Black Uhuru: Sinsemilla

As has been related here before, a highlight concert experience for this blogger was the incredible double-bill in summer 1984 of Black Uhuru and King Sunny Ade and one of the most enduring memories was the powerful throb from the stage through the concrete floor and up into the plastic seats from the bass of the incomparable Robbie Shakespeare ("Basspeare"), who was locked in tight with his "Riddim Twins" partner, drummer Sly Dunbar ("Drumbar") as Black Uhuru showed why it was the greatest reggae act in the aftermath of Bob Marley's death a few years earlier.

Shakespeare's death three weeks ago at age 68 following kidney surgery is a huge loss, but, fortunately, his body of work over decades with the session ensembles The Revolutionaries and The Aggrovators, Black Uhuru, with Dunbar through their Taxi Productions work, and in many sessions including several with the great Peter Tosh, Bob Dylan's Infidels and other records, Culture's masterpiece Two Sevens Clash, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Joan Armatrading and many others, remains to enjoy and appreciate.

Sinsemilla was released by Island Records in July 1980 and is a phenomenal record with Shakespeare and Dunbar working with singer Michael Rose to create eight tracks that are all strong.  Rose's keening vocals, socially conscious lyrics, the backing vocals of Derrick Simpson and Rose (Puma Jones didn't show for the session, so the lead singer jumped in,) the contributions of lead guitarist "Duggie" Bryan, the rhythm guitar of "Ranchie" McLean, keyboards from Ansell Collins and percussion by "Sticky" Thompson, and, of course, the brilliant work of the rhythem section are work together seamlessly for an album that retains its high quality from start to finish.

The opening tracks "Happiness" and "World is Africa," along with "No Loafing (Sit and Wonder)," and the title tracks are standouts, but, again, the cohesiveness of the album, which was carried through with the amazing follow-up, Red, previously featured on this blog, is very impressive.  Reggae is a genre that puts the rhythm section front and center and Robbie Shakespeare was virtually without peer in his long career--long may he be recognized for his stellar body of work.

Black Uhuru: The Dub Factor

It was probably Fall 1984, not long after this blogger saw Black Uhuru open a wondrous double bill with the phenomenal King Sunny Ade, when I bought this album on vinyl.  From the first listen, the recording made a huge impression because it was the first of many excursions into the heart of dub, that amazing offshoot of reggae featuring a wide palette of processed sounds injected into the instrumental mix of a song, with occasional samples of the vocals by lead singer Michael Rose and backing vocalists Puma Jones and founder Duckie Simpson.
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When reggae shifted gears into dancehall and other genres after the mid-80s, it was years before I went and bought a CD version of this album and all of the great memories of the sonic experience flooded back.  Recently, several albums of choice dub from the likes Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Trojan Records label have rekindled that interest in the outer limits of reggae that dub embodies.

Black Uhuru's The Dub Factor is a reworking of tracks, largely from the great Chill Out album from 1982, which immediately preceded this dub masterpiece.  A few songs, principally "Youth" and "Puffed Out" from Red's "Youth of Eglington" and "Puff She Puff" come from other sources.  The 2003 remastered version adds three tracks, including takes on "Carbine" and "Journey", also from Red, a take on the title track from Chill Out called "Destination Unknown."

As great as the dubs are with the echo, reverb and other effects rendered to the instrumental backbone of these songs, as well as the disembodied vocal samples, the greatness of Black Uhuru, in addition to the excellent musicians and the preeminent Riddim Twins of Robbie Shakespeare (Basspeare) and Sly Dunbar (Drumbar), was the top-notch songwriting of Rose.  He wrote so many memorable songs for the band in that first half of the 80s, when classic reggae was gradually giving way to a digital movement and Black Uhuru reigned as the supreme band in the genre after the untimely demise of Bob Marley.

In addition to the production skills of Dunbar and Shakespeare, who embraced the technological movement to electronics through syndrums and other devices, this album is testament to the skill of Paul "Groucho" Smykle, an Island Records producer, who remixed the record.  Even though The Dub Factor has a crystalline sound benefiting from the latest in studio wizardry, the album delves deeply into the dub aesthetic, combining the studio sheen with a sense of audio adventure.

Following this recording, Black Uhuru issued one more album, 1985's Anthem, which won the first Grammy for a reggae album.  Yet, there was a lack of passion, energy and urgency to that ultra-sleek sounding record that was a precursor to Rose leaving the group.  Though there were several versions of the band over the years, Black Uhuru never again approached anywhere near the heights of its early 80s heyday.  Rose was away from the scene for a time and then returned with dancehall-infused solo albums that sold decently, but were a far cry from his peak as a socially-conscious crusader.  For a brief period a decade ago, Rose rejoined Black Uhuru, but it was a very brief reunion.

