Soul Jazz Records’ new Studio One collection ‘Fire Over Babylon: Dread, Peace and Conscious Sounds at Studio One’ features a stellar selection of 70s roots music – classic and rare tracks recorded at Clement Dodd’s musical empire at 13 Brentford Road in the 1970s.
Rastafarian-inspired Roots music was an ever-important aspect of Studio One’s output from the start of the 1970s onwards and this album features many of the ground-breaking groups and artists that established the sound of Jamaica during this decade and beyond.
Featured here are seminal artists such as Freddie McGregor, The Wailing Souls, The Gladiators, Horace Andy, Devon Russell, Cedric Brooks, Count Ossie, Judah Eskender Tafari alongside a host of lesser-known rare cuts made at Studio One from artists such as The Prospectors, Viceroys and Pablove Black.
Studio One and founder Clement Dodd’s connection with Rastafarianism dates back to the early 1960s, with Dodd accompanying members of the Skatalites up to the hills of Kingston to listen to the music of the Rastafarian Count Ossie and his drummers. The album sleevenotes discuss how Clement Dodd’s musical links, as well as his role in heading the most important record label in Reggae, are in many ways linked to the beliefs of Rastafarianism.
This album is released as a heavyweight black vinyl double-album with gatefold sleeve, full notes and download code.
| A1 | Freddie McGregor - I Am A Revolutionist |
| A2 | The Silvertones - Burning In My Soul |
| A3 | Wailing Souls - Without You |
| A4 | Devon Russell - Jah Jah Fire |
| A5 | Trevor Clarke - Sufferation |
| B1 | The Gladiators - Sonia |
| B2 | Judah Eskender Tafari - Always Trying |
| B3 | The Viceroys - Ya Ho |
| B4 | Cedric "Im" Brooks, Count Ossie - Give Me Back Me Language And Me Culture |
| C1 | The Gladiators - Serious Thing |
| C2 | The Prospectors - Glory For I |
| C3 | Wailing Souls - Things And Time |
| C4 | Pablo Black - Inner Peace |
| C5 | The Gladiators - Peace |
| D1 | Horace Andy - Mr. Jolly Man |
| D2 | Wailing Souls - Rock But Don't Fall |
| D3 | Albert Griffiths, The Gladiators - Righteous Man |
| D4 | The Viceroys - So Many Problems |
