Bushman Sings the Bush Doctor
Reviewed by Sadie O., 2/25/11
Roots rock Reggae tribute album. Bushman has a voice eerily like the late Peter Tosh, so he made a record of Petah covers that sound an awful lot like the originals. So why bother? Well… A voice eerily like Peter Tosh is by definition a really good voice. I guess that’s reason enough, really.
1. 6:38 acoustic guitar and Hallelujah Chorus, and spoken word preaching. Not even Rasta-style preaching, either. Then slow acoustic hymn, no beat, but a fair amount of rain and thunder.
2. 4:06 *spoken word exhortation, somewhat downtempo one-drop.
3. 4;30 **midtempo bubble, classic pot anthem.
4. 8:46 **funky riddim with dingleballs. A bit Disco, actually. But fun. Turns into a long jam rather than a dub.
5. 3:58 **spoken rant, fine midtempo bubble with lots of attitude. Sounds like the original riddim – maybe a bit faster.
6. 3:27 ***jaunty rock steady – fortunately he copied the better version. Fun put down song.
7. 3:42 **perky rock steady, deep vocals. Nice sound. But I don’t guess Petah liked women much…
8. 3:59 ***upbeat funky strut. Tarrus Riley takes more or less the Mick Jagger part in what was itself a cover.
9. 4:16 **midtempo bubble with handdrums, cover of Petah’s cover of Chuck Berry – it’s getting deep in here…
10. 4:21 ***Buju rants over handdrums, then a nice swingy midtempo bubble with a dose of Highlife. Buju’s rasp contrasts nicely.
11. 4:31 ****relaxed bubble with fun grunty sounds in the keyboard – I swear this is the original riddim, again. Anyway, a great anthem, one of the best Reggae songs ever written.
12. 4:35 ***downbeat skank with maybe a hint of foreboding. Some words in Amharic, which makes it a deep Rasta ting mon.