The releases on Doctor Bird are so dope. As Cherry Red's reggae reissue label, Doctor Bird has been revisiting so many of the classic Trojan comps and long-play releases from their initial heyday AND, in many instances, expanding upon them. They've also been collecting and theming era-specific releases, bringing new context to every period of JA music, from the birth of ska up until the dawn of dancehall. And the cool thing is that they continue to uncover tracks that haven't been available for 50 years or more. They're keeping this work alive; a noble goal, and one that I want to support.
Now, the rub is that, as a UK label, and much like other Cherry Red releases (coughCaptain Oi!cough), it's pricy to import, and impossible to find on the shelves here in the States. Doubly so now that vinyl is all anyone can talk about. So when I do turn one up for a reasonable price, I make a point of grabbing it. No clue when I'll see it again for less than $25 shipped, know what I mean?
This one is the third of Doctor Bird's Clancy Eccles compilations, focusing on his production from 1967 & 1968. That's a period that I don't know a ton about; coming up, I bought a ton of reissues from the ska period, and the entire reggae period was well covered and easily available. But a lot of the rocksteady era wasn't super visible for me, especially that timeframe where the sound was simmering down. This collection, which has 17 tracks that had never been available digitally until this release, features names I knew already (Lee Perry, Alton Ellis, Monty Morris) and a ton I didn't. But most importantly, it helped connect some dots that were previously invisible to me.
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