Praises

Barry Brown had originally started out as a DJ called Jah Smile, but he had also been part of a group with Rod Taylor and Johnny Lee who recorded as ‘The Aliens’ that pre-dated his solo work. His breakthrough came as a singer for producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee in the mid to late 70s with a raw style of semi-improvised singing that was lapped up by the roots crowd. By the late 80s Brown’s popularity had started to fall, and at the time of his death in 2004 he had pretty much fallen on hard times. However, in the last 20 years his material has really taken on a new lease of life, as his roots songs in particular have become more and more popular.

The set of Barry Brown songs that make up ‘Praises’ were mixed by Paolo Baldini during the 2020 lockdown at his Alambic studio in Italy. The original production was done in Jamaica by Bunny Lee and we are proud to say we have kept as much of the original recordings intact as was possible. The original drums played by Santa Davis are all still as impressive as ever and we hope we have managed to add something new, as well as staying faithful to the original production. It’s a lively set and we hope you enjoy it!!

Tracklist

A1.   Barry Brown - Step It Up Youthman (Extended).   8:37
A2.   Barry Brown - Natty Rootsman (Part 1).   4:15
A3.   The Aggrovators - Natty Rootsman (Part 2).   4:15

B1.   Barry Brown - Fittest Of The Fittest (Part 1).   4:06
B2.   The Aggrovators - Fittest Of The Fittest (Part 2).   4:10
B3.   The Aggrovators - We Can’t Dub Like This.   4:13

C1.   Unknown Artist - Longer (Intro).   0:30
C2.   Barry Brown - Look How Long (Vocal).   3:29
C3.   The Aggrovators - Look How Long Dub.   3:27
C4.   Unknown Artist - Longer (Outro).   0:39
C5.   Barry Brown - From Creation (Vocal) .   4:10
C6.   Diggory Kenrick - Creative Vibes (Xylophone).   4:08
C7.   The Aggrovators - From Creation (Part 3).   3:31

D1.   Barry Brown - Give Thanks And Praise (Vocal).   4:07
D2.   Barry Brown - Give Thanks And Praise (Lion Mix).   4:10
D3.   The Aggrovators - Give Thanks (Part 3).   4:14

Credits

Bass – George 'Fully' Fullwood, Robbie Shakespeare
Drums – Carlton "Santa" Davis, Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar
Guitar – Bertram "Ranchie" McLean, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan, Tony Chin
Horns – Lennox Brown, Tommy McCook
Keyboards – Ossie Hibbert, Tony Asher, Winston Wright
Percussion – Noel "Scully" Simms
Vocals – Barry Brown
Xylophone – Diggory Kenrick (track C6)

Notes

Produced by Bunny Lee
Mixed by Paolo Baldini