A cautionary tale, and an unusual stab at fusion from producer Bunny Lee which left everyone involved with undressed wounds in the back and sundry infections.
At some point in 1977, Lee invited guitarist, Carl Harvey - born in Jamaica but raised in Toronto, Canada - to collaborate on an ill-considered production involving the reinterpretation of several popular international standards, ranging from Brook Benton's "Rainy Night in Georgia" to George Benson's "Breezing". Harvey, lead guitarist with overnight funk sensations, The Crack of Dawn - the first black act in Canada to sign to a major recording label - was sufficiently gifted to secure the attention of Toots & The Maytals, but the finished article was cabaret at best.
Indefinitely shelved - presumably as soon as the good shit had all but dried up - both Lee and Harvey (who knows what became of Oswald ?) were dismayed to hear the album had reemerged as a wholly illicit vinyl release in the UK.
According to Zero G Sound and Reggae Reviews:
" Without his or Harvey's knowledge (and thus without compensation),
it came out in England in 1979 on the Cancer label... amazingly misrepresented as a Lee "Scratch" Perry album... 'Guitar Boogie Dub'. "
Whatever the original intention, "Ecstasy of Mankind" is a lightweight affair; elevator music in a neighborhood built on bungalows and one storey pool halls.
It might have gone down well with tourists on parole at The Sheraton, but it warrants its reissue on the French label, Makasound, only in so far as yachting coke-heads would sooner waltz to Clapton than tangle with Dillinger.
The following, touching bass on the Techniques' hijacking of Curtis Mayfield's "Queen Majesty", is one of few highlights.
▼ CARL HARVEY: LATE NIGHT RAVER from "Carl Harvey Meets The Dub Masters Bunny Lee & Prince Jammy: ECSTASY OF MANKIND" CD (Makasound) 2005 (Jamaica / France)
6 comments:
Ib & family,
Merry Brumalia.
Go over to NSS to check out a Holiday post just for you all.
Surely you don't mean all of us?
Sorry, real life is fraught with adventure lately. My internet life is almost on hold.
Cheers, NØ.
Actually. The more I listen to this album the more it grows on me. The fat Gibson (?) sound reminds me a lot of Jake Burns of SLF for all manner of reasons; "Johnny Was" and more besides. Cheesy but not nearly as bad as I feared.
bizzare but good alright. sorry, typing with one hand here - scalded the hand offa meself with a hot pan from the oven the other night. it now looks like yer man simon westons puss.
yes, these sounds still sound fresh and i've downloaded some marvellous oldies over the last week. my kids are loving too like Eds.
One Love. And merry xams all.
I really enjoyed this one... I can see where it would have been a real blast back in my college days, know what I mean.
Even sober this one takes you for a ride.
And what the hell is Jon doing that is keeping him in the real world... what are we? just a bunch of pixels?
Anto:
Sorry to hear about the hand. I've melted my own fingers onto the inside of a hot pot on the hob once or twice, myself.
Lifted the whole off and put it on the floor only to have the paint blister and bubble like something out of Macbeth.
Merry x-mas to you and yours. Glad your kids are grooving. That flash studio thing via Big Ed is ace.
@eloh:
Glad you enjoyed this.
Jon's infatuation with the 3-dimensional is to be applauded, I feel.
"I'm melting..."
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