Jeb Loy Nichols Presents… Reggae Got Country

Irie Ites.de proudly presents:
Reggae Got Country

Selector Jeb Loy Nichols (the man behind the “Country Got Soul”-compilations) goes through his dusty 45s and picks out some prime examples of reggaeartists exploring country roads…

“How far south does the south go? There was, in the 60s and 70s, no stopping the influence of american southern music. Blues, jazz, country and soul, most all of which began life in the south, ruled the world. One crucial intersection was the West Indies.  Louisiana and Texas radio stations broadcast southern music to an enthusiastic caribbean audience. Sailors too, from the southern ports, took records with them. Soon Jamaican producers like Coxone Dodd and Duke Reid were visiting the States and coming home with rare records for their sound systems.  Country music in particular was a favourite with Jamaicans. Johnny Cash had a house in Jamaica his whole life, as did Charley Pride.  One of the first big ska tunes, “Music Is My Occupation”, by the Skatalites, borrows Cash’s horn riff from “Ring Of Fire”. I remember, in Texas in the mid-seventies, hearing four different versions of the song “Reunited” (by Peaches And Herb) on the radio: the soul version, a country version, a conjunto spanish language version, and a reggae version. Southern music has never been a respecter of boundaries.

These songs began life as country hits by Freddy Fender, Ray Price, Charley Pride, Hank Locklin, and Tammy Wynette.  Songs like “This Train” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” were sung in churches all across the south. We also have Freddy Fender, a spanish speaking Texan swamp pop star, recording for Louisiana soul man Huey Meaux, on a track that Meaux bought in Jamaica, and to which he added mexican horns. The song is a country classic sung in spanish. At the same time, in Jamaica, John Holt was recording Freddy Fender country songs (“Before The Next Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights”) to huge success.  It all makes some kind of messy sense”. Jeb Loy Nichols

Tracklisting:
This Train – Culture
Before The Next Teardrop Falls – John Holt
Stand By Your Man – Merlene Webber
Country Boy – Cornel Campbell
Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On – The Bleechers
The End Of The World – Gregory Isaacs
My Two Empty Arms – Freddy Fender
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights – John Holt
Someone Loves You Honey – June Lodge / Prince Mohammed
By The Time I Get To Phoenix – Noel Brown
Will The Circle Be Unbroken – Ken Parker

Irie Ites Review: “Long Time Traveller”.