These two further collections of extended 12” mixes from the Mighty Two – Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson – completes the excellent collection that began last year with the release of the first three volumes (see album reviews 29 December 2009 for a review, together with a brief history of the music of Gibbs and Thompson).
As before the tracks are all presented in complete 12” format with a listing of musicians that includes Tommy McCook, Vin Gordon, Bobby Ellis, Tony Chin and Sly and Robbie. With tracks recorded at Joe Gibbs’ studio at Retirement Crescent, Kingston, volume 4 covers the period around 1979 and 1980. The results are pretty diverse. Opening strongly with the familiar bass line of Junior Byles’ Dreadlocks Time and its intriguing version from Kojak and Liza, the next track is Hortense Ellis’ take on Ann Peebles’ I Can’t Stand the Rain, a mainstream MOR sound which is made more interesting by the addition of Prince Weedy’s Same Complaint version. Ruddy Thomas’ attempt at Michael Jackson’s Shake Your Body Down to the Ground is unusual indeed. Continue Reading “Joe Gibbs: 12″ Reggae Showcase Volumes 4 and 5”