica, it is largely about producers, so it can be helpful to go by producer rather than by artist when seeking out music. But yeah, Steel Pulse is one of the greats. The album "True Democracy", in particular, is a wonderful album (with a fantastic rhythm section).

[kesslari]

Check out Third World's "96 degrees in the shade"

I could list dozens, by subgenre, but I'll leave you with that one. Classic.

[CannyBusDriver]

I listen to some Jamaican Reggae (80s 70s style stuff) but the best of Reggae is what is going on now, and the past 20 years IMO. Reggae has gotten much better since the 80s, where EVERY song would open up with a quick little drum solo (not a bad thing). Most the bands have non-black members in them(!!!!!) lots of Long Beach/Californian bands. A couple Marleys and even some Southern (bluesy) influenced reggae like Current Swell. Almost none of these songs are PURE Reggae though.

Dirty Girls- the B foundation
On the Rocks- Clear Conscience
Room of the Faded Moon- Current Swell
How Could They Trust Us Now- Current Swell (my favorite guitar riff)
Half Way Tree- Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley (Also GREAT SONG)
Pass It On- Half Pint
I Left My Wallet In El Segundo-A Tribe Called Quest (kinda reggae)
Ambrosia-John Brown's Body
Garden Tree-John Brown's Body
Blazebago- Keller Williams
My Own Life- Long Beach Dub Allstars (Sublime w/o Bradley)
Davey Jones Locker- Pepper
Ambition-Pepper
Stormtrooper- Pepper
Sitting On Your Curb-Pepper
Teakwood Betz- Perpertual Groove
Above the Clouds- Slightly Stoopid
Gunship Politico-State Radio
Sorry- Soldiers of Jah Army
Hawaii Song- Stick Figure
If I Try-Toko Tasi
Heartless-Tomorrows Bad Seeds
Good Old Days- Ziggy Marley
Love Is My Religion- Ziggy Marley
Ganja Plane Rider- 10 Ft. Ganja Plant
Grassroots-311 (Best 311 song, 311 has been garbage though the past 8 or so years)





(I could go one forever, ALL I listen to is Reggae)

Fishbone section------

Unyielding Conditioning- Fishbone
Lemon Meringue- FIshbone (GREAT BASS SLAPPING)
Bonin' In the Boneyard-Fishbone (GREATest BASS slapping of Fishbone and best bass solo as well)--Norwood Fisher

If you are to listen to only one of these songs, as a bass player to another, listen to "Bonin' In the Boneyard" by Fishbone.

[dave2]

Right now I'm listening to Lee "Scratch" Perry's track "Voodoo" from his recent album Panic In Babylon. He did some classic work thru the last 40 years.

Peter Tosh Wanted Dread or Alive or any of his others like Legalize It albums.

Night Nurse by Gregory Isaacs is a great one.

The fabulous bass/drum duo of Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar are on hundreds of reggae records. I saw them live backing Black Uhuru in the 1980s.

King Tubby was the "Dub" master and one of the dub originators.

How about Augustus Pablo and his dub records. He plays melodica and keyboards --- great reggae music mon!

And English rastas Steel Pulse as someone suggested. I saw them last year when they came through Dallas.

Dennis Brown was terrific. I saw him back in the early 1980s.

The list is endless ... I've got 40 gigs of reggae on my iPod

Dave

[dave2]

Tanya Stephens is a current, good reggae artist too. I've got her album Rebelution with the hit "These Streets" -- good tune a with great bass line!

Dave

[pacojas]

anything by "MIDNITE" from St. Croix!!! (very amazing)
"Is Real" and "In Him" are my resent favs!!!

[::::BASSIST::::]

I listened to all of Bass12's list and dug the vast majority of them.

Now on to the others.

Keep 'em coming and thanks!

[comrade73]

