"Monkey Man/From The Roots" by THE MAYTALS – May 1970 Third Album and April 1973 Albums on Trojan Records UK featuring Toots Hibbert and Production by Leslie Kong (July 2018 UK Doctor Bird Records Compilation – 2LPs Plus 3 Bonus Tracks onto 1CD – Andy Pearce Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07D4ZP9PZ&asins=B07D4ZP9PZ&linkId=284b3d0f523f687480eed1fc6f52e4c8&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
  

This Review and 194 More Like It Available 

In My Amazon e-Book 

"SOMETHING'S HAPPENING HERE - Volume 2 of 7"

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Info Taken From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut and Paste Crap) Only £3.95 per Volume 

All seven Volumes same price - Total of 1,365 different reviews

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00QPKCH7I&asins=B00QPKCH7I&linkId=594e961f5a987c181ff6d0fd651dd669&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

"…All Over The World…Share Out The Gold And Silver…"

 

Jamaican born Frederick "Toots" Hibbert was just 18 when he formed the earliest version of The Maytals in 1961 with his two friends Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias and Henry "Raleigh" Gordon (the three are pictured on the cover on both original vinyl LPs).

 

A couple of albums later (and a Sixties jail-sentence for their leader) and you jump forward to a February 1970 British 45-single for "Monkey Man" on Trojan Records TR-7711 with "Night And Day" on the B-side. British DJs quickly pick up on the super-catchy nature of the Jamaican Reggae A-side and it soon charts on 27 April 1970 – albeit lowly at first. It will spend weeks rising through May to a humble No. 47, but it is a triumph for Trojan and The Maytals – their first (and only) hit in the Reggae-mad UK market being fueled by budget compilations like "Tighten Up" and "Tighten Up Volume 2" from January and November 1969. Trojan Records then rush-release the "Monkey Man" LP in May 1970 on their budget TBL line to make it tempting to punters (TBL 107) – and a legend is born.

 

And that's where this twofer-plus comes a shuffling in – throwing in the belated 1973 follow-up LP "From The Roots" culled from 1969 and 1970 material and adding on three more Bonus Tracks – two of which were a Island Records 45-single in 2013 with Previously Unissued Versions and are new on CD here - and the third from a long deleted December 2003 CD on Sanctuary Records. Good value - here is the Revival Reggae and the One Eye Enos...

 

UK issued July 2018 – "Monkey Man/From The Roots" by THE MAYTALS on Doctor Bird Records DBCD-017 (Barcode 5013929271739) is a compilation that offers 2LPs from 1970 and 1973 Remastered onto 1CD with Three Bonus Tracks (25 in total). It plays out as follows (74:58 minutes):

 

1. Peeping Tom (1970 Version) [Side 1]

2. Revival Reggae

3. Give Peace A Chance

4. Gold And Silver

5. The Preacher

6. Bla Bla Bla

7. African Doctor (aka Doctor Lester) [Side 2]

8. Monkey Man

9. Sun Moon And Star

10. Pressure Drop

11. She's My Scorcher

12. I Shall Be Free

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Monkey Man" – released May 1970 in the UK on Trojan Records TBL 107 (reissued June 1976 with same catalogue number). Produced by LESLIE KONG.

 

13. Pee Pee Cluck Cluck

14. Loving Spirit

15. Koo Koo

16. Thy Kingdom Come

17. One Eye Enos (1970 Version)

18. A Time To Love

19. 9 O'Clock

20. Know Me Good

21. Got To Feel (It)

22. Feel So Good

NOTE:

The original 1973 UK LP "From The Roots" issued in spring 1973 on Trojan TRLS 65 (Produced by Leslie Kong) had 14-tracks (7 per side). The above numbers 13 to 22 list only 10 tracks; this is presumably because four were duplicated from the "Monkey Man" LP (some with slightly different names). To sequence the 1973 UK album as released, use the following tracks:

 

"From The Roots" 1973 UK LP

Side 1:

Pee Pee Cluck Cluck [13]/Loving Spirit [14]/Doctor Lester [7]/Gola Silver [4]/Koo Koo [15]/Revival Reggae [2]/Thy Kingdom Come [16]

Side 2:

One Eye Enos [17]/A Time To Love [18]/9 O'Clock [19]/Know Me Good [20]/Got To Feel (It) [21]/Feel So Good [22]/Give Peace A Chance [3]

 

BONUS TRACKS:

