Gregory Isaacs – Various Record Labels – Various Years

BULLET RECORDS – 1970

Set Back

Version (featuring King Stitch)

ATTACK RECORDS – 1974

Love Is Overdue

Love Is Overdue Part 2 – Link taken down due to very poor quality. Scratched right through the vinyl. I will endeavour to find another copy sometime and reupload the track.

MORPHEUS RECORDS – 1976

Black A Kill Black

Version

GOLDEN AGE RECORDS – 1977

Mr Cop

Mr Cop Dub

CASH AND CARRY RECORDS – 1978

Mr Brown

Version

The sad passing on of yet another reggae legend and truly great performer, Gregory Isaacs passed on this morning at the age of 59 due to the lung cancer that was diagnosed a little over a year ago. Gregory Isaacs has been a prominant force in my record collection for many decades. I have been present at several live perfomances throughout the years, all of which were enjoyable nights out.

I originally thought lets upload one of the top ranking LPs that I have here at Penguin Towers, ‘Extra Classic’ on Conflict records, ‘Mr Isaacs’ on DEB records, the Frontline labels ‘Cool Ruler’ or ‘Soon Forward’. Any of the earlier Trojan LP releases. Anyhow I could not make up my mind and thought bugger it, slap a clutch of scratchy 45’s up on the site. So I uploaded Gregory Isaac’s debut 7″ single released in the UK in 1970 and four other classic 7″ vinyl platters spanning the mid to late 1970’s.

I got to meet Gregory Isaacs several times at his African Museum studio / record shop based down the sprawling and rather dangerous Red Hills Road in Kingston, Jamaica. One time he kindly cut a dub plate for my wife Jacquie. The lyrics were based loosely on the Attack label’s 1974 hit ‘Love Is Overdue’ (uploaded above) performed over the Sound Dimensions Real Rock rhythm. If anyone is interested in the story of that recording or interested in listening to it you can source it on this site right HERE . Its a complete doss of a tune on a valentine dub plate present for my wife. Thanks Gregory.

Lifting a glass for the Cool Ruler Gregory Isaacs R.I.P.

Text below ripped militant socialist style from allmusic.com

One of Jamaica’s most beloved vocalists who is as pertinent in dancehalls as he is in bedrooms, Gregory Isaacs’ career has stretched over 40 years. From the heady days of reggae through lovers rock, a genre he virtually invented, his talent reached into the modern age. Born in the Fletcher’s Land area of Kingston, Jamaica, on July 15, 1951, Isaacs arrived in the music business via the talent show circuit, a tried and true formula for many of the island’s budding singing stars. Byron Lee was the first in the industry to spot his talent and brought him and Winston Sinclair into the studio to record the duet ‘Another Heartbreak’ in 1968. Sadly, it went nowhere, and Isaacs decided to try his fortunes with a new vocal trio, the Concords. They set up home at Rupie Edwards’ Success label and over the next couple of years, released a number of singles, including one with Prince Buster, but none caught the attention of the Jamaican public.

In 1970, the Concords folded and Isaacs struggled on alone. His first solo single release ‘Set Back’ produced by Sydney Crooks was released in the UK on the Bullet label but was not a massive seller. His initial self-productions were similarly unsuccessful, while further cuts with Edwards did no better. Regardless of this poor track record, in 1973 Isaacs set up his own record store and label, African Museum, in partnership with Errol Dunkley, a young singer with a string of hits to his own name. Apparently some of Dunkley’s own magic wore off and one of the label’s first releases, Isaacs’ own self-produced ‘My Only Lover’ was an immediate hit and the floodgates opened wide. Besides African Museums’ offerings, Isaacs helped keep the label solvent by recording with virtually every producer on the island for a stream of hits that showed no sign of abating.

