King Tubby: King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi Vinyl LP King Tubby

Exclusive cuts from Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi sound system! King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi was one the great sound systems in Jamaica. Along with moving crowds the sound system provided an outlet for the exclusive dub plates being cut at Tubby’s studio. One of the main producers Tubby worked with was Bunny “Striker” Lee. Lee would provide the rhythms that would then get dubbed out by Tubby. The two, with their extensive knowledge of rhythms and electronics respectively, were pretty much unstoppable. Here’s what Lee had to say about the creation of the the first “version”: “Tubby and myself was talking when Ruddy was cutting some dub but Smithy (engineer) made a mistake and forgot to put in the voice. It was a two-track recording in those days. Ruddy said ‘No Man! Make it stay!’ And so they cut the rhythm. When I went over to Ruddy’s that Saturday night a dance was in progress and when they played the vocal to the tune… then he said we’re going to play ‘Part Two.’ They never called it ‘Version.’ And then he played the rhythm track. The song was a catchy song and everybody started to sing along and the deejay started to toast so everything went down well. On Monday morning I went up and I said ‘Tubbs the mistake we made was a serious joke. It mash up Spanish Town!’ The people went wild. So you have to start to do that now ’cause when the man put on the ‘Part Two’ everyone started singing this song. It played about 20 times. I said you try Tubbs!’ Well the next Saturday night now when Tubby strung up down the farm U Roy said he’s going to play ‘Part Two’ but Tubby did it different now. He started with the voice then dropped it out and let the rhythm run and then he brought in the voice in the middle and from there Tubby started to get really popular.” Jamaican Recordings has put together what can only be called an essential primer for any fan of reggae and dub with King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi.

• music label: Jamaican Recordings 2013

reviewed by Garvey’s Ghost 06/2014