At first listen this has no place in a modern Online Music magazine and unless you are an aficionado of reggae and roots you will cross the streets before giving this a listen – reggae covers of modern(ish) pop classics by a bunch of hotel entertainers in their 70’s; LOL MF
On the other hand I am into music I have been hearing about the legendary Jolly Boys for years from a lot of people whose taste and appreciation I tend to agree with.
From the first notes of ‘Passenger’ – the Iggy Pop classic(!) – I was completely caught.
The Jolly Boys have been around since the late ‘40’s when they morphed out of a group called ‘The Navy Island Swamp Boys’ and the style of music they play is called ‘Mento’ – the real forerunner of Ska and reggae and played on acoustic instruments like banjo and the Rhumba, a kind of Cahon – think a Jamaican equivalent of Appalachian folk – and these guys are the kings of Mento.
Albert Minott is the lead vocalist, strong Jamaican accent and deep and resonant sound to his voice ably backed up by ‘Powda’ Bennet and featuring Donal Waugh on banjo as the lead instrument. They make all the songs their own – you will never listen to The Doors ‘Riders On The Storm’ in the same way ever again – but never lose sight of the original number. ‘I Fought The Law’ keeps the same call and response verse/chorus as the Clash gave it but their Roots stylings relocate it to ‘The Islands’ effortlessly while ‘Ring Of Fire’ is less pious and more a warning than the original. ‘Perfect Day’ – just released as a single - is even sadder than the original courtesy of a lonely whistle and ‘Blue Monday’ sounds like it was always a reggae number. ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ keeps the form of the original but ‘Nightclubbing’ – the Grace Jones number – now sounds like the aftermath of some serious nights on the tiles.
I haven’t even mentioned their version of ‘Rehab’ – positively mental!
There really is some very fine playing here and their take on the classics is wonderful – not an album for every day but an occasional delight.
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