Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Liquidator - Harry J All-Stars
2. James Ray - Crystallites
3. Capo - The Hippy Boys
4. Napoleon Solo - Jets, The Jets, Lyn Taitt
5. Fat Dog - Joe Gibbs, The Love Generation
6. One Eyed Giant - Baba Brooks
7. Champion - GG's All-Stars
8. Tom's Version - Herman Marquis
9. Tribute to King Scratch - Lester Sterling
10. East of the River Nile - Augustus Pablo
11. Eastern Standard Time - Don Drummond
12. Reflections of Don D - Johnny "Dizzy" Moore
13. Make Yourself Comfortable
14. Rooster - Tommy McCook
15. In the Spirit - Lloyd Chambers
16. Tons of Gold - Val Bennett
17. For a Few Dollars More - The Upsetters

Disc 2:

1. Russians Are Coming [Take Five] - Val Bennett
2. Scarface - Boris Gardiner
3. Soul Scorcher - Carl Bryan
4. Top Secret - Winston Wright
5. Return to Django - The Upsetters
6. Contact - Roy Richards
7. Guns Fever - Baba Brooks
8. Memphis Underground - J.J. All Stars
9. Hippys Are Here - The Hippy Boys
10. Tit for Tat - Neville Hinds
11. El Torro - Roland Alphonso
12. Death a Come - Lloyd Charmers
13. Saint - Tommy McCook
14. My Cherie Amour - Harry J All-Stars
15. El Casino Royale - Jets, The Jets, Lyn Taitt
16. Bombshell - Crystallites

Disc 3:

1. Clint Eastwood - The Upsetters
2. Way of Life - Carl Bryan
3. Heads or Tails - Winston Wright
4. Last Call - Silverstars
5. El Pussy Cat Ska
6. Memories of Love - Boris Gardiner
7. Decimal Currency - The Blenders
8. Eight Years After - Tommy McCook
9. Jumping With Mr. Lee - Val Bennett
10. Monster - Beverley's All Stars
11. Seven Guns Alive - Baba Brooks
12. Cloudburst - The Hippy Boys
13. Love Me Forever - Gladdy Anderson, Jets, The Jets, Lyn Taitt
14. Don't Let Me Down
15. Green Island - Don Drummond
16. Barabus - GG's All-Stars
17. Stop That Man - Crystallites

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #313105 in Music
• Released on: 1999-05-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Box set, Limited Edition, Import
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

Album Description
50 great reggae instrumentals from the vaults of Trojan Records. Contains brief biographies on each artist & track. Artists include Harry J Allstars, Augustus Pablo, Don Drummond, Upsetters, Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook and many more. Comes packaged in a full color CD-sized brilliant box with each disc in a separate slipcase. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews

* A Sweet, Sweet Deal *
This is a sweet friggin' box-set of instrumental Jamaican music for a VERY low price. There are 3 discs and FIFTY tracks here! It's like buying a small DJ crate of rare Jamaican sides for next to nothing! There is some ska-era stuff, a good deal of rocksteady, and tons of what we who enjoy these things label "early reggae." Of course the instrumental stuff from these periods were less tethered to the Jamaican popular forms than the vocals were, moving easily from r&b to soul to jazz to funk, to Latin, and all over the place, mixing up the stuff to create whole new styles. This is killer stuff, pure and simple. Beginners might want to get into classic Jamaican instrumental music with a disc such as Heartbeat's "Downbeat The Ruler" or Soul Jazz's "Studio One Scorcher," the two of which are the best of their type. Soon enough, however, you'll be wanting to add this groovin' set to your collection, and it will be worth every cent, and then some. Awesome.

P.S. - Check out Trojan's "Alpha Boy's School" disc as well, for more killer instrumentals from this period.

in total disagreement with previous review
While some of these tracks are on the obscure side, this is one of the most enjoyable instrumental compilations in any genre that I ever purchased. I highly recommend it even to those unfamilliar with Jamaican music of the 60's (most of these tracks fall into the ska/rocksteady/early reggae period).

Instrumentals Non-essential
With Trojan Records, you'd think you'd pretty much be in the arms of Jah with anything you buy. Not necessarily so, here. Although this collection contains some decent standouts from the Harry J All Stars et. al, most of the material borders on kitsch and comes off as somewhat dispensable within just the first listen, unlike much of the instrumental/dub work of Lee Scratch/Upsetters. Unless you're dedicated to collecting all these box sets, go with another and you might get a few of the better selections offered here.