Tommy McCook & The Supersonics ~ Pleasure Dub [PSCD63]

'Tommy McCook was a Cuban-born saxophonist who moved to Jamaica in 1963. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel One Studios in the 1970s.

Duke Reid died from cancer in 1974 & his nephew, Errol Brown, who had been a junior engineer at Treasure Isle and who would go on to become one of the key engineers at Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Studio, took over the studio controls. He mixed three dub albums at Treasure Isle that dressed down and dubbed up some of the best of the Bond Street catalogue. Snatches of the original vocals were woven in and out of mixes that sound as fresh and as vital today as they did when they were first released… both in their original sixties incarnations and their 70's mutations. Treasure Dub Volume 1 & Treasure Dub Volume 2 have been available in various incarnations ever since. However, ‘Pleasure Dub’, the best of the set featuring Errol Brown’s cuts to rock steady classics such as ‘The Right Track’ by Phyllis Dillon, ‘The Tide Is High’ and ‘Riding On A High & Windy Way’ from The Paragons and ‘Things You Say You Love’ by The Jamaicans has never been re-pressed since its initial release. ‘Pleasure Dub’ is a record we have wanted to release for a long, long time and we are all delighted to be able to finally add a Treasure Isle album to the Pressure Sounds catalogue.'

'Yet another killer from the PS catalogue. 18 cool Treasure Isle rhythms, dubwise ~ impossible to resist. Considering that dub didn't really come of age for several years after these tunes were originally released, it's a dam unique set of dubs. Errol Brown is the unsung hero of dub if you ask me. Pressure Sounds have done it again!' ~ someone else

i luv me some mixing desk fuggery & interweaving of echoic vocal snatchery, which in the rite hands can only help make the source material more interesting. i likewise wholeheartedly encourage the rapturous support of pressure sounds & only recently discovered that he's [re]issued several of my favourite platters. a top tier outfit indeed. r.i.p. to owl the talented folks who made these sounds

purchase

Ossie Hibbert & the Revolutionaries ~ Earthquake Dub [1976]

A1. Earthquake Dub
A2. Rasta Foundation
A3. Fletchers Land
A4. Ital Manu
A5. Secret Agent

B1. Heavy Rock
B2. An Event
B3. Black Diamond Rock
B4. Collie In Dub
B5. Pain Land Dub

bonuts versions
11. Whip Them In Dub - [bonus track]
12. River Bank - [bonus track, featuring Deadley Headley Bennett]
13. River Bank - [Version]
14. Kissinger - [bonus track]
15. Death Sentence - [bonus track]
16. Heavier Than Lead - [Version]
17. Hog Head - [bonus track]
18. Conscience - [alternate take, bonus track]



Producer, Arranged By, Recorded By, Mixed By - Ossie Hibbert
Bass - Bertram "Ranchie" McLean
Drums - Sly Dunbar
Guitar - Earl "Chinna" Smith , Radford "Duggie" Bryan*
Keyboards - Ansel Collins , Ossie Hibbert
Percussion - Noel "Scully" Simms , Uziah "Sticky" Thompson
Saxophone [Alto] - Headley Bennett* , Dean Fraser* , Herman Marquis
Saxophone [Tenor], Flute - Tommy McCook
Trombone - Vin Gordon
Trumpet - Bobby Ellis


'Earthquake Dub was produced & mixed by Ossie Hibbert [also on organ] & performed by the Revolutionaries, at Channel One Studios. This dub amounts to a crisp, spacy, texturally nuanced soundscape. The bass is front and center, very deep, rich and clear. In fact the listener may [for once] want to turn the bass down just a tad in order to hear the small, elegant details which are hidden below like tiny fossils. Several tracks feature some fine solo and ensemble horn lines [featuring Tommy McCook], which are appropriately spaced-out and ethereal. There is a also a bit of organ providing some sweetness to the mix, including some courtesy of producer/ mixer Ossie Hibbert. In fact, it may be Hibbert's capacity as a musician which allowed him to make such tasteful [and tasty] dubs on this, his very first dub album. There are virtually no vocals bringing Earthquake Dub down to earth, and that fact helps elevate it to true high art, abstract, nonlinear, and unfettered by earthly concerns. The deftly applied echo and reverb, augmented by the occasional bleep and bloop makes the tracks feel startlingly modern and fresh. Once again, I find myself marveling at how remarkably creative and ahead of their time the 1970s Jamaican dubmasters [including Hibbert] actually were. This is essential for any fan of the Revolutionaries, even for the track "River Bank" alone, which is an upbeat dubbed-out solo sax work out, with a skanky, almost carnival-sounding rhythm which will remind you why it's good to be alive.' ~ Jasper

dub week happily continues with this slow burner. known primarily as the organist for the Agrovators & Revolutionaries, Ossie Hibbert was also a dam fine producer, who works his magick on this stellar yet generally unsung rootsy slab. i had the original lp uploaded & everything & was thiking i would just make a mix or something with my favourite bonus cuts from the re-issue, but then it occured to me that most of em are pirty solid. besides, to date i still haven't bothered to drop any of my mixes, so there's no telling when i mighta gotten around to it, if ever. plus this album has practically zero proper representation on the greater interblogs, so fugg it, yawl git the whole enchilada. a 320 rip. win/win