V/A: Studio One Funk (2LP, clear vinyl) [SOUL JAZZ RECORDS]

Why you'll love it

This limited 2LP set comes on clear vinyl. It gathers rare and never-before-issued reggae funk from Clement Coxsone Dodd's Studio One, and The Wire called it the most satisfying entry in Soul Jazz's Studio One series.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Clear vinyl
• Limited edition

About the album

Kingston in the early 1970s had one ear on American radio, and the house players at Studio One were quick to answer back. This set collects the funk side of Clement Coxsone Dodd's label, where Jamaican musicians took Isaac Hayes, James Brown and Booker T & the MGs and gave them a reggae lilt.

Cedric Im Brooks' "Shaft" comes straight off the master tape, Jackie Mittoo turns a Dominic Frontiere film theme into "Hang 'Em High," and Underground Vegetables take on "Melting Pot." Alton Ellis strips back a Spinners song on "It's A Shame," Lloyd Williams' "Reggae Feet" and Lee Arab's "Now" go full James Brown, and Delroy Wilson closes with "Funky Broadway." Leroy Sibbles, Eric Frater, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, Richard Ace and Vin Gordon are among the players.

Echoes and Mojo praised it on first issue, and it has stayed one of the label's most requested titles. The funk is American by birth and Jamaican by temperament, which mostly means it arrives at the same place in a better mood.

Also at Kops: more Studio One on vinyl · browse Reggae & Caribbean

Tracklist

Listen

On Soul Jazz Records (cat# SJRLPC 972).