freeskafoundation

 Widely hailed as the Godfather of Ska, Laurel Aitken dominated Jamaica’s recording industry throughout its infancy, enjoying a series of hugely popular mento and Jamaican R&B hits during the latter half of the 1950s. Early the following decade he relocated to London, where, over the years that immediately followed, he recorded for every Afro- Caribbean record company of note.

While his ska and rock steady recordings ensured Laurel remained a firm favourite among Jamaican ex-patriots, the reggae explosion of 1969 exposed his work to a wider audience, with productions for Doctor Bird, Pama and Trojan Records establishing him as a musical hero for many of Britain’s young, white working-classes, notably those that had adopted a fashion style dubbed by the national press as ‘skinhead’. This 5CD set collects the entirety of the singer-songwriter-producer’s output that saw issue on 7” singles between 1969 and 1970, with the set including big sellers alongside long lost rarities and unissued tracks that make their CD debut.

While Laurel’s own considerable singing skills take centre stage, the collection also features recordings he produced for other UK-based artists, their number including such celebrated acts as Rico, Winston Groovy, Pama Dice, the Pyramids, the Cimarons and the Rudies. Among the 138 tracks collected here, two are previously unreleased and a further 68 unavailable on any format for decades, ensuring this celebration of fast and furious boss sounds is an essential acquisition for any self-respecting fan of vintage reggae.

Tracklist:

CD1:
01. Laurel Aitken - Fire (In Your Wire)
02. Laurel Aitken - Quando Quando Quando
03. Laurel Aitken - Rice & Peas
04. The Classics - Worried Over Me
05. Laurel Aitken - Reggae Prayer
06. Laurel Aitken - Deliverance Will Come
07. Laurel Aitken - The Rise and Fall (of Laurel)
08. Laurel Aitken - If You're Not Black
09. Laurel Aitken - Heile Heile (The Lion)
10. Seven Letters - Call Collect
11. Laurel Aitken - Carolina
12. Laurel Aitken - Kingston Town
13. Laurel Aitken - Donkey Man
14. Laurel Aitken - Woppi King
15. Laurel Aitken - Mr. Soul
16. Laurel Aitken, Girlie - Suffering Still
17. Laurel Aitken - Reggae 69
18. Laurel Aitken - Hailes Selaise
19. Laurel Aitken, Girlie - Blues Dance
20. Laurel Aitken, Girlie - Lawd Doctor
21. Laurel Aitken, Girlie - Big Fight in Hell Stadium
22. Laurel Aitken - Run Powell Run 
23. Laurel Aitken, Rico - A Message to You
24. Laurel Aitken - Save the Last Dance
25. Laurel Aitken - Walk Right Back
26. Laurel Aitken - Don't Be Cruel
27. Laurel Aitken - (Sloop) John B

CD2:
01. Winston Groovy - Island In The Sun
02. Winston Groovy - Work It Up
03. Winston Groovy - (My Girl) Josephine
04. Winston Groovy - Champagne And Wine
05. Laurel Aitken, Rico - Babylon Gone
06. Laurel Aitken - Shoo Bee Shoo Bee
07. Laurel Aitken - Landlords and Tenants
08. Laurel Aitken - Everybody Sufferin'
09. Laurel Aitken - Jesse James
10. Laurel Aitken - Freedom
11. Laurel Aitken - Pussy Price Gone Up
12. Laurel Aitken - Gimme Back Me Dollar
13. Laurel Aitken - Skinhead Train
14. Gruvy Beats - Kent People
15. Laurel Aitken - Bendwood Dick
16. Laurel Aitken - Apollo 12 (Skinhead Invasion)
17. Laurel Aitken, Girlie - Scandal in a Brixton Market
18. King Horror - Frankenstein
19. Winston Groovy - I Can't Stand It
20. Laurel Aitken - Stupid Married Man
21. Girlie - Madame Streagge (Soul Jerker)
22. Laurel Aitken - Think Me No Know
23. Rico - Trombone Man
24. Laurel Aitken - Pussy Got Thirteen Life
25. Laurel Aitken - Single Man (Why)
26. Laurel Aitken - Skinhead Wreck The Town
27. Laurel Aitken - Moon Rock
28. Winston Groovy - Merry Xmas

