Toots Sweet And Dandy

2CD Set Led by the dynamic Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert, the Maytals are rightly regarded as one of the greatest singing trios in the history of Jamaican music. During an incredible recording career that spanned six decades, the group scored hit after hit on the island’s music charts, with their inimitable, unique blend of fervent gospel and down-home country seemingly impervious to changes in styles and fashion. The best of their work, however, is widely regarded to be their rock steady and early reggae recordings for Leslie Kong’s revered Beverley’s Records during the late Sixties and early Seventies; a period that spawned groundbreaking work such as ’54-46’, ‘Monkey Man’ and ‘Do the Reggay’, to name but a few. The Essential Artist Collection brings together the very best of their output from this period, including the above tracks, along with numerous other classics, such as ‘Sweet And Dandy’, ‘Pressure Drop’ and ‘Night And Day’. Available as a 50 track double CD, the collection superbly demonstrates just why the unforgettable music of the Maytals will continued to be loved and revered for many years to come.

While they never achieved the commercial success or cultural impact of the Wailers, Toots & the Maytals were nearly as important in the history of Jamaican music. Like the Wailers, the Maytals thrived as ska gave way to rocksteady and then evolved into reggae, they boasted one of the island's finest singers and most charismatic frontmen in the great Toots Hibbert, and they worked with many of the most important producers and sidemen on the island.

This 1972 film broke reggae into U.S. pop culture with Jimmy Cliff's Many Rivers to Cross ; the Maytals' Pressure Drop , and the rest of its stellar soundtrack. 30 years later Island and Hip-O teamed to create this 2-CD edition, the definitive master of the original plus 18 cuts of crucial 1968-72 reggae: Guava Jelly Johnny Nash; Sweet Sensation Melodians, and many more of Cliff's classics. Great new liners, too! Jamaican filmmaker Perry Henzell made reggae an integral player in his gritty 1973 saga of a renegade Kingston singer who becomes a modern Robin Hood, casting one of the style's earliest stars, Jimmy Cliff, in the lead, and filling this soundtrack–here presented in a remastered version–with classics from Toots & the Maytals ("Pressure Drop," "Sweet and Dandy"), Desmond Dekker ("Shanty Town"), the Melodians ("Rivers of Babylon"), and the Slickers ("Johnny Too Bad"). Cliff himself gets pole position, however, getting in the first ("You Can Get It If You Really Want") and last ("The Harder They Come") words in this first-rate reggae primer, which also features Cliff's enduring "Many Rivers to Cross." –Sam Sutherland

The Maytals have long since been regarded as one of Jamaica's most talented and popular groups. Formed in the early sixties, the trio Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert, Nathaniel 'Gerry' McCarthy and Henry 'Raleigh' Gordon first found fame with a number of best-selling ska singles before signing with Leslie Kong's Beverley's Records late in 1967. The union with Kong proved irresistible and produced a succession of best selling singles, including '54 46 Was My Number', 'Pressure Drop', 'Sweet And Dandy' and their memorable 1969 UK chart entry, 'Monkey Man'.

Ska And Reggae Classics contains the definitive Artists & Reggae, Ska. The Best hits from Desmond Dekker, Dave Collins, Ansel Collins, The Maytals, The Harry J All Stars, The Paragons, Tommy McCook, The Supersonics and many more.

Enjoy this Compilation with the most successful Jazz singers like Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Lester Young, Art Blakey and many more!

A much-needed look at an overlooked side of the genius of Quincy Jones – not his jazz work, not his productions for famous soul artists, but instead his huge legacy of soundtrack material – a part of Q's career that really took off in the 60s! By the time he started working in films, Jones had already had a decade under his belt as one of the hippest arrangers, leaders, and composers in jazz – and the film business really respected those talents, and allowed Quincy to bring some really fresh styles into play – modes that really opened up the vibe of American cinema, and also paved the way for the funky styles of the 70s! As that decade approached, Jones left behind the cinema to take on some more higher-profile records of his own – but all the charms of those great albums can be found here at their roots – in this stunning collection of soundtrack material, some of which has never been on CD. The package is way more than just a sampler – and includes an album's worth of material from the films The Pawnbroker, Slender Thread, Mirage, The Deadly Affair, In The Heat Of The Night, In Cold Blood, Walk Don't Run, The Italian Job, Lost Man, and John & Mary – plus two versions of the love theme from The Getaway, and a bonus CD with 18 tracks – titled Q's highlights, and featuring tracks from his Mercury records – plus more by Billy Preston, Arthur Prysock, Bill Cosby, Shirley Horn, Letta Mbulu, Toots Thielemans, and others. Even features the "Sanford & Son" and "Ironside" themes!

The most beautiful reggae songs by Ken Boothe, Althea & Donna, The Harry J All Stars, The Pioneers and many more on one compilation!