King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (song)

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"King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown"
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown single.jpg
Dutch single cover
Single by Augustus Pablo
from the album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
B-side "Baby I Love You So"
Released1974
Studio
Genre
Length2:58
Label Mango
Songwriter(s) Augustus Pablo
Producer(s) Augustus Pablo

"King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" is a dub instrumental track by reggae musician Augustus Pablo, first released under the title "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown" as a single in 1974 on Island Records sublabel Mango Records. [3] It is a dub version of the Jacob Miller song "Baby I Love You So", also produced by Pablo. [4] [5] King Tubby was the mixing engineer.

Contents

Island issued the track again as a single in 1975 in the US, Canada, UK and Netherlands. As "King Tubby's Meet Rockers Up-Town", it was also released in Jamaica in 1975 as the B-side of "Baby I Love You So". With the title "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", it was later included on the 1976 album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown . [6]

At a time when other dub musicians emphasized bass lines and drums, Pablo and sound engineer King Tubby accentuated the melodica melody line in this cut using four-track recording technology. [7] Musicology professor Michael Veal wrote that the track's appeal stems partly from "Pablo's dynamic backing rhythm, built from an insistent, eighth-note bass pattern anchoring a I minor-IV minor chord sequence". [8] AllMusic noted "a busy, almost double-time drum part that, in its intricacy, foreshadows the frenetic breakbeats of mid-'90s jungle." [9]

Critical reception

AllMusic claimed that the song is "widely regarded as the finest example of dub ever recorded". [10] The Guardian wrote: "Miller's impassioned voice drifts in and out like a haunted soul in a psychic cul-de-sac, tormented by the remarkable barrage of Carlton Barrett's doubled-up drumming and Pablo's mournful melodica". [6] Music journalist Lloyd Bradley highlighted the tune's "unrestrained joy, playfulness and celebration". [11] AllMusic's song review said, "guitar parts are chopped up ... while their decaying echoes pass slowly out of phase with the song's underlying rhythm and set up a tension that plays nicely off the song's minor-key groove." [9] "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" was listed as the third best song ever recorded by Mojo .[ citation needed ]

In 2021, it was listed at No. 266 on Rolling Stone 's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [4]

"Baby I Love You So"

"Baby I Love You So" is the vocal song on which the dub version "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" is based. [12] It is sung by Jacob Miller and was produced by Augustus Pablo. [13] It was released as a single in 1974 with the dub version on the B-side. AllMusic called it "a masterpiece" and wrote: "It says much about King Tubby's genius that his phenomenal dub of this number would eclipse Jacob Miller's own sublime vocal version". [14]

British band Colourbox released a cover of "Baby I Love You So" as a single in 1986. It is a dub remix itself, but with the vocals, sung by Lorita Grahame, fully in place. [15] It peaked at number four on the UK Indie Chart and was ranked number 12 by New Musical Express on their critics' list of the best singles of 1986. [16] [17]

In 1994, Jamaican singer Dawn Penn released a cover of "Baby I Love You So" titled "Night and Day" on her album No, No, No . [18] Later that year, she released it as a single with the title "Night and Day (Baby I Love You So)", peaking at number 81 on the UK charts. [19] Its music video was filmed in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. [20]

Other use

The track was featured on the reggae radio station K-Jah West in the soundtrack of the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , released in October 2004. [21]

References

  1. ↑ Irvin, Jim, ed. (2007). The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion (4th ed.). Canongate. p. 758. ISBN   978-1-84767-643-6.
  2. ↑ Barrow, Steve; Dalton, Peter (1999). Reggae: 100 Essential CDs. Rough Guides. pp. 121–122. ISBN   1-85828-567-4.
  3. ↑ Watson, Michael (21 November 2014). "Ten Things You Didn't Know About Jacob Miller". Midnight Raver . Archived from the original on 22 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . 15 September 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Embley, Jochan (28 April 2020). "WFH album of the week: King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown". The Standard . Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  6. 1 2 "1000 albums to hear before you die: Artists beginning with P". The Guardian . 21 November 2007.
  7. ↑ Hardy, Phil (2001). The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music (3rd ed.). Faber & Faber. p. 750. ISBN   978-1-84972-092-2.
  8. ↑ Veal, Michael (2013). Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae. Wesleyan University Press. p. 123. ISBN   978-0-8195-7442-8.
  9. 1 2 Anderson, Rick. "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown – Augustus Pablo – Song Review". AllMusic.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Rick. "King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown – Augustus Pablo – Album Review". AllMusic.
  11. ↑ Bradley, Lloyd (1996). Reggae on CD: The Essential Guide. Kyle Cathie Limited. p. 270. ISBN   1-85626-177-8.
  12. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5 (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 764–765. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Rick. "Who Say Jah No Dread – Jacob Miller – Review". AllMusic .
  14. ↑ Greene, Jo-Ann. "Baby I Love You So – Jacob Miller – Review". AllMusic.
  15. ↑ Leland, John (September 1986). "Singles – Stealing the show". Spin . p. 36.
  16. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits: 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. ISBN   0-9517206-9-4.
  17. ↑ "NME's best albums and tracks of 1986". New Musical Express. December 1986.
  18. ↑ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae. London: Virgin Books. pp. 220–221. ISBN   0-7535-0242-9.
  19. ↑ "Night & Day (Baby I Love You So) by Dawn Penn". Official Charts . 10 September 1994. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  20. ↑ "Discography Dawn Penn International Reggae Music Artist". www.dawnpenn.com. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  21. ↑ Nattoo, Michael (6 February 2023). "Grand Theft Auto: 15 Dub, Reggae & Dancehall Classics From The Gaming Franchise". DancehallMag. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
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