The Roots Is There

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The Roots Is There album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 37:50

eMusic Features

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Reggae’s Ba-Ba Boom Time

By Lenny Kaye, eMusic Contributor

Despite the fire and brimstone that characterized reggae's revolutionary emergence in the 1970s, I have always had an abiding affection for the evolutionary period that immediately preceded that breakthrough, when the music seemed caught between two worlds. The style is usually referred to as rocksteady - post-Ska, but still experimenting with and expanding the possibilities of that one-drop, loping afterbeat; and though Rastafarian ideology was already beginning to swiftly gospelize the music (anthemed most notably… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Try to ignore the unbelievably cheesy cover photo (good heavens, did we all dress like that in the ’70s?). This is yet another fine collection of Channel One recordings from the late ’70s and early ’80s by the sweetest-voiced harmony trio in reggae history. As usual, the Mighty Diamonds are backed by Sly & Robbie’s crack Revolutionaries band, and the propulsive, almost martial rockers’ rhythms that Sly Dunbar churns out contrast nicely with the silky voice of lead singer Donald “Tabby” Shaw. There’s an interesting remake of the Abyssinians’ classic “Declaration of Rights” (complete with not quite tasteful synthesizer in the bridge), the typically dread “Heads of Government” and even a reggae version of the Stevie Wonder/Paul McCartney composition “Ebony and Ivory.” Danged if that last one doesn’t top the original, too. – Rick Anderson

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