Studio One Classics

It is simply impossible to imagine modern Jamaican music without Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One. Opened in 1963, Dodd's recording facility specialized in loose but durably solid rhythms that are among the most versioned in history, and virtually every singer of note on the island seems to have cut their teeth at Studio One. This wonderful collection only scratches the surface of the studio's riches, but it contains some delightful sides, including "Love Me Forever" by Carlton & His Shoes, the Heptones' gorgeous "Pretty Looks Isn't All," Slim Smith's "Rougher Yet," Horace Andy's striking and delicate rearrangement of "Fever," and a young Burning Spear doing a hard soul turn on "Rocking Time." Timeless stuff. ~ Steve Leggett