23. Monkey Man (Alternate Version)

24. She's My Scorcher (Alternate Version)

Tracks 23 and 24 first issued August 2013 as the A&B-sides of a UK 45-single on Island WI-3162; both sides new to this CD in July 2018

 

25. African Doctor (aka Doctor Lester) (Alternate Version) – First appeared as a Previously Unissued Version on the December 2003 UK CD Reissue of "From The Roots" on Sanctuary TJCCD091 (Barcode 5050159909124)

 

The albums were produced by the legendary but short-lived LESLIE KONG (he died in 1971 aged only 37) - a young Chinese immigrant who was instrumental in the recording and acceptance of Jamaican music in its formative years (he did Bob Marley's 1st single in 1962). The 12-page booklet has affectionate liner notes by TONY ROUNCE – a man who has had a hand in probably hundreds of CD reissues for great names like Ace, Edsel and Universal - while the whole project was coordinated and compiled by LAURENCE CANE-HONEYSETT – who has extensive writing and compiling experience across a huge range of Trojan releases (he did the paperback Young, Gifted & Black: The Story Of Trojan Records which I have also reviewed). The text is peppered with loads of UK and Jamaican 45-labels, the LP labels, period photos and repros of memorabilia. It sure packs a lot into its tiny space.

 

And best of all – this CD features ANDY PEARCE Remasters – a name I actively seek out (AP has done huge names in the Rock World – Free, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Budgie, Spooky Tooth, Wishbone Ash, ELP and loads more – but also Treasure Isle stuff for Sony/BMG and Trojan material for Doctor Bird. Given the vintage, the material is clean and punchy, especially the second LP. To the chunes...

 

As was the tradition with Trojan LPs (a tradition that goes back to the Fifties and Atlantic Records) – usually the LP was an amalgam of many 45-single sides and their flips – so six of the "Monkey Man" LP tracks were British singles. First up came "Pressure Drop" from 1969 on Pyramid PYR 6074 (it is pictured on Page 6 amidst a collage of other labels), then the infamous "Monkey Man" released 20 February 1970 on Trojan TR 7711 in the UK - its rare company logo Trojan Records Hot Shot titled 45-single sleeve is pictured on Page 4 alongside a German picture sleeve on Fontana 6046 019. Up next is "Bla Bla Bla" issued as an A-side on Trojan TR 7741 in April 1970, then "She's A Scorcher" issued as a B-side to "Water Melon" on Trojan TR 7757 in May 1970. The final two of the six singles are "Dr. Lester" (aka African Doctor) b/w "Sun, Moon And Star" on Trojan TR 7786 issued September 1970. The remaining 6 tracks were exclusive to the "Monkey Man" LP on Trojan TBL 107 (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 12 on this CD). Note: there was a 45-single version of "Peeping Tom" put out in early 1970 on Summit SUM 8510, but the "Monkey Man" LP version is a 1970 Version and is different.

 

The second LP on here "From The Roots" sounds way better than the first. Excepting the cover of John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance", all tracks are Hibbert originals - and given the less-than-stellar audio of the 1969/1970 original recordings (reggae is notoriously non-audiophile), the sound quality on these Andy Pearce remasters is superb - muscular and clear. Personal favourites include the sharing-out-our-wealth song "Gold And Silver" (lyrics above, aka Gola Silver) and the superb "Loving Spirit" which is imbibed with Hibbert's strong belief in love channeled through God and music ("Thy Kingdom Come" too which Trojan tried as a 45). Note: the "One Eye Enos" song was issued April 1971 on a UK 45-single on Summit SUM 8520, but the "From The Roots" LP cut is known as the 1970 Version.

 

The extras are ace too – two genuinely excellent 'Alternate Takes' of both "Monkey Man" and "She's My Scorcher" – just as good if not better than the released album versions - while of the eight CD Bonus Tracks on the 2003 version of "From The Roots" – compiler Laurence Cane-Honeysett has chosen the alternate version of the popular "African Doctor (aka Doctor Lester)" as the keeper for his DB compilation - a wicked little groover and a clever choice.

 

"Monkey Man" and "From The Roots" LPs were reissued in 1976 by Trojan on vinyl, then in 1983 (I think) and probably several undocumented times since – but originals from 1970 and 1973 are increasingly rare and Record Collector Price Guide expensive as the decades march past 50 years and more in 2023.

 

For a lot less, looking good and sounding as chipper as one could hope for, you can now easily get this Doctor Bird CD twofer-plus instead. It's a journey you should take...and well done to all the good people involved in keeping this particular reggae flame alive…