I'll try to keep this list short.. lol

Minibus (on the telephone) - Barrington Levy
Love Sister Carol - Barrington Levy
Send A Moses - Barrington Levy
Here I Come (broader than broadway) - Barrington Levy
Money Makes Friends - Barrington Levy
Ten Thousand Woman - Barrington Levy
Slavery Days - Burning Spear
Civilized Reggae - Burning Spear
I Stand Strong - Burning Spear
Prema Ballerina - Clint Eastwood
Riker's Island - Cocoa Tea
Living In The City - Don Carlos
No Follow Babylon - Don Carlos
Ease Up The Pressure - Don Carlos
Front Door - Gregory Isaacs
Cool Down the Pace - Gregory Isaacs
Rumours - Gregory Isaacs
Tune In - Gregory Isaacs
Cross The Line - Gregory Isaacs
One Half Affair - Gregory Isaacs
Be Mine Tonight - Gregory Isaacs
A Serious Thing - Horace Andy
Prophesy - Horace Andy
Hot Milk - Jackie Mittoo
Loving You - Jackie Mittoo
Oboe - Jackie Mittoo
Wall Street - Jackie Mittoo
Truly - The Jays
Police In Helicopter - John Holt
One Blood - Junior Reid
Everything I Own - Ken Boothe
King of the Arena - King Tubby
Dub From the Roots - King Tubby
Good Time Dub - King Tubby
Crab Years - Lee Scratch Perry
Favorite Dish - Lee Scratch Perry
Bohra Seed - Mad Professor
Must U Tunya - Misty In Roots
Economical Slavery - Misty In Roots
Jump The Fence - Ranking Joe
Nine Months Belly - Ranking Joe
The Mummy's Shroud - Scientist
Dancehall Style - Sugar Minot
Have Good Time - Tony Tuff ft. Ranking Joe
Joker Smoker - Tristan Palmer
Chip In - Wayne Jarrett
Sleng Teng - Wayne Smith
Armagideon Time - Willie Williams
Rocking Universally - Willie Williams
Boxing - Cornell Campbell
Mr. Wicked Man - Albert Griffiths & The Gladiators
Dub Fire - Aswad
Just a Little Herb - Aswad
Far East - Barry Brown
Leaving To Zion - Black Uhuru
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - Black Uhuru
Fisherman - The Congos
Sharing The Night Together - Delroy Wilson
Intensified - Desmond Dekker
Cocaine In My Brain - Dillinger
Roots Man Skanking - Freddie McGreggor
Bathroom Sex - General Echo
Arleen - General Echo
Take It Easy - Hopeton Lewis
Queen Majesty - The Jays
Water Pumping - Johnny Osbourne
Police & Thieves - Junior Murvin
Cuss Cuss - Lloyd Robinson
Wear Yu Size - Lt. Stitchie
Skokian - Roland Alphonso
Swing Easy - The Soul Vendors
54-46 Toots & The Maytals
Bangarang - Stranger Cole & Lester Sterling


...some faves I'm jamming to lately of course, there are many many more.

enjoy!

[pacojas]

GREAT LIST COMRADE!!! omg, <<<STRANGER COLE>>>true pioneer!!! we opened up for him and Aswad in the early 80's. (he came on our bus and par took...)

[reubeni]

Heres one for ya bagga walker on bass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMKx3mLu5S0

and another leader singer Albert Griffith on bass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qtMF4_fEcc

[bass12]

Here are a few for today:

"Chase The Devil" by Max Romeo

"Money Money" (the original or the remake on Bullwackie's) by Horace Andy

"Suffering So" by The Heptones

"Zungguzungguguzungguzeng" by Yellowman

"Pass The Tu-Sheng Peng" by Frankie Paul

"Bass Culture" and "Want Fi Go Rave" by Linton Kwesi Johnson

"Ring The Alarm" by Tenor Saw

"Joggin" and "Bobby Bobylon" by Freddy McGregor

"Black Star Liner" by Fred Locks

"The Same Song" by Israel Vibration

"Hog And Goat" by Don Carlos

"Chalice In The Palace" by U Roy

"Baby Come Rock" and "Very Well" by Wailing Souls

"Red, Gold And Green" by Hugh Mundell (great mix by Scientist)

"Never Gonna Give Jah Up" by Sugar Minott (a nice remake and... that voice!)

[FromTheBassMent]

Wow. I got hooked on reggae in the 70's, and kinda lost interest during the height of the DJ/Toasting/Dancehall craze. Although I really loved Yellowman's records. But asking for a list of cool reggae SONGS is just asking for trouble! There are literally hundreds that belong on the all-time-greatest list!

Certain records are iconic. So, aside from Bob Marley's catalog (my favorite is 'Exodus,' but I adore them all), you should definitely get Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights," and Gregory Isaac's "Night Nurse." These have been in heavy rotation at my household for decades. "Equal Rights" is all politics and attitude (the lyrics to the title song are still controversial), and "Night Nurse" is all romance and seduction (in college this was considered a guaranteed panty-dropper).

I have also spent a lot of time basking in the glories of Steel Pulse's "True Democracy," but this is definitely a UK approach to reggae... highly polished and slickly produced. Still, some great stuff, and David Hines had the most defiant dreadlocks in the history of the genre. The vocal arrangements on this record are dizzying.

There are so many other great reggae artists! Beres Hammond is sexy beyond belief. Luciano and Burning Spear are true spiritual warriors. Dennis Bovell, King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry created the world of dub, and you can dip into their recordings for some of the heaviest bass grooves ever recorded (check out the song "Brain Damage" by Dennis Bovell).

HOWEVER, if you are approaching reggae as a bass player and want to know what it's all about, there are really two guys you need to focus on.

