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Presenting Larry Marshall (Heartbeat, 1992 [orig. released 1973]) Although he was an integral part of the rock steady and early reggae scene, Larry Marshall doesn't seem to get the notoriety that, say, an Alton Ellis does. Perhaps this is because he was simply less prolific or perhaps because he wasn't as energetic a showman as Ellis. Regardless, he produced some seminal material in the late '60s and early '70s -- indeed, his classic rocking "Nanny Goat" was one of the first truly "reggae" (as opposed to ska or rock steady) tunes back in 1968. Presenting Larry Marshall collects his hits from '68 to '71, all carrying a similar late rock steady/early reggae rhythm. Aside from "Nanny Goat," "Throw Me Corn" might be his best-known song, but I prefer the old-fashioned romantic melody of "Thelma" and the inspirational, airy "Keep On Pushing." Just about every song is good here, though. As with most rock steady and early reggae, the focus is on love songs, with a particularly strong influence from American R&B. Marshall's soulful voice is as adept as Ellis', but not as distinct, which may have hurt his staying power. What stands out most, however, is the top-quality songwriting, which, throughout Presenting, is as good or better than most of Ellis' tunes. |
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I Admire You in Dub (Motion, 1975)
*GUEST
REVIEW*
I was almost put off buying this album
with the Tom Jones-style crooner cover. However, the King Tubby connection kept
me interested enough to buy it. Calling it a King Tubby production is a slight
issue give that he, Phillip Smart, Pat Kelly and Professor all produced
different tracks. The original version of this album was created in 1975, and
this dub version was born a little later. Larry Marshall was born as Fitzroy
Marshall and was introduced to vocals by his mother at a young age.
The vocals appear sparingly on this album, but the album manages to stay
song focused. Its highly danceable and very funky for a dub album and has only
a little light thunder to add to the mood. This is a solid and original dub
album that makes you want to seek out the original album. The backing musicians
include members of The Mighty Cloud Band as well as The Wailers, and there are
nice melodica and Nyabinghi moments. Albums
that infer rare or recently unearthed dubs are often very poor quality cut and
pastes of weak material that was rightly deleted from final albums. Not this one,
however.
- ragudave
| Track Listing 1. Watergate Rock 2. Thelma Dub 3. Fire in Town 4. Is Whey Deh Money Dub 5. Dub Is My Woman 6. Still In Pressure 7. Locks of Dub 8. Come on Baby 9. Give Thanks to Jah 10. Downtown Rock 11. Oh Jah Dub 12. You Lie Version 13. Heavy Heavy Load 14. Oh Girl Dub |
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