Young, Gifted & Black - The New Reggae Generation

Young, Gifted And Black acts as an excellent primer for a new generation of reggae enthusiasts. With their vigorous reissue programme, Trojan Records appear to be inspired by the recent success of the Blood And Fire label, although their own specialist field is ska and rocksteady rather than deep dub. The endorsements in the sleeve booklet come from Don Letts and UB40's Robin Campbell, with the latter highlighting this set's populist accessibility. There's a wide range to be covered in this handsome package, so any selection is bound to end up with some degree of subjectivity. Even so, it's hard to go wrong with two discs and 50 tracks, spanning the best part of two decades. Selections like "Oh Carolina" (The Folkes Brothers) and "Guns Of Navarone" (The Skatalites) sound like long-lost audio relics, the very beginnings of ska. Prince Buster clicks and puffs through "Al Capone", providing the impetus for Madness and The Specials. If some tunes weren't hits the first time around, they had their day as covers by the likes of Blondie, The Clash and UB40. The metamorphosis into rocksteady happened quickly and, early on disc 2, Bob Marley's sudden entrance illustrates how shocking reggae's slowed-down minimalism must have sounded in the early 1970s. Much of the second disc is dominated by a lighter pop-reggae, at its worst with "Side Show" (Barry Biggs), and its best with "Uptown Top Ranking" (Althea & Donna). We also get to hear the banned naughties of "Wet Dream" and "Big Seven" (Max Romeo and Judge Dread), never allowed in the playgrounds of the 1970s. --Martin Longley

Young, Gifted & Black, Vol. 1

Young, Gifted & Black, Vol. 2

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