One is Aston "Family Man" Barrett, who was Bob Marley's bassist. This guy simply dripped groove, and resisted formulaic reggae "riddims" in favor of making stuff up that fit the song. Listen to live recordings and compare them to studio recordings, and you'll get a sense of how he evolved his bass lines over time. His style owed as much to Motown as to Kingstown.

But for me, the MAN is Robbie Shakespeare. The bass/drum summit of Robbie and his buddy Sly Dunbar defined the sound of reggae in the late 70's and throughout the 80's. You can hear them on Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights"... heck, you can hear them on a TON of recordings from that era. But if you want to get a sense of how heavy reggae grooves got in that era (before drum machines took over and kinda sucked the life out of the music), you need to hook up with Black Uhuru. Get "Chill Out" and "Red," or just buy the two-disk Island anthology. Once you hear "Black Uhuru Anthem" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," you will have a very clear understanding of just how ENORMOUS a reggae rhythm section can sound. I heard these guys live a bunch of times, and I swear, on a couple of occasions they must have had to repair the building after the concert. Robbie could blow out windows with his bass tone... absolutely apocalyptic. One of my favorite bass players and favorite bass tones of all time. But beyond the fretless Steinberger and 18" bins that facilitated his end-of-the-universe tone, the guy had (and still has) sick skills. Robbie plays the spaces better than just about any bass player I can think of.

[nastynateTPC]

um whoever said blazebago by keller is reggae, i think you are mistaken.

[::::BASSIST::::]

Originally Posted by FromTheBassMent

Wow. I got hooked on reggae in the 70's, and kinda lost interest during the height of the DJ/Toasting/Dancehall craze. Although I really loved Yellowman's records. But asking for a list of cool reggae SONGS is just asking for trouble! There are literally hundreds that belong on the all-time-greatest list!

Certain records are iconic. So, aside from Bob Marley's catalog (my favorite is 'Exodus,' but I adore them all), you should definitely get Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights," and Gregory Isaac's "Night Nurse." These have been in heavy rotation at my household for decades. "Equal Rights" is all politics and attitude (the lyrics to the title song are still controversial), and "Night Nurse" is all romance and seduction (in college this was considered a guaranteed panty-dropper).

I have also spent a lot of time basking in the glories of Steel Pulse's "True Democracy," but this is definitely a UK approach to reggae... highly polished and slickly produced. Still, some great stuff, and David Hines had the most defiant dreadlocks in the history of the genre. The vocal arrangements on this record are dizzying.

There are so many other great reggae artists! Beres Hammond is sexy beyond belief. Luciano and Burning Spear are true spiritual warriors. Dennis Bovell, King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry created the world of dub, and you can dip into their recordings for some of the heaviest bass grooves ever recorded (check out the song "Brain Damage" by Dennis Bovell).

HOWEVER, if you are approaching reggae as a bass player and want to know what it's all about, there are really two guys you need to focus on.

One is Aston "Family Man" Barrett, who was Bob Marley's bassist. This guy simply dripped groove, and resisted formulaic reggae "riddims" in favor of making stuff up that fit the song. Listen to live recordings and compare them to studio recordings, and you'll get a sense of how he evolved his bass lines over time. His style owed as much to Motown as to Kingstown.

But for me, the MAN is Robbie Shakespeare. The bass/drum summit of Robbie and his buddy Sly Dunbar defined the sound of reggae in the late 70's and throughout the 80's. You can hear them on Peter Tosh's "Equal Rights"... heck, you can hear them on a TON of recordings from that era. But if you want to get a sense of how heavy reggae grooves got in that era (before drum machines took over and kinda sucked the life out of the music), you need to hook up with Black Uhuru. Get "Chill Out" and "Red," or just buy the two-disk Island anthology. Once you hear "Black Uhuru Anthem" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," you will have a very clear understanding of just how ENORMOUS a reggae rhythm section can sound. I heard these guys live a bunch of times, and I swear, on a couple of occasions they must have had to repair the building after the concert. Robbie could blow out windows with his bass tone... absolutely apocalyptic. One of my favorite bass players and favorite bass tones of all time. But beyond the fretless Steinberger and 18" bins that facilitated his end-of-the-universe tone, the guy had (and still has) sick skills. Robbie plays the spaces better than just about any bass player I can think of.

Cool.

That certainly is deep tone on that great song Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
Thanks for sharing.

[ciudadmarron]

What the man in the bassment said ^^^^


Going back a bit in time though - it's one of the simplest lines you are likely to find, and it has been versioned a hundred thousand times (probably not really that much of an exaggeration - do a search on real rock riddim), but the "Real Rock" rhythm by Sound Dimension remains the "sound" of reggae for me. Still not sick of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPVJRXkQfhc

The "My Conversation" rhythm comes in 2nd. Love that one too.