I ROY - HEART OF A LION

.....

HEART OF A LION

TRACKLIST


1. Heart of a Lion -
2. Sister Kelly -
3. Casmas Town -
4. Tonight -
5. Catty Rock -
6. Jordan River -
7. Fire Stick -
8. Peace in the City - 9. Tiddle le Bop -
10. Move up Roots Man -


Label Frontline
Orig Year 1978
Release Date Aug 07, 2000
Producer Harry Johnson; Roy Reid
Engineer Sylvan Morris
Personnel Earl "Chinna" Smith
Santa
Earl Lindo - piano, organ, keyboards
Scientist
I-Roy - vocals
Pablove Black - synthesizer
T & B - horns
Scully - bongos
Pablo & Wire

It is only from the perspective of the 21st century--after the rise of dancehall, reggaeton, and American rap inspired by Jamaican cadences and patois--that one can estimate the true influence of reggae's original toasters. In league with such legendary company as U-Roy and Big Youth, I-Roy was part of the groundbreaking style's first wave in the '70s. With his resonant, melodic voice--he croons as much as he declaims--I-Roy laid down an appealing ragga-rap style a good twenty years before it would resurface in commercially successful hip-hop and dancehall.


1978's HEART OF LION is a fine showcase of I-Roy's talents. At times, as on tunes like "Casmas Town," I-Roy builds on a mesmerizing, monotonal vocal line with a seemingly simplistic, yet rhythmically infectious rhyme scheme. Elsewhere he unfolds sing-song improvisations, as on the jazz-touched "Catty Rock." I-Roy's microphone skills are matched by his flair for narrative and Rastafarian themes, and his band delivers thick, dub-drenched tracks that buoy and bounce in true roots fashion. Fans will want to check this one out, and while newcomers may want to look elsewhere for an introduction, they could do worse than HEART OF A LION's pleasurable toast-fest.


I Roy: Chinna (guitar); T & B (horns); Earl Lindo (piano, organ); Pablo, Wire (synthesizer); Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Leroy Horsemouth, Santa (drums); Scientist (percussion); Scully (bongos).


Personnel: I-Roy (vocals); Earl "Chinna" Smith , Chinna (guitar); T & B (horns); Earl Lindo (piano, organ, keyboards); Pablo & Wire, Pablove Black (synthesizer); Santa, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Horsemouth, Carlton "Santa" Davis (drums); Scully (bongos); Scientist, Noel "Scully" Simms (percussion).


Audio Remixers: I-Roy; Scientist.


Recording information: Harry J. Studios, Jamaica.Spin (4/01, p.164) - 8 out of 10 - "...Sweetlessly virtuoso....Even when he gets down to the wicked nitty-gritty, he sound like he's on an afternoon joyride: diamond in the back, sunroof top..."
NME (Magazine) (8/26/00, p.61) - 9 out of 10 - "...At the peak of his powers...using biblical phrases and teachings, nursery rhymes, slang words and deep ghetto poetics to call for the spiritual rebirth of displaced Africans..."