VA - Soul Jazz Records Presents STUDIO ONE Black Man's Pride 2: Righteous Are The Sons And Daughters Of Jah (2018)

This is the second installment of deep roots Rastafarian reggae at Studio One and features classic music from some of the most important figures in reggae music – Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Jackie Mittoo, The Gladiators – alongside a host of rarities and little-known recordings, such as a truly rare Mystic Revelation of Rastafari seven-inch single, Willie William’s first ever recording ‘Calling’ and Horace Andy’s righteous (and equally rare) masterpiece ‘Illiteracy.’

Black Man’s Pride 2 extends the legacy of Studio One’s ground-breaking path in roots reggae which began at the end of the 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s. The album tells the story of how the rise of Studio One Records and the Rastafari movement were interconnected, through the adoption of the Rastafari faith by key reggae artists – everyone from the Skatalites and Wailers in the 1960s, major singers such as Alton Ellis and Horace Andy at the end of the decade, through to major roots artists such as The Gladiators in the 1970s – and how Clement Dodd consistently recorded this heavyweight roots music throughout Studio One’s history.

The extensive sleeve-notes to this album also discuss the links between Rastafari and Studio One in time and place, noting how both the religion and Clement Dodd’s musical empire had their roots in the intense period of pre-independence Jamaica in Kingston, expanded in the 1960s following the visit of Haile Selassie in 1966, and how roots music then came to dominate reggae music in the early 1970s. Also discussed is how the outsider stance of both reggae music and the Rastafari movement relate back many hundreds of years to the original rebel stance of the Maroons, escaped slaves who set up self-sufficient enclaves in the hills of the Jamaican countryside.

There is also a track-by-track history by the noted Studio One writer Rob Chapman (Never Grow Old). This new album comes as heavyweight gatefold double vinyl (+ download code), deluxe CD and digital album.

REVIEWS of Black Man's Pride:

"Soul Jazz’s albums are different: not only have they encouraged a new, younger audience, parallel to the one that enjoys rare funk and spiritual jazz, to appreciate this music, their records are coherent. They’re not just a heap of tunes that happen to be sharing a black vinyl apartment. They’re themed and meld musically. They have a reason to exist.
In this instance, that reason is an exploration of 70s vocal roots reggae with a theme of black pride and dignity." Record Collector

Tracklist:
01. Horace Andy - Illiteracy
02. The Heptones - Be a Man
03. The Manchesters - Natty Gone
04. The Gladiators - Down Town Rebel
05. Willie Williams - Calling
06. Roland Alphonso & Brentford All Stars - Sir D Special
07. Keith Wilson - God I God I Say
08. Alton Ellis - Almost Anything
09. Bobby Kalphat & The New Establishment - Adis a Wa Wa
10. Peter Broggs - Sing a New Song
11. Mystic Revelations Of Rastafari - Let Freedom Reign
12. Larry & Alvin - Free I Lord
13. Ernest Wilson & The Sound Dimension - Freedom Fighter
14. Jackie Mittoo - Happy People
15. Prince Lincoln - Daughters of Zion
16. High Charles - Zion
17. Winston Jarrett - Love Jah Jah