Marcus' Children / Social Living
LP: Burning Spear /JA, as Marcus
Children
LP: Island ILPS ILPS
9556
/UK, as Social Living
released in 1978
Tracks:
"...this remains the most fully accomplished
Spear set after Marcus Garvey. From the pain-racked opening, "Marcus
Children Suffer", through similarly dread-serious tracks such as "Marcus
Sy Jah No Dead" and "Institution", there is no doubting the
total integrity."
- Reggae. The Rough Guide, p. 140
(p) 1980 Island Records Inc.
(c) 1994 Blood & Fire Ltd.
Tracks:
1. Marcus Children Suffer 4:38
2. Come 3:52
3. Social Living 4:34
4. Marcus Say Jah No Dead 3:51
5. Marcus Senior 5:10
6. Nyah Keith 4:03
7. Institution 3:30
8. Mister Garvey 3:17
9. Civilise Reggae 4:03
All songs written by Winston Rodney
Credits:
Produced by Winston Rodney &
Karl Pitterson. Recorded at Harry J Studio, Kingston Jamaika, Engineer:
Syvain Morris, and at Compass Point by Carl Pitterson and Benji Ambrister.
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe at
The Town House, London.
Design: Mat at Intro
The four studio albums that Burning Spear (Winston Rodney) made for Island Records during 1975/1978 - Marcus Garvey (1975), Man In The Hills (1976), Dry and Heavy (1977), and this current reissue of Marcus Children aka Social Living (1978) - represent the true cornerstone of his work.
In them Spear delivered the definitive versions of songs first recorded for Clement S. Dodd's Studio One label during the period 1969/1974, when he was working under the musical tutelage of such great Jamaican artists as Larry Marshall and Leroy Sibbles. He also evolved the musical foundations upon which all his subsequent work has rested, and by the time he came to record Social Living he had become both artist and producer of his work.
Taken together (or indeed separately), these albums constitute an intense and moving articulation of his abiding themes-black history and culture, resistance and struggle against oppression-all expressed via a lyrical synthesis of Garveyism, Rastafarianism, and universal love. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that for many people outside of the Afro-Jamaican community, their first introduction to Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the great Pan-Africanist who had been born in Spear's home parish of St. Ann's Bay on August 17 1887, came from the music of Burning Spear. Since these recordings were made Burning Spear has continued his career, regularly recording and touring worldwide, displaying an admirable and unwavering commitment to the ideals expressed herein. This album is a near-perfect realisation of those ideals by an indisputably major artist.
- Steve Barrow, September 1994
This album has been digitally remastered from the original analogue tapes. Overall this has enhanced the sound of the music, revealing greater depth and subtlety in the mixes. We believe that due to today's technology this re-issue captures the sound quality of the original mixes more faithfully than any previously available version.
There is a downside however; slight imperfections which exist on the original masters are also faithfully reproduced. In particular there are a number of clicks at the beginning of Marcus Senior. While it is theoretically possible to remove these using sophisticated digital technology, in practice this means compromising the quality of the sound. We decided therefore, in keeping with the spirit of reggae as a 'vibes' music, to leave the clicks in and keep the feel of the track uncompromised. We have also sequenced the album in the running order of the original Jamaican release and we feel that this, together with the improved sound quality, makes this re-issue the closest to the artist's original intention.
- Bob Harding, September 1994
Quelle: www.bloodandfire.co.uk
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