BUSTY BROWN / “To Love Somebody”

As the Sixties gave way to the Seventies, something was changing in Jamaica too. Under the influence of American R&B, the skittish rhythms of ska had slowed to rock steady. Now, as American soul deepened and darkened, so did Jamaican music. Rock steady was being supplanted by something even slower and heavier. That something was called reggae.

During the rock steady era, it was common for Jamaican singers to cover popular R&B hits of the day. Oftentimes, these covers would drop mere months (if not weeks) after the originals. This way, Jamaican youth were treated to the current American hits but with that slowed-down one-drop feel they loved. Another impetus for all the covers was how expensive the American imports were. Why go through the trouble of finding an American single that you probably couldn’t afford even if you did find it when you could just head to the dance and sway in the dark to something cool and mellow like Busty Brown’s cover of “To Love Somebody” or Alton Eliss’ “Sitting In The Park”?

Both of those records dropped in 1969, and as such, they still have that slightly-faster-than-reggae feel. A clue is the way the bass and drums aren’t yet distinct. Similar in feel is Marcia Griffiths’ cover of “Band Of Gold.” I love both Marcia’s vocals and the ‘ooh oohs’ of the background singers, but we’re definitely still rocking steady. The tempo is cooking and the rhythm section is just a part of the record—the bass and drums are mixed in with everything else.  

In 1970, a Toronto (by way of Jamaica) reggae band named The Cougars covered “I Wish It Would Rain,” and in the first half of the record, we finally hear the hard bass and drums of ‘real’ reggae. There’s virtually no skank though, and just as interestingly, The Cougars rearrange the tune by including an almost-orchestral break right in the middle (and they repeat the break near the end).
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Move ahead two years to 1972 and we finally hear what even a casual Bob Marley fan would recognize as reggae. On Ken Boothe’s version of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” there’s virtually nothing there but bass, drums and Boothe’s vocals. Boothe is clearly singing over the dub plate – there’s not much in the way of arrangement. Heard through the giant speakers and powerful amps of a reggae blues dance, this type of record would’ve rumbled with the best of them.
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I don’t know when cover specialists The Chosen Few recorded their version of “I Second That Emotion,” but it was definitely in the early Seventies. Even though the song has a light, breezy feel, the rhythm is distinctly reggae, not rock steady. Two things stick out about their take on the Motown classic. First, lead singer Bunny Brown’s falsetto is startlingly close to Smokey’s own, and second, if you listen closely, Bunny has no idea what he’s singing. There are at least three or four lines that are 100% phonetic approximations. Knowing that the vocalist is just making it all up should ruin the record but somehow it only adds to the charm.

* * *

If you like reggae covers of soul songs, check out Reggae Pulse 2: Hit Songs – Jamaican Style. All of these covers are available on that compilation except for The Cougars’ “I Wish It Would Rain” and Alton Ellis’ “Sitting In The Park.” I picked up the Cougars track from an MP3 site I dig called Moistworks. It’s commercially available on a compilation called Jamaica To Toronto. The Alton Ellis tune is available on a compilation of his work called I’m Still In Love With You.

—Mtume ya Salaam


            You’ve convinced me           


I had been looking at the compilation of reggae versions of soul hits but just kept putting off acquiring it. I’m convinced now. Actually, I didn’t need much persuasion because in general the reggae covers are straight up sweetness—sweet as sugar cane suck or the succulence of red, red watermelon.
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By the way, Mtume, you have no way of knowing it but I’ve got a thing for the way Marcia Griffiths sings. Back in the Seventies, out of all the I-Threes, I initially dug Judy Mowatt the most. I was impressed with the Black woman message she advocated. As the years wore on, however, I really started checking Marcia’s vocal skills, especially those little micro-slides she does on the held notes, sort of like skipping. Anyway, I’ll probably get me some more Marcia before I cop those compilations.

BoL is truly a conversation. It’s not always about learning something new, sometimes we simply need to be reminded of things we’ve experienced before but have not recently examined. It’s easy to momentarily forget little pleasures of the past, but let a song come on that you used to…. Well, you know how it goes: once bitten, the love scar may heal, but the hurt-so-good never goes away.

I know that metaphor is kind of twisted, but that’s the thing about a lot of this stuff. It’s all twisted up in old memories, long forgotten loves, and bits and pieces of life experiences, any one of which may be inconsequential, but once connected back up, the sum total represents significant milestones in one’s life.

Marcia Griffiths puts me in mind of a sister named Jean Kelly. It’s a long story, let’s just leave it for another time….

—Kalamu ya Salaam

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007 at 3:13 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


One Response to “BUSTY BROWN / “To Love Somebody””

Berry Says:
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:06 am

Being that I wasn’t raised on reggae and really didn’t come into contact with it until college (in the mid-80s) I am still very ignorant about it admittedly. My Southern/Northern-bred counterparts have always found it humorous how reggae covers of pop songs would emerge so quickly. Again, attribute it to our ignorance but you’ve now schooled me! LOL


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