It's hard to believe that it has been over 30 years since that record was first heard by this blogger, but its qualities as a landmark in reggae and dub are as obvious as ever.

Black Uhuru: Chill Out

For a few years after the death of Bob Marley and before dancehall turned the music into an electronic shell of its former self, reggae had Black Uhuru as its biggest offering to the wider world.  A trio of great albums on Island Records from Sinsemilla in 1980, to 1981's Red (already featured here) and then 1982's Chill Out, today's selection, put the band, which was first formed in 1972, on the map.

With lead vocalist and chief songwriter Michael Rose providing memorable socially conscious lyrics and melodic ideas, and supported by backing vocalists Sandra "Puma" Jones and founder Duckie Simpson, the band was further strengthened by the amazing "Riddim Twins" of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, whose telekinetic synchronicity was mirrored by the production and arrangement skills, and the session band, The Revolutionaries, are also highly impressive.



The great 1982 Island Records release, Chill Out, by Black Uhuru featured the distinctive vocals and songwriting prowess of Michael Rose and harmonies from Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson, the latter writing two and co-writing a third of the album's nine tracks.

Chill Out is a strong album from start-to-finish with its title track, credited to Rose, Simpson, Dunbar and Shakespeare, featuring an off-kilter guitar line, distinctive percussion touches and the deep, smooth bass and steady drumming of the rhythm section keeping a groove going behind Rose's keening vocals.

"Darkness" by Rose is another standout, taking a different tack tempo-wise from the opener and highlighting Rose's strong sense of wordplay and unique vocalizing with Shakespeare's peerless bass playing shining through.  "Eye Market," has a cool backing vocal refrain by Jones and Simpson and some notable synth touches.  "Right Stuff" is another great tune, even if the vocoder element dates the song a bit."  "Mondays" is a bit simplistic lyrically, but Rose's vocals are so unique that it really doesn't matter and the band plays great.  "Fleety Foot" and "Wicked Act," complete a run of six consecutive Rose tracks, all quite strong.

"Moya (Queen of I Jungle)" by Simpson is probably the one track that might be of lesser interest, though Shakespeare hits single bass notes perfectly to make things move along.  But, Simpson followed that with a masterpiece, "Emotional Slaughter," a deep, emotive and moving song that features Rose's singing at its searching best and another great Shakespeare bass performance, while Dunbar keeps the acoustic and electronic drum patterning steady as she goes.

The Revolutionaries' three lead guitarists, rhythm guitar and two percussionists provide a wall of dense, but very enjoyable and diverse sounds along with the supremely confident playing of the rhythm section, who are slyly (get it?) referred to in the credits as "Sly Drumbar" and "Robbie Basspeare.

"Sly Drumbar" and "Robbie Basspeare," the sublime Riddim Twins rhythm section and producers, arrangers and co-mixers of Chill Out, a stellar album when Black Uhuru produced a trio of fine albums between 1980 and 1982.

As great as this album is, the companion dub album, The Dub Factor, proved to be as innovative and forward-thinking of any post-Marley recording and will be given due attention here some day.  This blogger well remembers being at a Bakersfield Red Lion Inn hotel on a weekend work trip and blasting The Dub Factor on a boombox (it was 1984, after all), perplexing and intriguing co-workers in the next room.

Black Uhuru rode fairly high in those days, but it all fell apart after their 1984 album Anthem was released, this record, ironically, winning the first Grammy award for top reggae album.  Rose left the group and Simpson and Jones and then Simpson alone kept the band going for quite a while, but it just never was the same.  After a long hiatus, Rose resumed a solo career, largely steeped in dancehall, but also never reached the heights of prime early 80s Black Uhuru.

Black Uhuru: Red

In 1984 (Jesus, that was almost 30 years ago!), a friend asked if YHB would go to a concert at the Pacific Amphitheater in Orange County featuring two performers that were completely unknown to said blogger.  One was Nigerian juju legend King Sunny Ade and the other was reggae band Black Uhuru.  World music was completely foreign (pardon the pun) and the only reggae heard to date was Bob Marley and the Wailers' masterful compilation, Legend, issued the previous year.  Being almost completely beholden to alternative rock at that time, there was more than a little uncertainty about how this concert was going to go.

Turns out that the show was easily one of the best concerts every experienced.  Black Uhuru took the stage first and, being in the third row, the sensation of having the concrete floor and seats vibrate with the powerful and deep bass of Robbie Shakespeare (a.k.a. Basspeare) and the crisp snare snaps from drummer Sly Dunbar (a.k.a., Dunbar), otherwise known as the Riddim Twins, was a marvel.  Frontman Michael Rose was a natural, singing in his unique keening style with a passion and energy the revved the crowd up.  The spliffs were lit, the bass and drums were booming, a particularly searing guitar solo stands out, and Rose's skanking and singing kept everyone in a good, mellow mood.

