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RAS to Judgment

Push Come to Shove: Reggae crooner Freddie McGregor

The history of reggae can be read in the grooves of a new RAS Records collection

By Nicky Baxter

For many stateside reggae fans, RAS Records has become synonymous with the Jamaican-spawned genre. The notion is not wholly accurate (much respect must be given to the Heartbeat, Shanachie, Hightone and Mesa labels for also carrying forward the rastaman's musical message), but the company's preeminence can hardly be disputed.

Since its origins in the early 1980s, Washington, D.C.'s RAS has been home to some of reggae's finest singers and players. Starting with internationally acclaimed stars like Freddie McGregor, Black Uhuru and Gregory Isaacs, to lesser-known acts of superior quality like Beres Hammond, Brigadier Jerry, Mystic Revealers and Don Carlos, RAS has consistently been in the forefront of introducing or popularizing this rebel music.

The new two-CD set Reggae Roots: The RAS Records Story is an excellent primer for roots-I music neophytes uncertain where to begin. It is, as well, required listening for completists and reggae "I-storians." The album includes tracks from the above-mentioned artists and a raft of other worthies.

In reggae's earliest incarnations, many of Jamaica's most popular reggae units consisted of three members--a scaled-down response to '60s stateside R&B groups like the Impressions, the Temptations, the Miracles and their like. Hence the formation of Toots and the Maytals, the Meditations and the Wailing Souls.

The members of Israel Vibration are second-generation exponents of the trinity system. Coming together as a group two decades ago, they have released a string of solid outings heavily emphasizing traditional vocal harmonies. Their physical limitations (all three suffer from polio) haven't prevented them from recording and touring occasionally. For years, their bestseller was their maiden effort, The Same Song.

Recorded more than a decade later, Strength of My Life forced fans to reconsider the group. The title track, included here, is a heartfelt testament to their perseverance and unflagging devotion to Rastafari. Backed by Roots Raddics, one of Jamaica's most respected rhythm sections, Israel Vibrations' glorious harmonizing has at last been matched up with musical accompaniment of equal power.

If Israel Vibration has remained assiduous in its dedication to Bob Marley and the Wailers' message of spiritual redemption and "old-school" sonics, Black Uhuru has latched onto Marley's more politically assertive legacy while employing the technological sophistication made possible with the advent of "dub-style" recording methods.

Moreover, the trio has been well-served by teaming up with the most perfect drum/bass tandem of the '80s: Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, a.k.a. the "Riddim Twinz." "Brutal," culled from a 1986 recording bearing the same name, lives up to its title and then some. With its massive backwash of tough-as-nails drums, prominent and surprisingly melodic bass figures, and Junior Reid's reedy, Middle Eastern-inclined warbling, this is an uncompromising vision of Marley's concrete jungle, circa the year 2000.

At least as a partial consequence of the pop machine's star-making apparatus, the lure of performing solo has always been tempting. But it's a hit-or-miss affair, and most often there are misses (Black Uhuru's Michael Rose, Junior Reid).

A select few do make it. Freddie McGregor, who performed for a short time with the vocal group the Clarendonians as a teenager, is one of the rare exceptions. Gregory Isaacs began his career as a single and has evidenced no desire to form a group. McGregor and Isaacs are widely celebrated as two of the top "lovers' rock" crooners.

It's not for nothing that Isaacs has been dubbed the Cool Ruler. His seemingly dispassionate style, it has been suggested, derives from a monotonic African scale that places little emphasis on melody. Represented here by "Special to Me" and "Pride and Dignity," Isaacs convincingly proves himself still the irresistible lover.

Some years back, McGregor's smash hit single "Big Ship Sailing" became his bid at unseating the Cool Ruler (and Dennis Brown) from their joint ownership of the lovers-rock throne. Although the attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, McGregor continues to be a respected figure on the romantic reggae tip.

As "Push Come to Shove," suggests, McGregor is a more traditional R&B-style singer; Sam Cooke is only the most obvious influence. Indeed, McGregor is an exemplary pop tunesmith. Thus, when "Push" turned out to be a huge hit, few if any reggae fans were surprised.

Of course, any reggae compilation worth its salt must include some DJ-style chatting, and Reggae Roots doesn't disappoint. Veteran artists like Yellowman and Eek-A-Mouse, as well as relative newcomers like Charlie Chaplin, are represented here.

Yellowman's appeal has always escaped me; his single-minded obsession with explicit sex engenders as many fans as foes. His leering lyrics, dog-style delivery and mack-daddy persona have earned him the dubious distinction of godfather of "slack," stylistic first cousin to rap's dick-ocentric macho boys. Fortunately, we have to endure only one of his less offensive offerings.

As his nom de plume suggests, Eek-A-Mouse is a performer who refuses to take himself seriously. Besides being reggae's lankiest DJ, he is also one of its most beloved figures. His genuinely unique Asiatic black man babble can easily be discounted as infantile--and what of it? Few performers have brought the gift of laughter to music as successfully as the rodential wonder.

"Wah Do Dem," Eek's earliest chart-topper, introduced a fully fleshed-out comic "character," a wide-eyed innocent to whom the world was an amusing enigma. Roots of Reggae's "Oh Me Oh My" is proof that good character acting--and kookily original chatting--rarely grows wack with age.

As a bonus for Marley fans, the set includes three tributes to the man who made reggae an international language; of these, saxophonist Dean Fraser's instrumental version of "Pimper's Paradise" comes closest to matching the flavor of the original. His languid yet anguished wailing expresses more than mere words can say. All in all, this collection is, indeed, a praiseworthy example of real authentic reggae sounds.

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