The importance of King Tubby's studio to the history of recorded sound is beyond measure and its all-encompassing influence is a lasting monument to the resolute resourcefulness of Jamaica's musical pioneers. The forty-four dubs here were originally assembled by Blood & Fire for three bestselling but long deleted ‘90's compilations that are now much sort after. Freshly sequenced and re-mastered 'Dubbing at King Tubby's' showcases the mixing skills of King Tubby, Prince Jammy, Scientist, Phillip Smart & Pat Kelly on a drum and bass heavy selection of ground-breaking Bunny Lee dubs.
Label retrospectives are nothing unusual. If, however, a retro label now also receives a retrospective, then it is definitely worth a closer look. And this look is in the compilation "Dubbing at King Tubby's“(VP) from the Aggrovators actually necessary, because the title alone does not reveal what this is actually about. The first look belongs to the tracklist, which seems strangely familiar, the second look then goes into the detailed liner notes and reveals the secret of this compilation: It is the re-release of three Tubby compilations that Steve Barrow for his legendary reissue label Blood & Fire Records had put together - and at the same time a homage to the work of this important label, which started in 1994 to create roots reggae, Dub- and republish Deejay albums in as appreciative a manner as it was common for jazz editions and classical music. Steve Barrow spared no effort, traveled to Jamaica to dig for hidden treasures in Bunny Lee's archive (and those of other producers), documented reggae history with his well-founded and extensive liner notes, hired Kevin Metcalfe for the mastering and one with an intro of the best UK design studios for cover design. The effort was financed by the band Simply Red, who had enough money to support this selfless service to reggae. The result was around 130 high-quality publications - until Blood & Fire unfortunately had to close its doors in 2007. Since then, many of the albums are no longer available. So also "Dub Gone Crazy ","Dub Gone 2 Crazy "and"Dub Like Dirt ", those three compilations that are now under the title" Dubbing at King Tubby's “available again as a double CD. All three present Bunny Lee productions from the mid-1970s that Steve Barrow of Singel B-Sides collected together. In the liner notes, which retell the history of the label, Steve Barrow describes this process very vividly and humorously. Oh well, one thing should also be mentioned: In addition to the label history and reissue meta story, you can simply listen to very nice music here - remastered again by Kevin Metcalfe, by the way.
Interview with Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee
by Peter I
Flying Cymbals: the iconic reggae rhythm of the 1970s
Bunny Lee’s “Flying Cymbals” dominated the Dancehalls and the charts during 1974 and 1975.
But what are they?
The flying cymbals (or flyers rhythms) style in reggae is characterized by a distinctive, rapid hi-hat pattern that mimics the sound of a cymbal flying through the air. It became a hallmark of producers like Bunny “Striker” Lee and significantly shaped reggae in the 1970s and early dancehall sounds. The flying cymbals added a unique, driving rhythm that differentiated it from the traditional one-drop and rockers styles in reggae. The style was popularized in the mid-1970s by drummer Carlton “Santa” Davis from the Soul Syndicate group. He was inspired by the hi-hat patterns in American funk music, especially those by drummer Earl Young from Philly Soul. It was the producer Bunny “Striker” Lee who made the flyers rhythms famous, starting with Johnny Clarke‘s interpretation of Earl Zero‘s “None Shall Escape The Judgement”. But the hissing hi-hat can be heard in Jamaican music as early as The Skatalites. And, as Bunny Lee stated himself, Sly Dunbar had used it in reggae on a 1973 cover of Al Green’s ‘Here I Am (Come and Take Me)’ by Al Brown and Skin Flesh and Bones.
Bunny Lee explained that the name came from the chicken wings (flyers) that he loved eating at the studio during recording sessions:
“Yeah… I used to get Kentucky Fried Chicken and when it came they’d say, ‘put up the flyers for Striker’, meaning the chicken wings (which I loved)”.
– Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee
In an interview with factmag.com, Carlton Davis recounted how, in between sessions where he played the new rhythm and the musicians stopped to eat the chicken wings, he began hearing people say: “Man, that flying cymbal thing you played!”
“Bunny Lee called it ‘flying cymbals’ because we used to eat a lot of chicken. We used to say, ‘Let’s eat some flyers.’ […] Then all of a sudden, everybody wants it into a song. For that whole period I was bombarded with it. I got tired of it to be honest. I said, ‘Look, all the music cannot sound like tsh tsh tsh’ – but they were paying their money so I had no choice. I played it on a lot of songs.
It made everyone say, ‘Santa Davis – the flying cymbal’. I never claimed ownership of it. I was just in a moment where I played it and it became something.”
– Carlton “Santa” Davis
Thus, Davis became associated with the flying cymbals, just as Sly Dunbar would be with the double-drum “rockers” of the mid-to-late ’70s, and Style Scott with the heavy rub-a-dub of the early ’80s.
Throughout 1974–75, Striker’s flying cymbals completely dominated the local scene. For example, King Tubby released three dub albums showcasing flyers rhythms: “King Tubby The Dub Master Presents The Roots Of Dub”, “King Tubby The Dub Master Presents Dub From The Roots”, and “Brass Rockers: Bunny Lee & King Tubby Present Tommy McCook & The Aggrovators”.
