The various Trojan box sets are always a treasure trove of hard to find Jamaican singles, and this three-disc set is no different, collecting 50 tracks of 1960s pop hits covered by Jamaican artists in ska and reggae styles. The results range from innovative to odd to scary, a sort of alternative survey of the decade filtered through island ears. The highlight of the first disc is a quartet of instrumental tracks, Lyn Taitt and Gladstone Anderson's upbeat version of the Bee Gees' "Words," Ernest Ranglin's sparkling guitar ...
Read More
The various Trojan box sets are always a treasure trove of hard to find Jamaican singles, and this three-disc set is no different, collecting 50 tracks of 1960s pop hits covered by Jamaican artists in ska and reggae styles. The results range from innovative to odd to scary, a sort of alternative survey of the decade filtered through island ears. The highlight of the first disc is a quartet of instrumental tracks, Lyn Taitt and Gladstone Anderson's upbeat version of the Bee Gees' "Words," Ernest Ranglin's sparkling guitar cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," and two great Jamaican tenor sax players doing their thing on a pair of unlikely songs, Roland Alphonso on Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and Tommy McCook on Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe." The second disc features all Motown covers, including a trio of Temptations' songs done admirably by the Techniques ("I Wish It Would Rain"), the Uniques ("You'll Lose a Precious Love"), and Slim Smith ("Ain't Too Proud to Beg"). It is worth noting that Smith is the lead singer on all three of these, and his take on the David Ruffin part in "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" in particular is a stunning reshaping of the song. The third disc features a grab bag of Jamaican versions of international pop hits, including the Gaylettes' herky-jerky, horn-driven rendition of Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man," Tommy McCook's tenor sax version of Herb Alpert's "Spanish Flea" (done here as the delightfully titled "Ska Flea"), and the Sensations' interpretation of "Just One Smile," originally a hit by Gene Pitney. The set closes with one of the oddest covers of a Bob Dylan song you'll ever hear, an instrumental sax-led version by Lester Sterling of "Blowin' in the Wind" (here called "Reggae in the Wind") that makes up in bubbling weirdness what it lacks in taste and common sense. As a set, Trojan Sixties continually surprises, and while it can be initially disconcerting to hear familiar pop tunes jerked into reggae patterns and rhythms, in the end it all makes a kind of obvious sense, and underscores the fact that Jamaican music has always been like a giant sponge, filtering and channeling the rest of the world's music into something that is distinctly Jamaican in outlook. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
Read Less
Add this copy of Trojan Box Set: Sixties to cart. $49.95, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brooklyn Park, MN, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Sanctuary.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. Disc(s) have been resurfaced using a professional-grade machine. Case shows moderate wear and tear. All items include the original case and artwork. All items ship Mon-Fri.