Bim Sherman / Horace Andy / U Black – Yard International – 1982

Uploaded tonight is a fine LP originally released in 1982 on the Yard International record label. This killer slab combines the talents of two of reggae’s greatest male vocalists Bim Sherman and Horace Andy alongside the smoking DJ, U Black. The producer the late Jah Woosh and engineer Prince Jammy recorded the sessions that are on this slab of vinyl at Channel 1 and King Tubby’s studios. All of the tracks are eerie and atmospheric in soulful dub style, played by session musicians on the day, Leroy Wallace, Sly Dunbar, Errol ‘Flabba’ Holt, ‘Bingy’ Bunny, Vin Gordon, Ansel Collins and several others. The vocal tracks are combined with the dub versions on this LP which makes this LP all the more enjoyable. A clear standout is Bim Sherman’s opener, “It Must Be a Dream,” with the dubwise elements added after his extended vocal, including a killer trombone solo by reggae session veteran Vincent Gordon.

Horace Andy is in fine fettle on ‘If I Can Make It’, his version of Keith and Tex’s ‘Tonight’. “Tonight” is the dub version, but there’s enough of his utterly sensual vocal to make the dread elements of dub come through in the track’s eroticism. “Dread Pan Some” and its dub feature U Black and Horace Andy interweaving their vocals together. U Black’s DJ toasting style is not as radically in your face as some of his predecessors, though it’s just as effective in the context of these sessions. Prince Jammy gets wild on the FX with a dub of ‘Power Chant’ rippling for the dancefloor and it gets succulently deep on ‘Fit To Survive’ in electro soul influenced original and dub versions. This collection culls some rare tracks, and places them in a sequence that maximizes the dubwise trance elements and possesses true dread force. An essential set.

THIS POST IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE TO MY BETTER HALF ‘BOBBLY JAX BIRD’ WHO CELEBRATES HER BIRTHDAY TODAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM PENGUIN, TONY D, GERARD AND ALISTAIR.

11 comments

dan i
December 22, 2011 at 12:34 am

Used to see this always in the shelves of Notting Hill Tape Exchange, i think it came with different sleeves from different pressings, pink maybe? It’s a great showcase album, consistently good quality tunes and versions, and a variety of artists to keep it spicy.

I thought somebody ought to comment Penguin, to make you keep posting reggae whenever the mood takes you 🙂
Penguin • Post Author •
December 22, 2011 at 12:37 pm

Bim and Woosh always supplied Notting Hill and Camden Rec Tape Ex as part of their distribution network believe it or not. I assume Woosh took a fair few there when he released it on Original Music.
Joe
December 23, 2011 at 6:26 pm

Horace Andy only features on one track — ‘Tonight’.

Sherman sings “If I Can Make It”, and Jah Woosh co-sings “Dread Pan Some” with U Black.
Gianf
December 25, 2011 at 9:11 am

Tanti auguri di buone feste, vi seguo da tanti anni, grazie per splendida musica
ciao
bingomaster
December 25, 2011 at 3:12 pm

black men got a lot of problems, but they’ve found their own way to deal with it, don’t kid yourself with your white liberal shit…or something like that.
dan i
December 29, 2011 at 5:28 pm

?
Joe
December 30, 2011 at 6:39 am

Not to worry Dan, Bingomaster don’t know the beauty of reggae music yet, and the mystic wisdom of dub.
Penguin • Post Author •
December 30, 2011 at 11:09 am

It’s a lyric from ‘White Punks On Dope’ by Crass slating The Clash. Not sure of the relevance to this thread though.
dan i
December 31, 2011 at 11:36 am

Oh, we’re back to the Crass vs Clash thread are we?
Bingomaster
January 3, 2012 at 11:03 am

I thought this site was exculsively written by Tony D; and, therefore, if he was commenting on any element of black culture, it was totally relevant to quote from White Punks on Hope…even if I was so drunk that it was all misquoted. Concerning Crass vs Clash…well, compared to Crass, the Clash were just a pop group.
Incidentally, White Punks on Dope is by the Tubes, go to Youtube and see it being perfomed by a naked man on The Old Grey Whistle Test…I don’t know what Bob made of it all.
dan i
January 3, 2012 at 10:19 pm

Babylon falling, and the guttersnipes are staring at the stars.