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****JACOB MILLER - LIVES ON (JACOB MILLER AND FRIENDS)****
TRACKLIST
A1 Fly Away
A2 Shakey Girl
A3 I'm A Natty
A4 Keep On Knocking
B1 You'll Live On
B2 Just A Dread
B3 Keep On Running
B4 Back Yard Movements
LABEL VP
BACKING VOCALS: Dennis Brown, Jacob Miller, Beres Hammond
BASS: George Fullwood, Lloyd Sparks
DRUMS: Sly Dunbar, Mikey Richards, Santa
GUITAR: Toney Chin, Bo-pe, Willie Lindo
HORNS: Tommy McCook, Cedrick Brooks, Vin Gorden, D. Madden
PIANO: Franklyn Waul, Winston Wright
ORGAN: Franklyn Waul, Errol Nelson
PERCUSSION: Sticky, Clive Hunt, Ruddy Thomas
SYNTHESIZER: Clive Hunt, Winston Wright, Ala
CLARINET: Clive Hunt, Ala
PRODUCED BY: Errol Thompson, Joe Gibbs
RECORDED AT: Joe Gibbs Recording Studio
"Showcase" albums (where the vocal is followed by the dub) bring the format of the sound system to the home listening environment of the LP – offering us the best of both worlds on one disc. So although VP's decision to reissue Jacob "Killer" Miller's posthumous Joe Gibbs- produced retrospective Jacob Miller Lives On on cd in this altered state may raise the odd eyebrow, the grafted on versions and deejay cuts will be met with approval from most quarters.
They've also jumbled the tracklisting, but this has happened before. Lives On was released with the title I'm Just A Dread on LP by Gibbs' son Carl's Rocky One label with some additions and the original songs in another altogether different order. Later Gibbs himself would put it out in the same form and under that name on cd in 2000. VP's claim that theirs is the first ever cd issue of this record is, therefore, only half true.
As the original singer with Inner Circle and as a solo artist, Jacob Miller reached incredible heights of popularity in Jamaica during the 1970s before a car crash took him from us at the start of the new decade. His trade mark "stuttering" style may not be for everyone, but the boundless energy in his voice marks him out as one of reggae's (quite literally) larger than life characters.
The album commences with I'm A Natty, Miller's dread interpretation of the Wailers' more universally themed Soul Rebel, benefitting greatly from sometime Wackies session man Allah's ear-catchingly squelchy synthesizer work, before fading into one of I Roy's finest toasts - Knotty Knots. Next comes the fierce, militant drumming of Miller's massive smash Shakey Girl, a rebuke to his errant lover, boasting a pugnacious dub from Gibbs and Errol Thompson (the Mighty Two). Like I'm A Natty, I'm Just A Dread is another do-over (of Alton Ellis' rocksteady hit, I'm Just A Guy) adding some of Miller's beloved herb lyrics to the rhythm's cool shuffle, with a guest appearance by another top ranking deejay, Trinity, to see us out.
In fact, despite Miller's excellent vocals and rasta commitment, it is the toasters who steal the show. U Brown gives an effortless, flowing performance on the back end of Keep On Knocking (not to be confused with the heavy, minor key, Augustus Pablo produced cut of the same name), Welton Irie rides the new style heavy dancehall rhythm of Keep On Running, and Killer Brown's mellow musings are a fitting end to Miller's anti-violence anthem, Back Yard Movements. Three bonus dubs (two by Gibbs, one by Pablo) bring proceedings to a fragmented but satisfactory end.
These were some of the last tracks recorded before Miller's untimely death, and are great examples of the level of quality generated by the Gibbs/Thompson partnership. This new, and in some ways improved, VP release is a fitting tribute to them all.
Reviewed by Angus Taylor
