Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, on a rising tide of militant political consciousness and the ascendancy of Rastafari, Winston Rodney--the Burning Spear--transcended cult status to achieve international fame via Marcus Garvey. The album pays tribute to the messianic black leader and still sounds like nothing you've ever heard. Produced by sound-man Jack Ruby, the horn-driven, muscular music (give thanks for the rhythm section of Robbie Shakespeare, "Family Man" Barrett and "Horsemouth" Wallace) underpins Spear's heaven-bound voice and the harmonies of Rupert Willington and Delroy Hines. "Do you remember the days of slavery?" "Give me what is mine", wails the Spear, and it is his voice, which swells with pain and release that has guaranteed Marcus Garvey classic status. This disc's dubwise bonus, Garvey's Ghost , is more instrumental than dub but gives a further taste of a unique sound that side-stepped Kingston's rockers revolution. --Paul Bradshaw

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From Amazon.com
This was where it all started for Burning Spear, in those days a vocal trio of Winston Rodney, Delroy Hines, and Rupert Milligton. And what a bomb to drop for a debut! It was heavier, and more militant, than anything that had ever been heard in reggae before, taking elements of the music and combining them in a new way. A concept album of sorts, it helped raise awareness of the black leader while still keeping a strong Rasta vibe to the sound, hypnotic and dread. Time has shown it to be one of the classic albums of reggae, charged and powerful. Chris Nickson

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-09-05 rating:
Genius
Probably the best album I own of any genre! It's actually two albums: Marcus Garvey, and Garvey's Ghost, which is a dub remix of Marcus Garvey. It's so good, I can't really think of anything else to say: words don't do it justice!

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review by: date: 2008-08-06 rating:
reggae on the slide
it was around this time, the mid 70's, that reggae moved away from being the accesible, joyful music that could appeal to everyone, into the darker, more politicised platform for artists like burning spear. for lillywhite listeners like me, i couldnt relate at all to the black stuggle lyrics being sung with excessively heavy jamaican accents. i still dug the music, but the lyrics and whole vibe just left me cold.

most of this album is chock full of somewhat clumsy political messages lamenting the fate of the black man. ok, fine. but give me ken booth, bob marley or desmond dekker anyday. at least when they approached sensitive subjects they did it without too much of a large chip on their shoulder, unlike burning spear, who might as well have come out with a song called 'burn in hell white devils' i mean, tell it like it is man.

musically the album is pretty sweet. nice basslines and sax. but the patois and lyrical stance isloates me from it. thankfully toward the end of the 70's we moved into the era of lovers rock which gave a nice respite from the oppresive feel of albums like this, but then of course it all went into its death throes with the advent of 'ragga' and the likes of shaggy

its a shame cos for a while there reggae was a real nice musical style that produced some wonderful songs, especially between 69-74 - with the advent of this sort of approach within the music however, it just polarized itself

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review by: Coleser date: 2008-04-27 rating:
Catch them Garvey
What a blissful recording, so pastoral and evocative. The first 20 seconds of Jordan River is just the most sublime reggae arrangement imaginable and I never tire of hearing it.

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review by: baudolino date: 2007-09-20 rating:
Still a masterpiece
Winston Rodney had "enjoyed" two years of limited success at Coxsone Dodd's Studio One, beforetaking a long sabbatical from the music business. When he returned, it was on Jack Ruby's Fox label with the single "Resting Place" (not on the Jamaican pressing of the album in 1975), followed by this album, which remains, in my view, one of the top five or six LPs ever released in Jamaica. the lyrical themes (restoration of the reputation of Marcus Garvey, calls to Jamaicans never forget their slave history) are well-known, and the musicianship was uniformly excellent, as is borne out by the dub set. Unusually for its time, the album consisted entirely of new songs, on purpose-made rhythms. How times change.


review by: slacker date: 2007-07-21 rating:
Timeless Classic
In my humble opinion, this is a better album than any by Bob Marley. Although Marley had some excellent tunes, I never thought he stretched it over a whole album.
Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost is superb throughout. There is no filler on here.
Rodney's voice is plaintive, rousing, many other things that I can't put into words. If you don't feel anything listening to 'Slavery Days' then you're either deaf, or dead.
This is essential roots, especially at the price.
It's interesting to note that the dub version, Garvey's Ghost, was significantly 'lightened' as it was thought, by the record company gimps, not to appeal to European or American listeners.
I'd love to hear the album as it was originally intended.
If you're only going to have a handful of reggae albums in your collection, make sure this is one of them.

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