There is certainly no dearth of
U-Roy compilations out there, and many of them are excellent. But this collection is somewhat unique, because it brings together tracks that
U-Roy produced for himself -- a very unusual arrangement in the 1970s Kingston music scene, which was dominated (sometimes violently) by producers with their own studios.
U-Roy was a unique artist, though: a pioneering deejay (i.e., someone who would chant rhythmically and improvisationally over dub mixes of hit reggae songs), he was so well respected by the early '70s that he was able to appropriate the work of such top-ranking singers as
Delroy Wilson,
Johnny Clarke,
Slim Smith, and
Ken Boothe without the help of an intermediating producer. This disc brings together
U-Roy's deejay cuts with the straight dub versions of songs by those artists (and others) on which they were based, and also offers detailed liner notes and impressively clean sound.
U-Roy's liltingly declamatory style spawned an entire generation of imitators (one of whom paid him the great compliment of taking the stage name
I-Roy), and this collection finds him working at the peak of his powers, audibly reveling in the freedom to do what he wanted in the studio. ~ Rick Anderson