Country Reggae Meets Far East Sound
Up this week are selections from two essential reggae albums, Joe Higgs' "Life Of Contradiction" and Tetrack's "Let's Get Started". Higgs labored quite a bit in the 70's in the background of numerous bigger stars, including Bob Marley, singing backup and writing songs. He never got the acclaim of someone like Toots Hibbert, who shares a similar rough-hewn voice and sound. He did manage to release this record in 1975 on Micron which serves as a monument to his talents.
Tetrack's "Let's Get Started" is a masterpiece of minor chords and perfect harmonizing over fiery Augustus Pablo riddims. It was released in 1980.
It was difficult to choose one track each from these lp's, but these two are among the best from two outstanding collections of tunes.