Between 1973 and 1976 alone, the singer released more material than most artists do in a lifetime, virtually all of it timeless classics. Isaacs’ early albums inevitably gathered up strings of these hits, while usually also including a few new songs. 1975’s ‘In Person’ released on Trojan records, for example, features a heavy hitting collection of successes for producer Alvin Ranglin and was followed up in 1977 by ‘Best of, Vol. 1’ on the GG label. Similarly, 1976’s ‘All I Have Is Love’ again on Trojan records includes a hit-filled package of Sidney Crooks productions. ‘Extra Classic’ released on Conflict records, co-produced by Isaacs, Pete Weston, and Lee Perry, is also stuffed with chartbusters and showcases the singer’s deepest roots material. The latter album appeared on African Museum cut with a diverse range of producers, across three volumes titled ‘Over the Years’.

In 1977, the U.K. was treated to an equally dread experience via ‘Mr. Isaacs’, released on Dennis Brown’s DEB label. (Turn about is fair play and Brown had released several classic albums of his own on African Museum). By this time, the two polar sides of Isaacs were apparent: the roots singer, whose emotive sufferer’s songs and cultural numbers were filled with fire, and the crooning lover, whose passionate declarations of devotion quivered with emotion. Eventually, the vocalist’s ties to the lovers rock scene saw his reputation as the Cool Ruler overshadow the equally impassioned roots performer, but his work in the latter half of the ’70s shows his heart was true to both. Isaacs was quick to take advantage of the rise of the DJs; producer Ranglin paired him with a string of cutting-edge toasters for another flood of hits, beginning in 1978. It was at this time that he first hooked up with DJ Trinity, a partnership maintained into the next decade across a stream of seminal singles.

By now, Isaacs was too big a talent to ignore and in 1978, he signed with Virgin’s Front Line label. That same year, the singer had a featured role in the classic ‘Rockers’ movie. Inexplicably, however, as Isaacs was poised on the brink of international success, he failed to set the rest of the world alight. His debut Frontline album, the excellent ‘Cool Ruler’, barely ruffled a feather outside Jamaica. It did, however, provide most of the material for ‘Slum: Gregory Isaacs in Dub’ released on Trojan records, which boasted fat rhythms by the Revolutionaries, keyboardist Ansel Collins with Prince Jammy, and Isaacs himself behind the mixing board. ‘Cool Ruler’s’ and Frontline records follow-up, 1979’s ‘Soon Forward’, was filled with hits soon-to-become classics, but also did not make the slightest dent on the world beyond Jamaica. The latter’s title-track was produced by Sly & Robbie and gave the pair’s new Taxi label its first hit. Isaacs cut several more great singles with the team, which were brought together for 1980’s ‘Showcase’ album. Even with Frontline out of the picture, Isaacs continued going from strength to strength. Inking a U.K. deal with the Pre label and with his fortunes secure in Jamaica, the artist continued turning out hit after hit. His Pre debut, ‘The Lonely Lover’, and its follow-up, 1981’s ‘More Gregory’, both boasted the Roots Radics and a host of Jamaican hits that range from lovers rock to deep roots and on to the emerging dancehall sound. No wonder the singer was a hands-down success at the first Reggae Sunsplash. It was at this point that Island stepped up to the plate and signed the singer to their Mango imprint.

Virgin label head Richard Branson must have cursed his own stupidity, as Isaacs immediately repaid his new label’s faith with his biggest hit of all, ‘Night Nurse’. The song titled his Mango debut, another masterpiece, and again featured the steaming Roots Radics. Amazingly, as the song spread around the world, the singer sat whiling his time away in a Jamaican jail as the result of a drug arrest. He was released later in 1982 and immediately entered the studio to record ‘Out Deh’ with producers Errol Brown and Flabba Holt. Once again able to take the stage, Isaacs played a series of awe-inspiring shows over the next year, captured on both 1983’s ‘Live at Reggae Sunsplash’ and the following year’s ‘Live at the Academy Brixton’ albums. Behind the scenes, Isaacs joined the shadowy conspiracy of vocalists determined to return vocalists to their rightful place in the market by flooding the shops with music. An all-star cast of veteran singers joined the plot, including Dennis Brown, John Holt, Delroy Wilson, and many more, but none would reach the prolificacy of the determined Isaacs.