The fact is: reggae visionary and pioneer Augustus Pablo was instrumental in the emergence of the burgeoning band with his unique sound Dub-Reggae scene involved. Augustus Pablo is said not to have been enthusiastic about an early album. It was released in England in 1975 on the Nationwide label and the cover read: “Thriller featuring Augustus Pablo“, produced by Enos McLeod. There have been several questionable releases of the album over the years. For all of them the “featuring” disappeared and it became “Augustus Pablo: Thriller” or “Augustus Pablo: Pablo Nuh Jester”, with a changed track order and five additional titles – which I will briefly discuss at the end. When re-released by Canadian label Abraham/Clocktower, both the album's original title and all tracks were renamed. So pay attention: “Augustus Pablo: Dubbing In A Africa” is “Thriller”.
The vinyl re-release on Black Friday (25.11.2022/1.400/25,99), made possible by ORG Music on Record Store Day (RSD), sold out XNUMX copies in the United States in a very short time, priced at $XNUMX each. With this long overdue new edition, Augustus Pablo posthumously made it into the Billboard Reggae Album Charts for the first time.
Even if Augustus Pablo had a different opinion: “Thriller” is an outstanding album that contains some of the best work by the exceptional musician and producer who died far too early outside of his joint projects with King Tubby. A work that Enos McLeod can be proud of as a producer. It is still unclear what he actually produced. In any case, he didn't produce “Last Of The Jestering”, which is clearly Leonard Chin's fault. The same goes for “Pablo Nuh Jester”, another piece with the same rhythm. Of the remaining eight tracks, “Fat Girl Jean” can definitely be marked off as Pablo’s work. The sound of the piano makes me think so, because only Pablo seems to be able to make a piano produce that sound. The melodica tracks leave no doubt about it anyway.
The A-side of the vinyl begins with the title track “Thriller,” which features a great trombone part while a super-slow bassline floats over cymbal-heavy drums.
On "Pablo in Red" Augustus' melodica takes center stage and a rock-solid bass makes its way through the speakers.
“Pablo Style” is a slow, melodica-led instrumental version of the Ken Boothe classic “Everything I Own.”
“Last of the Jestering” is a difficult one Dubversion with clanging drums, and Augustus plays the main melody just great on his melodica. Patti Smith liked to play a slightly stripped down version of the song at her concerts.
My personal favorite has always been the B-side of this collector's item. It begins with “Pablo Nuh Jester,” a much more straightforward version of “No Jestering,” a 1973 song by Carl Malcolm.
“Fat Girl Jean” follows, a booming bass and slow drums are caressed by a gentle melodica.
“Marcus Garvey” turns the old Burning Spear classic into a real treat with its much faster rhythm and Augustus Pablo inspires me every time I listen to this piano-led instrumental version.
In "Rocky Road" Augustus shows what wonderful sounds he can elicit from his melodica, while the guitar is occasionally used. Two other versions of the Burning Spear Studio One classic “Foggy Road” are called “Rocky Road” and “Skibo Rock”. In my opinion, both pieces can also be attributed to Pablo. This time due to the very pronounced clavinet/keyboard work in “Skibo Rock”. The faster, almost dancefloor-friendly “Skibo Rock” is the culmination of a long-forgotten killer album.
Like many albums from this time, the sound is a bit dull, but the bass booms and the drums rattle so incredibly beautifully. To my ears, the warm, almost gentle sound of the album creates an airy and at the same time hypnotic listening pleasure.
Note: The last five Dubs on the CD have nothing to do with “Thriller” and are credited to Lloyd Parks & We The People Band.
10 replies to “Thriller featuring Augustus Pablo”
Great album! Thanks Ras Vorbei for the lots of background information.
For me the only downside is that practically all songs are faded out (I didn't check, it just felt like that). Somehow I just don't like that and appreciate it when a song comes to a conclusion.
And in contrast to lemmi, I definitely like pieces with a lot of melodica (and saxophone), even if it's a bit jazzy reggae, I celebrate that (although I don't mean that I find this album jazzy)... so everyone has their preferences...
Yes, while we're at it, I'll give you my different impressions.
But first I have to say that I also think the album is great. But “of course” not because of the saxophone and not because of the little children’s toy. I find the instrument a bit like “coming to a gunfight with a knife”.
And so I find Ken Boothe's fat “Everything I Own” more like a lullaby for children. Maybe that's what it should be. The saxophone or maybe even a clarinet (?)
drifts to my ears during “Always Dub“, again, in almost deadly frequencies. I have to fix my toenails with a hammer so that they don't fly away. This may also be due to the fact that the entire album “Thriller” sounds quite “dirty” and sometimes really raucous. Basically, I really like something like that, as long as it doesn't distort too much. But that is also the case here, sometimes more sometimes less. Especially with “cymbeln” and with the rustle, which I also often judged disparagingly, which Style Scott used so often for reasons that I don’t understand. (Raschel or Tamborin or I don't know exactly... I just don't have the respect for this part)
(Ok, lemmi….. now get to the point! Why is the album great?!)
