Treasure Isle's
Duke Reid helped set up Trojan Records in 1967 as a singles outlet for his imprint's releases in the U.K. This was at the peak of Jamaica's rocksteady era, and although Trojan was short-lived as a singles label, lasting only a year, it helped establish a foothold for Jamaican music in Britain. This eccentric and intriguing album collects all 22 sides of the eleven 45 rpm's Trojan issued for
Reid in that year, including
Alton Ellis' "Ain't That Loving You," the Three Tops' "It's Raining" and some jazzy B-sides by
Tommy McCook and
Roland Alphonso. The end result is both a musical history lesson and a wonderfully varied listening sequence. ~ Steve Leggett