Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Vintage Trojan Done Right

No matter what you think of the endless re-packaging and re-issuing of the incredibly deep Trojan catalogue, it is pretty cool to see them release these two classic albums, Desmond Dekker & the Aces' debut rocksteady album 007 Shanty Town (1967) and Dave and Ansel Collins' skinhead reggae special Double Barrel (1972), on CD--with the original cover art (sad they don't make 'em like this anymore) and original analog quarter-inch tapes used for their digital mastering. (Would it be too much to ask for a vinyl release of these albums, too?).

The only question is what took them so long to do it?


Desmond Dekker & the Aces: 007 Shanty Town
Track Listing:
"0.0.7 (Shanty Town)" - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
"Unity "- Desmond Dekker
"Wiseman" - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
"Rude Boy Train" - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
"You've Got Your Troubles" - Desmond Dekker
"Rudie Got Soul" - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
"Mother's Young Gal" - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
"Keep A Cool Head" - Desmond Dekker
"Shing A Ling" - Desmond Dekker
"Mother Long Tongue" - Desmond Dekker
"Personal Possession" - Desmond Dekker
"Sweet Music" - Desmond Dekker


Dave and Ansel Collins: Double Barrel
Track Listing:
"Double Barrel" - Dave Barker, Ansel Collins
"Wild Bunch" - Dave and Ansel Collins
"Elfrego Bacca" - Dave Barker, The Techniques All Stars
"Monkey Spanner Version" - Ansel Collins, Dave Collins
"My Best Girl" - Dave Barker
"Secret Weapon" - Ansel Collins
"Karate aka I The Third" - Dave Barker, Ansel Collins
"That Girl (aka Groovy Situation)" - Dave Barker
"Impossible Mission" - Dave and Ansel Collins
"Ten To One" - Dave and Ansel Collins
"I Count The Days (aka Lonely Man)" - Dave Barker, The Techniques All Stars
"Two Four One" - Dave and Ansel Collins

[As Duff Guide to Ska reader Jon has noted in the comments section, Double Barrel was previously released on CD with different artwork by RAS Records (in 1995) and Beatville (in 1998 as The Heavy, Heavy Monster Sound of Dave & Ansel Collins)]

2 comments:

Jon said...

Double Barrel has been released on CD at least twice previously. The first time by RAS in the early 90s and then later in the 90s by the RAS spinoff Beatville.

What I'm more excited about is the return of the low cost multidisc compilations, a continuation of the box set series. Ska-ing West, Heavy Heavy Monster Sound, Sounds & Pressure: Mod Reggae, and Foundation Dub. You can get them for $10 shipped from cdwow.us and each has 40 tracks, typically about half of which are new to CD (or so they claim, I haven't gone through them too closely to check on that claim).

Steve from Moon said...

Jon,

Thanks for the fact checking (I should know better than to believe the Trojan hype--maybe their marketing materials should have stated that it is the first time Trojan has released these on CD?). I will correct this posting.

Funny thing is I forgot that I have the Beatville CD in my collection!

I appreciate you keeping me honest!

Best,

Steve