Don Letts Presents: Dread Meets Greensleeves [PA]

Performer: Various Artists
Artist: Mr. Vegas
Producer: Heenry 'Junjo' Lawes; Donald "Danny Champagne" Grant; Danny Browne; Bobby "Digital" Dixon; Jeremy Harding; Linval Thompson; Robert Livingston; Sting International; Augustus Clarke; Augustus Pablo; Tommy Cowan; Steven "Lenky" Marsden
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Liner Note Author: Don Letts. Photographers: Piers MacDonald; Don V; Jeremy Benning; Rocco Redondo. He may be a filmmaker -- music videos along with documentaries on reggae music plus the Clash -- and a musician -- a member of the original Big Audio Dynamite plus collaborations with Keith Levene and Jah Wobble -- but dreadlocked Englishman Don Letts is also a wonderful advocate and selector of Jamaican music. All killer and no filler, this two-CD compilation for the Greensleeves label is more proof. Expanding upon his 2002 comp Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown while performing the same function as his 2003 Trojan set The Mighty Trojan Sound, Dread Meets Greensleeves dives into the Greensleeves label's vault and resurfaces with important numbers, big hits, and lost classics. Massive tracks like Eek-A-Mouse's "We-Do-Dem" and Wayne Smith's "Under Me Sleng Ten" sit next to lesser known gems like the wet and dubby "Love Tickles Like Magic" from Junior Delgado or the soulful "Let's Get Started" from forgotten Junior Murvin-soundalike Te Track. What separates this release from the aforementioned comps is how late in the game Letts goes with Shaggy's "Oh Carolina," Beenie Man's "Who Am I," and Wayne Wonder's "No Letting Go" representing recent hits. It's not mixed together and sadly there are no voice-overs from the effervescent Letts, but he did write the fascinating liner notes which tell the story of how reggae became big in the U.K. starting with the punks, plus how Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten helped raise awareness of Dr. Alimantado's classic album Best Dressed Chicken in Town. ~ David Jeffries

Record Collector (magazine) (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The all-star cast includes Shaggy, Johnny Osbourne, Gregory Isaacs and a contender for the best-dub-record-ever award, Augustus Pablo's towering KING TUBBY MEETS THE ROCKERS..."

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