Yabby You – Dread Prophecy (Shanachie Entertainment, 2015)
My first encounter with the music of Yabby You was back in the vinyl days of the mid-80s when I spotted his compilation One Love, One Heart at a small record store in Albany, NY. I’d never heard of him, but I chalked that up to having been only recently bitten by the reggae bug. Besides, no release on Shanachie Records (which this was) had yet steered me wrong. I bought the album, took it home to my basement apartment and had a listen. I was spellbound. The chant-like vocals, ominously biblical lyrics and unadorned pure roots reggae production values made me feel like I was hearing a prophet of old who’d somehow been transported into the modern world.
In those pre-internet times, it was hard to find further information on the man who was born Vivian Jackson in Jamaica in 1946 and took his stage name from what he heard as thunder and the voices of angels calling down from on high. But I looked where I could and pieced together some facts about him. He didn’t exactly have the happiest of beginnings: Yabby You’s younger days were marked by poverty and malnutrition that resulted in a lifetime of crippled legs and fragile health. Notwithstanding, he developed an unyielding spirituality and faith in Jesus Christ. His perspective alienated many of his Rastafarian acquaintances, who mockingly called him “Jesus Dread,” a nickname he chose to embrace.
As to the rest of his tale- his life as singer, songwriter, producer and figure of absolute uniqueness in reggae music -read all about it in the richly detailed booklet included with Shanachie’s excellent new triple CD set Dread Prophecy, subtitled The Strange and Wonderful Story of Yabby You. Indeed, there’s equal measure of strangeness and wonder in the way he was able to overcome obstacle after obstacle to create a body of work that never brought him massive fame or fortune but endures to testify to the power of reggae built from ingredients of heart, soul, spirit and commitment.
Yabby wasn’t a man of great vocal range, but his grainy, take-heed style and inflection gave his songs an authority all their own. Particularly when singing lead over the harmonies of Alrick Forbes and Dada Smith (the other two-thirds of a vocal trio known as The Prophets), Yabby’s voice dug deep and bore spiritual fruit in ‘70s roots gems like “Conquering Lion,” “Anti-Christ,” “Run Come Rally” and “Chant Down Babylon” all of which are included in this collection.
The riches don’t stop there, though. Yabby served as producer for a good many artists, putting his foundational stamp on reggae/jazz instrumentals by Skatalites saxophonist Tommy McCook (“Death Trap”), the chatting of deejay Jah Stitch (“Rock Man Soul”), suave crooner Pat Kelly (“How Long”), roots man Michael Prophet (“Love and Unity”) and others, and those featured tracks go a long way toward showing just how far the Yabby You vibe extended in reggae circles. Plus, the three songs from Yabby’s 1985 comeback album Fleeing From the City demonstrate that he wasn’t opposed to modernizing his sound just a bit while sacrificing his integrity not one iota.
And of course, no compilation like this would be complete without rarities. Disc 3 is jam-packed with them, including dub plates, previously unreleased new/old discoveries by U Brown, Half Pint and Patrick Andy and similar stuff that will delight hardcore collectors and ordinary fans alike. I lack the journalistic gumption to go into any further details, so just believe me when I say that Dread Prophecy is an absolute treasure chest for the reggae-minded. Yabby You passed away in 2010, but this assembly of his works will forever stand as a sonic testament to his greatness.
Willi Williams – Unification: From Channel One to King Tubby’s (Shanachie Entertainment, 2014)
Another recent Shanachie release with a Yabby You connection is a disc’s worth of long-lost-but-now-found songs by Willi Williams, the vocalist best known for the classic “Armagideon Time.” Recorded in the turbulent political days of 1979 Jamaica, Unification: From Channel One to King Tubby’s has a dozen tracks laid down at the legendary studios name-checked in the title, with Willi Williams and Yabby You sharing production duties.
I recognized many of the riddims (like the arrangement of “Take Five” on the title tune) from corresponding dub versions that have emerged over the years, but the vocals give them the blaze of a newly stoked fire. Williams’ semi-spoken way of singing brings clarity to the lyrics, never burying the messages in patois or pedantic posturing.
These are songs of spiritual awareness, political and religious trickery, African repatriation and hope for a better tomorrow, and it’s no accident that the themes ring as true now as they did 36 years ago. Among the musicians involved are The Revolutionaries (under the guidance of Sly and Robbie), The Gladiators and Soul Syndicate, so the backing has just the right sort of roots sharpness. By the time Willi sings “I’m gonna need everyone to rock with me” during the opening “Rock On,” you’ll already be aboard for this invigorating reggae ride.
Purchase Dread Prophecy and Unification: From Channel One to King Tubby’s in North America
Purchase Dread Prophecy and Unification: From Channel One to King Tubby’s in Europe
Author: Tom Orr
Tom Orr is a California-based writer whose talent and mental stability are of an equally questionable nature. His hobbies include ignoring trends, striking dramatic poses in front of his ever-tolerant wife and watching helplessly as his kids surpass him in all desirable traits.
