Cymande: Second Time Round (transparent green vinyl) [PARTISAN RECORDS]

Why you'll love it

Partisan's reissue puts Second Time Round on transparent green vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. Cymande recorded it right after touring the US with Al Green, and it put them back on the American charts.

This edition

• Transparent green vinyl
• Gatefold jacket

About the album

Cymande were nine Londoners with roots in Guyana, Jamaica and Saint Vincent, and they called their mix of funk, soul, reggae, calypso, jazz and rock nyah-rock. Bassist Steve Scipio and guitarist Patrick Patterson led the band, and producer John Schroeder found them playing in a Soho basement club in 1971.

By the time they cut this follow-up to their debut, they had toured America with Al Green and, in Scipio's words, cemented their sound and style. The lyrics carry a sharper social edge this time, and the grooves are loose and hypnotic. "Anthracite" and "Willies' Headache" open with rolling percussion and bass, "Genevieve" and "To You" ease back, and "Crawshay," "Bird" and "Them and Us" ride long, rolling jams.

Hip hop's first DJs, Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash among them, later cut Cymande's records into breakbeats, and their story was told in the 2022 documentary Getting It Back. Scipio and Patterson went on to become lawyers in Anguilla, which must make for the most interesting rhythm section at any bar association dinner.

Also at Kops: more Cymande on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Partisan (cat# PTKF3026-3), a reissue of the 1973 album.