CD3:
01. Laurel Aitken - Sin Pon You
02. Laurel Aitken - Every Night
03. Winston Groovy - Cut Up Munno
04. King Horror - The Vampire
05. King Horror - Cutting Blade
06. Winston Groovy - Leaving Me Standing
07. Winston Groovy - Little Girl
08. King Horror - The Hole
09. Laurel Aitken - Loch Ness Monster
10. Rico & The Visions - Zion I
11. Winston Groovy - Funky Chicken, Pt. 1
12. The Cimarons - Funky Chicken, Pt. 2
13. Winston Groovy - Funny, Version 1
14. The Cimarons - Funny, Version 2
15. Pama Dice - Sin, Sun And Sex
16. Pama Dice - Honky Tonk Popcorn
17. Pama Dice - Bongo Man
18. Pama Dice - Reggae Popcorn
19. Pama Dice - The Worm, Pt. 1
20. Pama Dice - The Worm, Pt. 2
21. Laurel Aitken - Only You
22. Winston Groovy - I Can't Go On
23. Dice The Boss - Funky Monkey, Version 1
24. Dice The Boss - Funky Monkey, Version 2
25. Trevor Lloyd - Give Me Back Your Love
26. Trevor Lloyd - Hold Me
27. Trevor Lloyd - Chinee Brush
28. Dice & Cummie - Real Collie
29. King Horror - Loch Ness Monster (Alternative Take)

CD4:
01. Pama Dice - The Worm
02. Winston Groovy - You Can't Turn Your Back On Me
03. Dice The Boss - Funky Duck
04. Dice The Boss - Funkier Than Duck
05. King Horror - The Naked City
06. King Horror - Wood In The Fire
07. Laurel Aitken - Mr. Popcorn
08. Laurel Aitken - Share Your Popcorn
09. Laurel Aitken - I Got to Have Your Love
10. Laurel Aitken - Blue Mink
11. Laurel Aitken - Souls of Africa
12. Laurel Aitken - Dallas Texas
13. Winston Groovy - Standing On The Corner
14. Winston Groovy - You Send Me
15. Laurel Aitken - Nobody But Me
16. Laurel Aitken - Baby Please Don't Go
17. Winston Groovy - Yellow Bird
18. Winston Groovy - For Your Love (The Best I Can)
19. Laurel Aitken - I'll Never Love Another
20. Laurel Aitken - Take Me Back
21. Laurel Aitken - Reggae Popcorn
22. Winston Groovy - Here Is My Heart
23. Gruvy Beats - Birds And Bees (Young Gifted And Black)
24. The Freedom Singers - Election
25. Fleece & The Live Shocks - Tomorrow's World
26. The Versatiles - Pick My Pocket
27. The Freedom Singers - Freedom
28. Laurel Aitken - The Outlaw

CD5:
01. The Classics - So Much Love
02. The Classics - Same Old Feeling
03. Joe Lace - Nobody Else But You
04. The Live Shocks - Version Of Nobody
05. Laurel Aitken - Baby I Need Your Lovin'
06. Laurel Aitken - Think It Over
07. Tiger - Musical Scorcher
08. Tiger - Three Dogs Night
09. Laurel Aitken - Sex Machine
10. Laurel Aitken - Since You Left
11. Winston Groovy - Groovin'
12. Winston Groovy - (Sweet) Sugar Mama
13. The Inner Mind - Witchcraft Man
14. The Inner Mind - Night In Cairo
15. The Inner Mind - Pum Pum Girl
16. The Inner Mind - Freedom
17. The Classics - History Of Africa
18. The Classics - Honey Bee
19. Laurel Aitken - Pachanga, Pt. 1
20. Laurel Aitken - Pachanga, Pt. 2
21. Winston Groovy - Tennessee Waltz
22. Winston Groovy - Old Man Trouble
23. Laurel Aitken - Why Can't I Touch You
24. Laurel Aitken - Can't Turn Your Back On Me
25. Laurel Aitken - Mary's Boy Child [03:25]
26. Sonny Binns, The Rudies - Mary's Boy Child (Instrumental)

DDL