Super Reggae and Soul Hits [Bonus Tracks]

Dennis Brown was only 15 when he recorded 1973's Super Reggae and Soul Hits for producer Derrick Harriott, and while the young Jamaican singer would go on to bigger and better things, this early LP has an easy charm that spotlights Brown's nascent songwriting and his trademark smooth, unhurried vocal style. The original LP included a classic Brown original, "Concentration," which opened the set, as well as a bouncing cover of the Rays' "Silhouettes" that was a huge island hit, and covers of songs like Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" which were, in hindsight, probably more interesting than they were successful, and a near definitive version of Van McCoy's "Let Me Down Easy," all filled out with superb and soulful backing tracks. Here Trojan has reissued the entire original album with an additional seven bonus tracks consisting of some of those backing tracks with the vocals removed, some dub variations, and the intriguing "Dock of the Bay" by Big Youth, which features Youth's restructuring of the Otis Redding hit done over the rhythm Harriott fashioned for Brown's version of "Silhouettes," which aptly demonstrates the Jamaican penchant for recycling rhythms and tracks into new, different, and surprising shapes. Brown went on to work with countless producers and had many big Jamaican hits, but he was never quite as innocent sounding as he was on these tracks, and Harriott's production gives them all a timeless insularity. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi