#robbieshakespeare — Public Fediverse posts

The Abyssinians – Satta Massagana (1976, Jamaica)

Our next spotlight is on number 442 on The List, submitted by weirdofhermiston.

The Abyssinians were a vocal trio of Bernard Collins and brothers Donald and Lynford Manning. The title track of this, their debut album,[1] was originally recorded in 1969 for Jamaica’s renowned label Studio One but, after the producer/label owner (Clement “Coxsone” Dodd) held it back, the trio bought the master tapes and self-released it. The song – which has some lyrics in the Ethiopian Amharic language – became a hymn sung in Rastafarian services, and the album as a whole is considered a classic in the roots reggae genre.

Accompanying the trio on this album are a few familiar names and overall cornerstones of Jamaica’s reggae scene, including:

• the prolific and late Robbie Shakespeare on bass and Sly Dunbar on drums, who are in at least a couple other albums on The List including Sinéad O’Connor’s Throw Down Your Arms (which has a cover of this album’s “Y Mas Gan”) and to-be-spotlit Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing;
• Tyrone Downie on keyboards, who the year previous appeared on Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey and then also in 1976 would make his recording debut as part of Bob Marley & The Wailers on Rastaman Vibration (we’ll hear from Downie again when we get to our spotlights on the live Babylon By Bus, as well as Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing;
• Earl “Chinna” Smith on guitars, who was also on Marcus Garvey and Rastaman Vibration, as well as on the to-be-spotlit Lee Perry’s The Upsetters Super Ape and Augustus Pablo’s King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown;
• plus Mikey “Boo” Richards and Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace (drums), Val Douglas (bass), Mikey Chung (guitars), Geoffrey Chung (keyboards), Jerome Francique and Llewellyn Chang (horns), and Clive Hunt (keyboards, horns, flute) (some or all of whom probably are also hiding elsewhere on The List, for all I know).

If you’re into dub versions as I am, make sure you also check out Satta Dub (1998) and its Deluxe Expanded Edition (2017).

• Songlink: The Abyssinians – Satta Massagana
• Discogs: The Abyssinians – Satta Massagana

1. Originally unofficially released in limited quantities in 1975, 1976 is considered the official release date. The album has also been released under the titles Forward On To Zion and Satta. ↩︎

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Larry Levan Featuring Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Gwen Guthrie, Wally Badarou, Darryl Thompson:
🎵 Padlock (Larry Levan Remix)

#LarryLevan #SlyDunbar #RobbieShakespeare #GwenGuthrie #WallyBadarou #DarrylThompson

[This guest post was written by mega-contributor platenworm about number 624 on The List; the album was submitted by buffyleigh.]

One of the milestones from the golden age of reggae. Dark lyrical matters on a ultra heavy bass background. With a deep deep production from Errol Thompson & Jack Ruby, this album has it all.

It came out in 1975 and on the bass we hear the recently passed away Aston “Family Man” Barrett alongside the also gone but not forgotten Robbie Shakespeare. But the man of the hour is of course Winston Rodney a.k.a. Burning Spear with his soulful voice. And lyrical wise, his uncompromising conscious Rastafarian views and the suffering due to the African diaspora by slavery. Deep Soul Blues music from Jamaica……..

And don’t forget to play the dub version “Garvey’s Ghost” right after this Roots Rock Reggae Masterpiece.

• Songwhip: Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey
• Songwhip: Burning Spear – Garvey’s Ghost
• Discogs: Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey
• Wikipedia: Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey

[Alt text for accompanying image: The album cover of “Marcus Garvey” by Burning Spear. The band name is printed at an angle in red font in the top-right corner, and the album name is along the bottom edge in grey font, with chainlinks printed on each side. The artwork is in black and negative of two people holding spears, with a round photo of Marcus Garvey in the bottom left corner.]

https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/02/23/burning-spear-marcus-garvey-1975-jamaica/

#1001OtherAlbums #1970s #AstonBarrett #BurningSpear #Jamaica #MarcusGarvey #reggae #RobbieShakespeare #WinstonRodney