It's the really deep riddims that once again get to my core.
First and foremost, of course and from my point of view self-evidently, the riddim from “Foggy Road”. For me one of the most magical riddims that have ever come from the island. Even though there are a lot of them. And I think it's even greater that my special sensitivities have been taken into account and the “Rocky Road
( Dub )” and the “Skibo Road ( Dub )” recorded. With “Rocky Road” I could easily ignore “das melodica” because the riddim has me completely under its spell. That's how I've almost always felt about Augustus Pablo and his Melodica. Ok, of course it took me a while to realize that I actually don't think this instrument is that great. Yes, and “Skibo Road” is something of a real insider tip for me! Here the piano takes over
and “strums” a fantastic melody, complementing itself with brilliant improvisations.
Ok, I just checked again. The saxophone has nothing to do with the album “Thriller”. (He probably stole the title from “Maikel” too….).
I'm very happy that I can hear Lloyd Parks & We The People Band here again. Even if it doesn't belong to "Thriller". I was able to experience them in Berlin as a backing band for U-Roy, Gregory Isaacs and Barrington Levy and all I can say is, THIS IS HOW REGGAE WORKS!!! Especially with U-Roy, they probably wanted to “show the audience” what reggae is all about. Anyway, they showed me again. I never got to experience U-Roy with such a great band again.
And here, in my opinion, they provide a more than just solid basis for very good ones Dubs. Lloyd Parks on bass is a pretty safe bet, I would say. He has it too Dub Syndicate has been allowed to show it several times.
As always, you gave us lots of other small but exciting information Ras Vorbei !
Now I can't resist saying a little teasing thing again. The fact that Patty Smith could only offer a weakened version in her concerts is probably mainly due to the fact that the band didn't really get the reggae right.
I'm naturally very comfortable and so I'll make it easy for myself and ask if you have a link to one of these live interpretations ;-)
Philipp's criticism that the tunes/DubI can very well understand why they are all hidden. Actually, I've gotten used to it over the decades, but I've always really appreciated it when the tunes have a clear ending.
This is actually something that has noticeably developed for the better for me. Actually, I'm not allowed to think too deeply about it because I don't like restrictions or when anything is cut off. Be it in a gentle way in the form of fading out and not “have a nice day, cut and goodbye”.
Speaking of “cut”….. I think it’s time for me to make a “cut” here…….
So long…………… lemmi
Patti Smith was a big fan of Tappa Zukie's MPLA album and was the one who opened for Zukie on their UK tour. The 1973 album Man a Warrior was re-released on Patti's Mer label, and Patti Smith contributed cover notes to the 1977 album Man From Bosrah.
In November 1976, Tappa Zukie took to the stage with the Patti Smith Group at the venerable Hammersmith Odeon to sing "Ain't It Strange" from Radio Ethiopia.
These facts suggest that Patti Smith has always had a strong affinity for reggae.
»Last of the Jestering« – Here comes the Patti Smith Group version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UjPHeq36Ak
Unfortunately, the video is not available in Germany, but can be easily viewed in many other European and non-European countries. That's why I'm leaving the link here.
“Unfortunately the video is not available in Germany, but can be seen without any problems in many other European and non-European countries. That’s why I’m leaving the link here.”
Boah EY ! And something like that on Monday morning!
Fortunately, the comparison is still very lagging so far, but it still sounds like North Korea to me. Or China or any other dictatorship.
So that's how the Internet works here in Germany.
It's a shame Ra's "Over" ;-) You tried it. Thanks for that !
Until ……………… lemmi
“He probably stole the title from “Maikel” too ……”
“He probably stole the title from “Maikel” too…. ).”
Once again a “little bit” off-topic, but I don’t think it’s entirely unimportant because it must lead to a misunderstanding if you don’t speak German. I can understand the error in practice from the perspective of the AI, because everything that is artificial lacks intuition. Well, I admit that I didn't think about this literal translation option when I formulated it.
Otherwise, I'm really excited about how well it's working. I didn't even know that I could speak or write English so fluently.
“I don’t care about the past! The future is important to me because I plan to live in it.”
I think it's from Albert. Doesn't serve any deeper meaning here, but that's just what occurred to me.
Until …………… .. lemmi
Pay attention to the details!
“I am more interested in the future than the past, because that is where I intend to live.”
It's important, because you shouldn't completely forget the past……………. lemmi
Thank you so much for clarifying the information on the “Dubbing in an Africa” album, Ras! This is a real musical treasure from master Pablo
When I've read »Agustus« on the “Dubbing in an Africa” cover, I could have freaked out. The titles are totally different and A and B sides are reversed — another Abraham/Clocktower ripoff.
Thanks, there is so little information on this early album. Was this recorded in UK? And these were not released as 45s in Jamaica?
Hi Bernard,
as far as I know, these recordings were made in Jamaica and some of them were also released there as singles — the most common format in Jamaica at the time.