STUDIO ONE; THE BEST OF...- VARIOUS ARTISTS

oxsonne Dodd's Kingston, Jamaica, recording studio may have lacked the latest equipment, but it was the laboratory where such legends as guitarist Ernie Ranglin experimented and made their greatest riddimic [cq] discoveries, and where young singers like Sugar Minott, the Wailing Souls, and The Heptones refined their vocal chops. During the time period covered in this first volume of Heartbeat's Studio One series (ca. late 1960s to early '70s), Ranglin and other stellar musicians like The Skatalites were the house band, composing tracks on the spot but usually uncredited on the innumerable vinyl classics that the studio churned out. Diehard reggaeites will recognize virtually every track but still thrill to hear The Cables' "Baby Why" elide into The Termites' "My Last Love," and a very young Dennis Brown's "Impossible" giving way to "The Heptone's "Party Time." Nonreggae-heads will wonder what they've been listening to these past 30 or so years.
1    Baby Why - The Cables
2    My Last Love - The Termites
3    Melody Life - Marcia Griffiths
4    Can I Change My Mind - Alton Ellis
5    Jah Promise - Johnnie Osbourne
6    Rub A Dub Style - Michigan and Smiley
7    Impossible - Dennis Brown
8    Party Time - The Heptones
9    Throw Me Corn - Larry Marshall
10    Born To Love - Slim Smith
11    Roots Natty - The Gladiators
12    Oh Mr. D. C. - Sugar Minott
13    Rastafari Tell You - Judah Tafari Eskender
14    Row Fisherman Row - Wailing Souls