Fisherman Style: The Congos & Friends

[coll]: Fisherman Style: the Congos and Friends (Blood and Fire)
Reviewed by Sadie O., April 23, 2006
Two CDs of the same “riddim” (“Row, Fisherman, Row” by the Congos), with different singers/toasters creating their own versions – a common phenomenon, especially in reggae music, where different versions of a song or dub using the same music have always been common (probably cause labels were cheap, good musicians were few and singers/toasters common…) You’d think they would get boring, but they’re great showcases for different singing/toasting styles.
The original song, which opens the first CD, is midtempo roots reggae from the 70’s. The project is set up so the first CD is big-name stars from the roots rock era, the second CD (apart from Gregory Isaacs, and the original dub version which closes the CD) are newer voices, ranging from the well-known Luciano to a lot of people who are almost unknown, at least off the island.
No FCCs. I like track 9 on disk 1 best, and all tracks with 3 stars are really good – but all tracks are worth playing.
CD 1:
1. **Original Congos version; vocal trio with falsetto lead.
2. **Yout’ almost scats in places, preaches in others. Chorus remains.
3. *Andy’s rather quavery voice exhorts us all to love, love, love. Less chorus, a bit of dub.
4. **dubby, sweetly sung vocals, very Rasta message. New chorus, same voices.
5. **dubby, Rasta, lots of harmonies, some background toasting.
6. ***extra dubby, new backing vocals, rootsy toasting about Sodom and Gomorrow [sic].
7. *Tempo taken down a bit, big horn section added. Freddie’s terrific vocals really shine.
8. ***Also downtempo with horns – Fraser is a killer sax player, so this is a cool, almost jazzy instrumental.
9. ****Classic delivery from one of the greatest toasters since day one. Some great lines in here, and nice dubby production.
10. *Sweet vocals, Rasta lyrics, some extemporized singing.
11. **typically quirky delivery from great wildman toaster.
12. ***Beautiful, highly recognizable vocal flourishes from former Black Uhuru frontman, lovely song about universal love.
CD 2:
1. **Lovely, well-crafted song by one of today’s major reggae stars.
2. **crazy free-form rant about the “whitewashed walls and sepulcres” of Babylon from an up-and-coming new toaster.
3. *interesting rap about Carthage (!), from a Dominican toaster.
4. *cool anti-poverty preaching from a British-based sound system frontman with a nice baritone.
5. **an actual Jamaican fisherman vividly describes his life – cool!
6. *deserves mention for working Harry Potter into a rambling rap.
7. ***no, that’s not feedback, or a harmonica… it’s a melodica instrumental, the instrument linked to reggae by Augustus Pablo.
8. *rather fractured and strange rendition by the long-time star. I’m a little worried…
9. **two vocal tracks preaching about “Jah live”. Definitely time to hit the bong.
10. ***gorgeous singing from someone who obviously admires Luciano, who he certainly resembles stylistically.
11. *odd vocal stylings from a lesser-known toaster.
12. the original dub track, so you can do some toasting yourself! Imagine the possibilities!