| Skylarking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 20 April 1972 | |||
| Studio | Jamaican Recording Studio, Kingston | |||
| Genre | Reggae | |||
| Length | 34:01 | |||
| Label | Studio One | |||
| Producer | Coxsone Dodd | |||
| Horace Andy chronology | ||||
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| 2015 remaster cover | ||||
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Skylarking is the debut studio album by Horace Andy. It was released on Studio One in 1972. Not to be confused with his later album, also titled Skylarking, released in 1996. The backing band was Sound Dimension - Coxsone Dodd's studio band, led by Leroy Sibbles.
In 2012, Skylarking was placed at number 16 on the "Top 50 Reggae Albums" list, which was compiled by Jamaican disc jockey Clinton Lindsay and his colleague Marlon Burrell in commemoration of Jamaica's 50th anniversary as an independent nation. [1] In 2014, Mojo placed it at number 43 on its list of the "50 Greatest Reggae Albums". [2] In 2016, GQ named it as one of the "10 Classic LPs from Reggae's Golden Era". [3]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Where Do the Children Play" | 2:52 |
| 2. | "Just Say Who" | 2:28 |
| 3. | "Love of a Woman" | 3:23 |
| 4. | "Skylarking" | 3:09 |
| 5. | "Mammie Blue" | 4:24 |
| 6. | "Please Don't Go" | 2:46 |
| 7. | "Every Tongue Shall Tell" | 2:28 |
| 8. | "Something's on My Mind" | 2:20 |
| 9. | "See a Man's Face" | 2:30 |
| 10. | "Don't Cry" | 2:56 |
| 11. | "I'll Be Gone" | 2:27 |
| 12. | "Got to Be Sure" | 2:18 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Oh Youth Man" | 2:53 |
| 14. | "Night Owl" | 4:03 |
Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond.
Dub is a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
Exodus is the ninth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, first released in June 1977 through Island Records, following Rastaman Vibration (1976). The album's production has been characterized as laid-back with pulsating bass beats and an emphasis on piano, trumpet and guitar. Unlike previous albums from the band, Exodus thematically moves away from cryptic story-telling; instead it revolves around themes of change, religious politics, and sexuality. The album is split into two halves: the first half revolves around religious politics, while the second half is focused on themes of making love and keeping faith.
Horace Andy is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Man Army" with English trip hop group Massive Attack. He is also famous for a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine". Andy is often described as one of the most respected and influential singers in Jamaica.
Specials is the debut album by British ska revival band the Specials. Released on 19 October 1979 on Jerry Dammers' 2 Tone label, the album is seen by some as the defining moment in the UK ska scene. Produced by Elvis Costello, the album captures the disaffection and anger felt by the youth of the UK's "concrete jungle"—a phrase borrowed from Bob Marley's 1973 album Catch a Fire—used to describe the grim, violent inner cities of 1970s Britain. The album features a mixture of original material and several covers of classic Jamaican ska tracks.
Alton Nehemiah Ellis was a Jamaican singer-songwriter. One of the innovators of rocksteady, he was given the informal title "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.
The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music.
Studio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios; it has been described as the Motown of Jamaica. The record label was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall.
The Congos are a reggae vocal group from Jamaica which formed as the duo "Ashanti" Roy Johnson (tenor) and Cedric Myton (falsetto), later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett (baritone), and have been active on and off from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a subgenre of reggae. Bob Marley cited Brown as his favourite singer, dubbing him "The Crown Prince of Reggae", and Brown would prove influential on future generations of reggae singers.
Wackies is an American independent record label specialized in reggae and dub music. Lloyd Barnes founded the label in 1976, and it is possibly the longest-running American recording studio for reggae.
Leroy Sibbles is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s.
Harry Zephaniah Johnson, known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer.
Derrick Clifton Harriott OD is a Jamaican singer and record producer. He was a member of the Jiving Juniors with Herman Sang before embarking on a solo career. He has produced recordings by Big Youth, Chariot Riders, The Chosen Few, Dennis Brown, The Ethiopians, Keith & Tex, The Kingstonians, Rudy Mills, Scotty, Sly & Revolutionaries, and Winston McAnuff.
John Kenneth Holt OD was a Jamaican reggae singer who first found fame as a member of The Paragons, before establishing himself as a solo artist.
Basque Dub Foundation, more often known as B D F, started in the early 1990s as studio project by Iñaki Yarritu, a London-based reggae musician originally from the Basque Country. Iñaki moved into music production in the late 1980s, having been previously involved in Reggae since the late 1970s as a radio DJ, journalist and promoter. In their early days BDF toured as a sound system, supporting Mad Professor in the first dub sessions to take place in Spain.
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Felix Headley Bennett OD, also known as Deadly Headley, was a prolific Jamaican saxophonist who performed on hundreds, possibly thousands, of recordings since the 1950s.
"Skylarking" is a single by Jamaican singer and songwriter Horace Andy, produced by Studio One founder Coxsone Dodd. The song, lyrically an admonishment of loitering youths who expect handouts, has been described as Andy's signature tune. It was first issued, rendered "Sky Larking", on Dodd's Jamaica Today - The Seventies compilation in 1971. The song became a popular sound system hit, prompting a release as a single on the Studio One subsidiary Bongo Man. It topped the Jamaican singles chart published in The Gleaner in August 1972. Andy cut the song again in 1974 for Bunny Lee, who licensed the recording to the UK-based Venture Records A 1992 cover by Garnett Silk revived the song's popularity in Jamaica. Andy sings excerpts from "Skylarking", as well as his later song "Money Money" (1980), on Massive Attack's "Five Man Army" (1991).