Label: VP Music Group, Inc. – VPCD4207
Format: 2 x CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: US
Released: Jun 24, 2016
Genre: Reggae
Style: Dub, Roots Reggae
Source: Digital
1-1 Bag O Wire Dub 3:26
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – D Shaw, F Simpson, J Hookim, L Ferguson
1-2 Dub Of Rights 3:34
Mixed By – King Tubby, Prince Jammy
Written-By – B Collins, T Manning, L Manning
1-3 Guidance Dub 3:24
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-4 Hold Them In Dub 3:21
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
1-5 Dub Ites Green And Gold 3:32
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – A Folkes, P Fullwood, W Rodney
1-6 A Heavy Dub 3:07
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee, H Hinds
1-7 Stealing Version 2:49
Mixed By – Phillip Smart
Written-By – B Atkinson, J Holt
1-8 The Poor Barber 3:21
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-9 Real Gone Crazy Dub 3:31
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-10 King Tubby's In Fine Style 3:15
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-11 No Love Version 3:13
Mixed By – Phillip Smart
Written-By – E Lee
1-12 A Living Version 3:11
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-13 Six Million Dollar Version 3:13
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
1-14 African Sounds 3:29
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
1-15 A Stalawatt Version 3:03
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-16 How Long Dub 3:28
Mixed By – Pat Kelly
Written-By – E Lee
1-17 Breaking Up Dubwise 4:09
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
1-18 Horn For I 2:50
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
1-19 Drums Of Africa 3:39
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – R Marley
1-20 Dub To The Rescue 4:18
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
1-21 Jah Love Rockers Dub 3:29
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
1-22 Fatter Dub 4:10
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-1 Satta Dread Dub 2:34
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
2-2 Exalted Dub 2:46
Mixed By – Phillip Smart
Written-By – E Lee
2-3 Tubby Get Smart 2:42
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
2-4 Wreck Up A Version 2:55
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-5 Beat Them In Dub 3:04
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-6 Channel Is A Joker 3:34
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-7 Channel One Under Heavy Manners 3:24
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-8 Channel Get Knockout 3:25
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-9 Everybody Needs Dub 2:56
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-10 Dub With A View 4:07
Mixed By – Scientist
Written-By – E Lee
2-11 Dub Is My Occupation 5:48
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-12 Dub Fi Gwan 3:59
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
2-13 Dub Investigation 3:17
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-14 Thunder Rock 3:05
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-15 Version Of Class 3:26
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-16 The Champion Version 3:18
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-17 Sly Want Dub 2:47
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-18 Higher Ranking 3:28
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
2-19 Dreada Version 3:10
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-20 Peace And Love In The Dub 3:43
Mixed By – Prince Jammy
Written-By – E Lee
2-21 Step It Up In Dub 3:54
Mixed By – Scientist
Written-By – E Lee
2-22 Chapter Of Money 2:52
Mixed By – King Tubby
Written-By – E Lee
Credits
A&R, Project Manager – Chris O'Brien
Alto Saxophone – Felix 'Deadly' Hedley Bennett, Alphanso Henry, Dean 'Youth Sax' Fraser, Lennox Brown
Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Herman 'Seventh' Marquis
Artwork – Supercinq
Bass – Bertram 'Ranchie' McLean, Earl 'Bagga' Walker, George 'Fully' Fullwood, Lloyd 'Sparks' Parks, Robert 'Robbie' Shakespeare
Bass [(Occasionally)], Rhythm Guitar [(Occasionally)] – Cornell Campbell
Bass, Rhythm Guitar – Aston 'Family Man' Barrett
Drums – Basil 'Brother Benbow' Creary, Carlton 'Santa' David, Carlton 'Carlie' Barrett, Lloyd 'Tin Leg' Adams, Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar
Edited By – Ian Silvester
Executive-Producer – Christopher Chin
Harmonica – Charles 'Charlie Organaire' Cameron
Lead Guitar – Earl 'Chinna' Smith, Jerome 'Jah Jerry' Hines
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Radcliffe 'Duggie' Bryan
Liner Notes – Harry Wise
Mastered By – Kevin Metcalfe
Mixed By – Lloyd 'Prince Jammy' James, Osbourne 'King Tubby' Ruddock, Overton 'Scientist' Browne, Pat Kelly, Phillip 'Price Phillip' Smart
Organ – Earl 'Wire' Lindo, Glen 'Capo' Adams, Ian Winter, Jackie Mittoo, Lloyd 'Charmers' Tyrell*, Ossie 'Ossie'/'Nogo' Hibbert, Winston 'Brubeck' Wright
Organ [(Occasionally)] – Horace 'Augustus Pablo' Swaby
Percussion – 'Barnabus', Denzil 'Pops' Laing, Noel 'Zoot'/'Scully' Simms*, Uziah 'Sticky' Thompson
Photography By – Dave Hendley
Piano – Bobby Kalphat, Errol 'Tarzan' Nelson, Gladstone 'Gladdy' Anderson, Johnnie 'Studio Idler' Clarke, Keith Sterling, Ossie 'Ossie'/'No Go' Hibbert
Piano [(Occasionally)] – Johnny Clarke
Piano, Organ – Ansel 'Pinkie' Collins, Bernard 'Touter' Harvey, Tyrone 'Organ D' Downie
Producer – Bunny 'Striker' Lee
Remastered By [Digital Restoration By] – Andy Walter, CEDAR Audio Ltd.
Rhythm Guitar – Alva 'Reggie' Lewis, Winston 'Bo Peep' Bowen, Lorraine 'Ranny Bop' Williams, Albert Valentine 'Tony' Chin
Rhythm Guitar [(Occasionally)] – Horace Andy
Tenor Saxophone – Karl 'King Cannon' Bryan, Richard 'Dirty Harry' Hall, Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook, Val Bennett
Tenor Saxophone, Trumpet – Lester Sterling
Transferred By [Tape Transferred By] – Garth Atkins
Trombone – Dave Parks, Ron 'Willow' Wilson, Vincent 'Don D Junior'/'Trommie' Gordon
Trumpet – Bobby Ellis, David Madden, Mark Lewis
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