COUNT OSSIE - A RASTA "REGGAE" LEGEND

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A RASTA "REGGAE" LEGEND


TRACKLIST


A1 African Shuffle
A2 So Long (Negus Can Call You)
A3 Air Horn Shuffle
A4 Gun Fever
A5 Fire Escape
A6 One Bright Morning
A7 First Gone
B1 Babylon Gone
B2 Music Go Round And Round
B3 Leaving This Land
B4 Swinging For Joy
B5 Going Home To Zion Land
B6 Count Ossie Special
B7 Sodom And Gomorrah


Label:Moodisc Records International
Format:Vinyl, LP, Green
Released:1996
Genre:Reggae
Style:Roots Reggae




TENOR SAX: 'Big Bra' Gaynair
TROMBONE: Rico
PERCUSSION: Harry Mudie
FUNDE: Count Ossie
REPETER: Count Ossie
IKETY: Count Ossie, The Wareikas BASS DRUM: Wareikas SOUND EFFECTS: Harry Mudie


Credits:
Percussion [1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Ikety Funde], Drums [Bass] - Wareikas, The
Percussion [Overdub], Effects [Sound Effects], Mastered By [Remastered] - Harry A. Mudie*
Percussion [Repeater Ikety Funde] - Count Ossie
Saxophone [Tenor] - "Big Bra" Gaynair
Trombone - Rico Rodriquez*
Written-By - Harry A. Mudie* (tracks: A1, A3 to A7, B3 to B7)

With club owner and producer Harry Mudie picking up almost all songwriting credits and adding "overdub percussion and sound effects," it seems like something fairly fishy could be going on here. But here's the big warning: this music is way far removed from any early preview of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari grounantion chants that would make Count Ossie a rasta reggae legend. Call it proto-ska if you like, with Ossie as the lead drummer on roughly recorded, 2 1/2-3-minute songs that include 13 unreleased tracks. They were probably cut in the pre-Skatalites late-'50s or early-'60s, since the copyright is 1961, and recognizable '50s R&B touches pop up in some vocal tracks. It wouldn't be surprising if Count Ossie was just part of the backing band on many songs, since the drums don't dominate the set, and Rico Rodriguez's trombone and Big Bra Gaynair's tenor sax are the chief solo voices. It is pretty fascinating, though, to hear proto-Rasta lyrics so early in the Jamaican music game on "So Long (The Negus Call You)" and "One Bright Morning." "Leaving This Land" hits the religious theme again with percussion driving, and "Swinging for Joy" is actually "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" done Rasta/JAH-style done with a very strong Rodriguez solo and nice responses from Gaynair. You can almost hear the Mystic Revelation stage coming in the ragged vocal celebration and repeated chorus of "Going Home to Zion Land" or the devotional lyric to "Serve Him and Live" with its '50s R&B melody quote.


"Hello Sharon" continues in that vein (someone even shouts out "Do it, Dadd-i-o!" before the solos) but it's teen romance all the way, and "I Would Give My Life" doo wops on out JAH-style with smooth Gaynair and brassy Rodriguez. (You gotta wonder what Count Ossie would think of these songs being released now under his name). Mudie's maneuvers on the effects' front don't really damage "Fire Engine" or "Gun Fever (Remix)," but they do cheapen "Herb I Feel" in its obvious quest for the ganja anthem audience. On balance, Remembering Count Ossie is no lost treasure trove for casual listeners or seekers of early Nyabinghi percussion chants. The music has some historical value, and it's a pleasant enough listen, but is probably best left to historians of Jamaican music.