Bass Culture

This article is about the album by Linton Kwesi Johnson. For for Australian dance group, see BC Nation.

Bass Culture
Studio album by Linton Kwesi Johnson
Released	9 May 1980 (UK)
Studio	Gooseberry, London
Genre	Dub poetry
Length	31:28
Label	Island
Producer	Linton Kwesi Johnson, Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell
Linton Kwesi Johnson chronology
Forces of Victory (1979) Bass Culture (1980) LKJ in Dub (1980)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+ [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10 [4]

Bass Culture is an album by the Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, released in 1980 on the Island Records label. It was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell (credited as Blackbeard). Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson and Webster Johnson were members of Matumbi.

The track "Reggae fi Peach" laments the death of Blair Peach, an activist who was killed in London during a clash with police officers while protesting with the Anti-Nazi League against a British National Front meeting in 1979.

Track listing

All tracks written by Linton Kwesi Johnson

1. "Bass Culture" – 6:04
2. "Street 66" – 3:43
3. "Reggae fi Peach" – 3:09
4. "Di Black Petty Booshwah" – 3:36
5. "Inglan Is a Bitch" – 5:26
6. "Loraine" – 4:08
7. "Reggae Sounds" – 3:09
8. "Two Sides of Silence" – 2:13

Personnel

• Linton Kwesi Johnson – vocals
• Floyd Lawson (tracks: 1, 6), Vivian Weathers (tracks: 2–5, 7–8) – bass
• Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson (tracks: 1, 3–8), Winston Curniffe (track: 2) – drums, percussion
• John Kpiaye – guitar
• Dennis Bovell, Webster Johnson – keyboards
• Dick Cuthell, Henry "Buttons" Tenyue – flugelhorn, trumpet
• Julio Finn – harmonica
• Clinton Bailey, Everald "Fari" Forrest – percussion
• James Danton – alto saxophone
• Henry "Buttons" Tenyue – tenor saxophone
• Rico – trombone

Technical

• Dennis Bovell – engineer, mixing
• John Caffrey, Mark Angelo Lusardi – engineer
• Dennis Morris – sleeve concept and design

References

1. Dougan, John. "Bass Culture – Linton Kwesi Johnson". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 July 2020.
2. Christgau, Robert (1990). "Linton Kwesi Johnson: Bass Culture". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN   0-679-73015-X . Retrieved 24 July 2020.
3. Sherlock, Dev (2004). "Linton Kwesi Johnson". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  436–37. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
4. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 202.