Half An Hour Of King Tubby

The beach at St. Bees, Cumbria, has some interesting features as well as its own natural beauty. These two rings up the cliff face, presumably for mooring boats to, both well worn by the sea and time. The soft cliff face and rocks have been a haven for graffiti artists and people wanting to scratch their name, leave a reminder of who visited and when. There are lots of names from 1985 and 1986, the traditional so- and- so loves so- and- so (do they still? ) and some much older graffiti, some dating back to the holiday makers and day trippers from the 19th century (as seen below). 

The cross in the photo above is my concession to Easter. Happy Easter. Sunday, whether Easter or not, is always a good day for some dub and dub doesn't get more serious or better than when King Tubby is at the controls. I put this mix together with hundreds of King Tubby tracks, dubs and songs in front of me, hours and hours worth and almost all of it as good as anything that came from Jamaica in the 70s. 

Half An Hour Of King Tubby

• Tommy McCook And The Aggrovators: Disco Rockers
• King Tubby: We Rule
• Tommy McCook And The Aggrovators: The Dub Station
• Yabby You and King Tubby: Warning Version
• Augustus Pablo: 555 Dub Street
• King Tubby: Dub From The Roots
• King Tubby: A Better Version
• King Tubby And The Aggrovators: Dub Fi Gwan
• King Tubby: Declaration Of Dub
• Augustus Pablo: King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown

Tommy McCook and The Aggrovators' Super Star- Disco Rockers came out in 1977, the year two sevens clash. Tubby engineered it. Tommy McCook and The Aggravators Dub Station album came out two years earlier, one of the best dub albums there is- lush, melodic, dramatic, Tubby manipulating volume, mix and FX at the desk. It bounces. 

Yabby You and King Tubby's Conquering Lion dates from 1977. An expanded edition from 2021 on Pressure Sounds with all the dubs is serious summer music. Listen with a glass of rum and ginger on ice. 

555 Dub Street and the title track that closes the mix above both come from Augustus Pablo's classic 1976 album, King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, one of dub's definitive texts with a line up of the best dub musicians at their peak- Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass, Carlton Barrett on drums and Earl 'Chinna' Smith on guitar. 

Dub Fi Gwan- clattering drums, endless rhythms, rimshots, echo and bassline- was the final track on Dub Gone Crazy, a 1994 Blood And Fire compilation of Tubby tracks from the 1975- 1979 era. It turned me on to King Tubby and dub in a big way. 

A Better Version is from an expanded version of King Tubby Presents: The Roots Of Dub, a King Tubby album from 1975, Horace Andy's Skylarking twisted inside itself and dubbed out into space. Strangely I've missed including anything from the original version of that album in this mix- a Tubby Mix Two will have to follow at some point. 

Dub From The Roots and Declaration Of Dub are both from 1975's Dub From The Roots, his first full length, self- titled album, dubwise versions of Bunny Lee songs. 

Monday's Long Song

At only six minutes forty-three seconds this isn't an especially long song but it came up on shuffle over the weekend and sounded immense. Released back in 1983 this is Colourbox's magnificent take on Baby I Love You So, an Augustus Pablo song from 1974 recorded by Jacob Miller, but updated by Martyn and Stephen Young making the most of early 80s technology- it doesn't sound dated all these years later either, that bassline alone is worth the price of admission. The guitar part is ace, not your standard reggae guitar part, the cymbals splash away and Lorita Grahame's vocal glides over the top.

Baby I Love You So (12" Version)

Road Block

Sometimes it's only proper Jamaican dub from the mid 70s that really fills that hole, that provides the basslines and the rhythms and the s p a c e. And then you realise you must have Augustus Pablo's melodica snaking around on top. And King Tubby at the controls. And all is good.

Road Block

Road Block was on 1974's Ital Dub and was written by Bob Marley and Aston Barrett, a version of The Wailers' Rebel Music. Here's the whole album for your Saturday morning skank. It won't help you get much done but you'll have a good time doing very little while this plays.

Satta Dub

I've been listening to King Tubby quite a bit this week. His dub productions are so far out there, space and sound manipulated and played around with but very precise too. His 1976 class King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, done in collaboration with another gentle soul Augustus Pablo, is the Tubby album to go for and needs to be listened to as a whole really but this track, the album's closer, is doing all the right things for me at the moment.

Satta Dub

Augustus Double

This is the Augustus Pablo dub tune, covered by Jah Wobble at The Cinnamon Club on Saturday night- Augustus' song is dub in excelsis, deep and wide. Jah brought plenty of the dub too, but with a punk sensibility three decades old.

Augustus John pictured for an Augustus double whammy. In August too.

East Of The River Nile

Sunday Dub

Augustus Pablo, the world's coolest melodica player, with the title track from the 1977 dub album recorded by Pablo and King Tubby with a top notch cast 0f players- Aston and Carlton Barrett, Robbie Shakespeare, and Earl 'China' Smith. The album re-works Baby I Love You So, the Augustus Pablo song Colourbox covered that was featured here a few days ago. Just right to get Sunday off to an easy start.

King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown.mp3

Baby I Love You So

I couldn't let Colourbox go by without posting this, the A-side to the 12" single with Tuesday's postee Looks Like We're Shy One Horse on the flip. Baby I Love You So is a cover of an Augustus Pablo track. This is electronic dub at it's best- big, swirly sound with swathes of colourful synths, a massive bassline, reverby guitars, samples and vocals from Lorita Grahame. Seven minutes or so of wonder. Play it back to back with Looks Like... for full effect.

02 Baby I Love You So 12_.mp3