The album released in 1978 “I love marijuana“ was Linval Thompson’s first self-produced album. Vocally, Linval Thompson was at the peak of his abilities in 1978. His vocal range and self-confident demeanor – not unlike that of Ken Boothe – made him as engaging as the American soul singers who inspired quite a few young Jamaican singers in the 60s and 70s. The success of his hit single “I Love Marijuana” was followed by the LP of the same name and with it some of the best songs of his career. There are mutliple reasons for this. On the one hand, Thompson brought some extremely strong pieces with him to the Hookim brothers' Channel One studio, and on the other hand, he had one of Jamaica's best bands, The Revolutionaries, at his side. We hear Aston Barrett or Robbie Shakespeare on bass, Horsemouth Wallace or Sly Dunbar on drums, Ossie Hibbert on organ, followed by Ansel Collins on piano. The guitar was plucked by Earl Stanley Smith, better known as “Chinna” Smith. The end result was an extremely sophisticated LP of late 'XNUMXs reggae. On the album, the warmth and romance of Rock Steady meets the hard-hitting sound of the then-burgeoning Natty Roots scene. The original LP only had the last track as a treat Dub, “Jamaican Colley (Version)”, a Dub-version of the title track. Although the engineer was not named, there are indications that either Tubby himself, Philip Smart or Prince Jammy were at the controls. In addition to the title track, the album's highlights include the funky "Dread are the Controller" and Ken Boothe's enigmatically contradictory 1969 Studio 1 classic "Just Another Girl." U-Roy's Tony Robinson-produced 1975 album "Dread in a Babylon” also features a fantastic toast from “Just Another Girl” called “Runaway Girl”.
Since then, Linval Thompson has also made a name for himself as a producer, releasing work with and by Dennis Brown, Barrington Levy, The Viceroys, Revolutionaries, Scientist and countless other artists.
Now let’s get to “Linval Thompson meets Roberto Sanchez At The Ark: Marijuana Sessions In Dub(A-LONE PRODUCTIONS). Linval Thompson, who has repeatedly worked with the Spanish musician, sound engineer and producer Roberto Sanchez in recent years, provided Roberto Sanchez with the original tapes to create an equally brilliant album Dub-Make an album. And what the two of them put together in the A-Lone Ark Studio in Santander, northern Spain, is worth listening to. We know of many examples in which such an undertaking went brutally wrong, to say the least. But far from it, Roberto Sanchez and Linval Thompson have effortlessly managed to transfer a classic into the present day. The result is a timeless one Dub-Album with wonderful basslines à la Aston 'Familyman' Barrett, fat riddims and free-floating song fragments by Linval Thompson, which actually sounds as if it was created in the heyday of reggae. What else is there to complain about? Given the fact that the demand for reggae classics continues to rise steadily, Sanchez and Thompson can only be congratulated on this result and exclaim: “Well done men, I like it very much!
The album will also be released as a record on May 24.05.2024th, XNUMX.
One Reply to “Linval Thompson Meets Roberto Sanchez At The Ark: Marijuana Sessions In Dub"
Yes, what else is there to complain about? …. ;-)
The question is legitimate, but maybe I'm only now, in the - more or less - late phase of my life, getting to know myself properly and coming out to myself as a complainer.
On the one hand, the Revolutionaries are - in the truest sense of the word - very mixed, which sums up the list of changing musicians and on the other hand, Style Scott was probably only given the “cymbel rustle”, which happens far too often for my taste a little intrusive and quite irritating to me. It's just not my favorite sound! The high hat (hi hat) was already crystal clear in the Channel One studio and Roberto Sanchez polished it again with the newer technology. The hi hat therefore comes across as too loud and too dominant for me. But that sounds worse than I really feel. It's a very, very small point of criticism
on my part, which I really didn't want to sweep under the table. There may be many people who really appreciate that, but for me it's just too high. I have a real fear of heights in all areas of life.
Yes, I could have also written “Nothing to complain about” but then I wouldn’t have lived up to my own inner values, which isn’t a problem for us Europeans. At least not for the European parliamentarians who preach the finest mineral water and constantly only deliver messed up wine. I have no interest in the double standards and hypocrisy of these “wolves in sheep’s clothing”.
Ok, before I really get into Meckarn, I'd rather say goodbye and wish you all a better mood than the one I'm in right now ;-)
Until ……………… .. lemmi