RhoDeo1204 Roots

Hello, we're still on that island with a huge place in the global music catalogue, Jamaica. A production hothouse and they say the Weed makes you slow and lazy-go figure. Without the ganja driven reggae music Jamaica would have remained a Caribbean backwater and dare i say would never have given us Bolt, the fastest man in the world.

We've seen plenty of lee Perry these past months but there was another and probably even more prolific producer of dub music..King Tubby

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King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock) Born January 28th 1941, he is known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s. In the 1950s, King Tubby's musical career began with the sound systems, set up on the streets of Kingston and playing dance music for the people. As a radio repairman, Tubby soon became quite helpful at most of the sound systems around.

Tubby began working with Arthur "Duke" Reid in 1968. At Treasure Isle, a studio, Tubby began making remixes of hit songs, usually by simply removing the vocals. In time, Tubby (and others) began shifting the emphasis in the instrumentals, adding sounds and removing others and adding various special effects, like echoes. By 1971, Tubby's soundsystem was one of the most popular in Kingston and he decided to open a studio of his own. King Tubby took remixing to a whole new level. He started stripping out not only the vocals, but cutting up instrumental parts, dropping them in and out of the tracks, adding new effects and sounds, while also making use of phasing, shifts, and echoes. Many of these experiments were pressed onto acetate dubplates and spun at his sound system. His remixes soon proved enormously popular, and he became one of the biggest celebrities in Jamaica.

During the 1970s, Tubby's work in the studio gave rise to modern dub music. He had a long string of hit songs, and worked as a producer for some of Jamaica's most popular artists, including Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, Augustus Pablo and Yabby You. In 1973, he began recording vocals to put along the instrumentals. By the later part of the decade though, King Tubby had mostly retired from music, still occasionally recording remixes and tutoring a new generation of artists, including King Jammy and Scientist. In the 1980s, he focused on production for Anthony Red Rose, Sugar Minott and other popular musicians. He upgraded his studio again and also launched his own record labels -- Firehouse, Waterhouse, Kingston II, and Taurus.

His best work was now in the production field, working with young DJs and veteran vocalists. Pliers (of Chaka Demus fame), Ninjaman, Gregory Isaacs, and Johnny Clarke were just some of the talent who cut singles for him. King Tubbys Presents Soundclash Dubplate Style arrived in 1989, bundling up dubs of his dancehall hits. As the decade drew to a close, King Tubby seemed destined to continue stamping his imprint on Jamaica's scene, still in demand, and still a powerful musical force. Then, on February 6, 1989, his career came to a sudden end when he was shot and killed outside his home in Waterhouse. His murder remains unsolved, his death believed to have been the result of a street robbery. In the years since, King Tubby's renown has only grown.

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In the early seventies King Tubby began turning out remixes in prolific numbers. Bunny Lee kept him busy with a constant stream of singles to remix and a batch were bundled up in 1974 as the seminal Dub From the Roots album, and more were featured on the follow-up, King Tubby Meets the Aggrovators at Dub Station.

King Tubby – Dub From The Roots (flac 273mb)

01 Dub From The Roots
02 Iyahta
03 Mine Field
04 Hijack The Barber
05 African Roots
06 Double Cross
07 East Of (Arrows Hi-Fi)
08 Invasion
09 Dub Of A Woman
10 Dub On My Mind
11 Steeling
12 Dub Experience
13 Declaration Of Dub
14 A Truthful Dub

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While there's certainly no shortage of King Tubby compilations out there, it's often a straining venture to find the best ones. Tubby churned out so much music during the mid-'70s (with the help of co-engineers Phillip Smart, Pat Kelly, and Lloyd "Prince Jammy" James, of course) that throughout the '90s innumerable fly-by-night labels were able to assemble cheap comps of cut-rate recordings. Really, if all you ever wanted was one and only one Tubby disc, In Fine Style would be a wise choice (though given the depths and riches of the Dub Inventor's catalog, you could easily pick up a couple of these comps and still have just the cream of the crop). This double disc compiles 46 dubs mixed at King Tubby's Studio (aka his modest home in Waterhouse, West Kingston, Jamaica) and does so chronologically, ranging from 1972-1977. These are the best of the best -- amazing dubs of such '70s reggae legends as the Upsetters (produced by Lee Perry), Niney the Observer, Augustus Pablo, Cornel Campbell, Horace Andy, Wayne Jarrett, and the Aggrovators, including such classics as "King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown" and "King Tubby's in Fine Style" among many, many others.

King Tubby's – In Fine Style (The Dub Inventor ) (flac 396mb)

101 The Crystalites – Concentration Version 3
102 The Crystalites – Blacula Version
103 Glen Brown – Tel Aviv Drums
104 The Upsetters – Chapter 2 (French Connection)
105 The Upsetters – IPA Skank
106 The Upsetters – Freak Out Skank
107 The Upsetters – Washroom Skank
108 The Upsetters (feat Dillinger) – Dub Organiser
109 The Upsetters – V/S Panta Rock
110 The Upsetters – Elephant Rock
111 The Upsetters – Drum Rock
112 The Upsetters – Lovers Skank (aka Spanglers Clap)
113 Rupie Edwards – Dr. Satan's Echo Chamber
114 Rupie Edwards – Buckshot Dub
115 Techniques All Stars – Stalag 17 Version
116 Techniques All Stars – Nothing Is Impossible Version
117 The Observer – New Style
118 The Observer – Fire From The Observer
119 Dennis Brown & The Observer – Coming Home (Version To No More Will I Roam)
120 The Observer & King Tubby – Dubbing With The Observer
121 The Observer & King Tubby – Youth Man
122 Augustus Pablo – King Tubby's Meets Rockers Uptown
123 Augustus Pablo – Tubby's Dub Song

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King Tubby's – In Fine Style (The Dub Master) (flac 371mb)

201 Ronnie Davis – The Power Of Love
202 King Tubby – King Tubby's In Fine Stile
203 Augustus Pablo & King Tubby – The Big Rip Off
204 The Talent Crew – King Tubby's Version (Please Officer)
205 The Mafia All Stars & King Tubby – Don't Think About Me (I'm Alright) Version
206 Dillinger, King Tubby & The Aggrovators – Jah Jah Dub
207 Vin Gordon – Magnum Force
208 Cornell Campbell & The Aggrovators – A Dance Roots Version
209 Tommy McCook & The Aggrovators – Dancing Version
210 Linval Thompson & The Aggrovators – Conqueroring Version
211 Linval Thompson & The Aggrovators – Sukumaka Version
212 Ronnie Davis, Lloydie Slim & The Aggrovators – Jah Jah Dub
213 B.B. Seaton & The Aggrovators – I Am Lost Dub
214 Cornell Campbell & The Aggrovators – Gorgon Version
215 King Tubbys – A Noisy Place (aka A Quiet Place)
216 Jackie Edwards & The Aggrovators – The Invasion (Version)
217 Johnny Clarke & The Aggrovators – A Harder Version
218 Johnny Clarke & The Aggrovators – A Ruffer Version
219 Wayne Jarrett – Satta Dread
220 King Tubbys – (Dread) Satta Version
221 Prince Jammy – A Useful Version
222 Leroy Smart & The Aggrovators – Channel One Feel It
223 Tommy McCook & The Aggrovators – African World Wide

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