The headliner had something like a 28-piece band and that part of the show began with one hand drummer, then another, and another, and yet another, followed by dancers, a bass player, a drummer, a rhythm guitarist, saxophonists, trumpeters and etc.  Finally, as the large ensemble established a tight, rhythmic and danceable groove and stayed on it for several minutes, a tall, thin figure, resplendent in white, ambled onto the stage, plugged in his white guitar and began an agile, nimble, clean and compelling guitar solo before singing a song that included the usual call-and-response elements with his backup singers.  King Sunny led the group through a stellar performance that had the crowd on its feet and dancing the entire time.

What a show from both King Sunny and Black Uhuru, artists whose new albums on Island Records were being somewhat heavily promoted at the time.  In advance of that show, YHB picked up the LPs, which were Aura by King Sunny and Anthem by Black Uhuru.  These were fine recordings, but nothing could match the immediacy, power and intensity of the live shows, especially from that awesome third row seat.

Not long after the concert, other Black Uhuru albums were quickly snapped up, all of which will be featured here, including Sinsemilla, Tear It Up (Live), Red, Chill Out and The Dub Factor.  Of these the 1981 record, Red, is probably the standout.

Formed as Uhuru in 1972 in Kingston's Waterhouse District, the group initially featured Garth Dennis, Don Carlos and Duckie Simpson, with the latter being the sole mainstay throughout the band's long career.  Carlos soon left for a solo career and Dennis joined the well-known Wailing Souls.  Simpson found two other singers, including Errol Nelson and young Michael Rose, and, in 1977, the first album, Love Crisis, was released.  After Nelson departed, South Carolina native Puma Jones joined and lent the first female voice to the group, then known as Black Uhuru.  A second album, Showcase, followed in 1979, but some successful singles and concerts led to a signing with powerhouse Island Records and the debut for that label, Sinsemilla, was issued in July 1980.  More importantly, the trio began working with Sly and Robbie, whose playing and production skills transformed the group, which already had an excellent songwriter in Rose, who used strong political and social commentary in his lyrics.

Red, however, followed quickly and established the group as a major player in reggae.  The opening track is the fantastic "Youth of Eglington," which highlights the specific type of melody and harmony that defined the Black Uhuru sound, along with incredibly tight and inventive rhythms from Dunbar and Shakespeare.  Cannily, Rose tied the violence of youths in Kingston, an ongoing reflection of chronic poverty and dislocation, with problems in England, specifically the heavily West Indian populated area of Brixton in London.  This acknowledged the growing popularity of reggae in the UK and broadened the band's audience.

Following is another tremendous Rose track, "Sponji Reggae," which highlights that specialized vocal style of his with some very cool keyboard and percussion effects that used new technology, such as synthesizers and syndrums, and pointed the way, for better or for worse, toward the future movements of dancehall and dubstep.

In truth, all eight of the songs are strong pieces, five by Rose, two by him and Simpson, and the latter contributing the excellent "Journey," which is this blogger's third favorite track as it invokes true Rastafarian beliefs, including the fear of Babylon's "scientifical advancement" corrupting the mind.  "Utterance" praises the rasta's faith and reminding that "it's not what you do but how you do it / it's now what you say but how you say it."  The closer "Carbine" used a synth effect to drive home the point of keeping unity in the face of numbing violence which rocked Jamaica in the late 1970s and into the 1980s.

Red is a triumph of the uneasy merger of country-based roots reggae, spiritual and political concerns, and the emerging technological and production techniques that would eventually overwhelm the other two, to the detriment, IMHO, of reggae. 

Still, for a brief years after the staggering blow of the loss of Bob Marley to cancer in 1981, Black Uhuru seemed the one reggae group that could maintain an international appear and stature anywhere near that of the great Tuff Gong.

The excellent Chill Out followed, along with the incredible dub record, The Dub Factor.  A 1980 recording known as Black Uhuru was repackaged as Gues Who's Coming to Dinner and is another quality album, even featuring a blistering repeated guitar line by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones  By the time Anthem appeared in 1984, however, the cracks were beginning to show, as Rose and Simpson feuded, especially concerning Rose's importance as singer and songwriter.  Rose left and was basically away from the music scene, tending to his country farm, for several years. 

Simpson and Jones continued on with Sly and Robbie, but the recordings weren't as strong and Jones left the group when she developed cancer, from which she died in 1990.  Simpson even reunited with his original comrades, Carlos and Dennis in the mid-90s, though this line up soon disbanded.  Though there hasn't been a studio album released in over a decade, there have been periodic tours, even a reunion in 2004 with Rose that lasted two years.  Simpson has recently brought a new lineup out, though the glory days of the first half of the 1980s are long past.