50th anniversary reissue of the legendary 1972 album by count ossie & the mystic revelation of rastafari. limited deluxe boxset contains 3x12 inch lp, 7 inch single, download code, art print and magazine.

as noted on another release (see ropin), cornell campbell has enjoyed one of the longest-running careers of any jamaican singer, and he is blessed with a readily identifiable style too. he began his career for clement ‘sir coxsone’ dodd in 1956, when rhythm and blues held sway in jamaica, and later cut some ska songs for king edwards. he then passed through the sensations in the rock steady phase and worked as a solo singer at treasure isle, before returning to studio one with the eternals, scoring huge hits such as ‘stars’ and ‘queen of the minstrel’ as the 60s gave way to the 70s. his greatest phase of popularity was them brokered by hit-making producer bunny lee, who kept him on top right through the 1970s and into the 80s. the 1975 album dance in a greenwich farm was first issued on the grounation label in the uk. along with a re-working of ‘stars’ re-titled ‘the sun,’ a re-working of ‘queen of the minstrel’ as ‘girl of my dreams’ and the sound system opus that is the title track, the album has the boastful ‘conquering gorgon’ and a number of keenly-observed cover tunes, including a cut of the gaylads’ ‘no good girl,’ a version of the heptones’ ‘why did you leave me’ and a killer cut of the uniques’ ‘watch this sound’ (based on ‘for what it’s worth’ by buffalo springfield).

in the great tradition of count ossie, four new grounation furies - hypnotic, thunderous, urgent, mystical - with dubwise repeta, funde and bass drums embedding the light of saba veterans gorgeous trombone classicism.
the opener is a rocking kumina rhythm, with ring-the-alarm metal percussion and exhortatory brass, free the people swirls some apocalyptic reasoning into the foggy, thumping mix. universe in crisis is another emergency call, chuffing headlong down the grooves ... before the beautiful, anthemic chant takes a step back from the fire, closing with a sense of thankful, spiritual reconciliation, the expert drumming and lyrical bone-work in full effect.

like a dream, but authoritatively, this remix from jamaica magnificently crosses the afrobeat of fela kuti with the grounation reggae tradition of count ossie. the flip, uhuru pujama is a new recording, another warrior charge down wareika hill by this veteran of light of saba and the mystic revelation of rastafari.