Wednesday 26 July 2017

Reggae Wednesday

OK, so this is an interesting one. Now, you probably know that Delroy Wilson (aka The Cool Operator) was a pioneer of reggae music, starting out in 1962 aged just 13. He saw the birth of ska, rocksteady and reggae and became the first superstar of the genre. He's namechecked in the Clash's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (what higher accolade is there?) and has worked with more massive names in Jamaican music than I can be bothered to list here.

You'll know many of his songs, but this one - well, you'll know the tune but perhaps not the lyrics. I've had a real hard time finding anything out about this track. I can tell you it came out as a single in 1974 in both the UK and Jamaica, but it never seems to have made it onto an album or, indeed, any of the many compilations of Delroy's work. It did, however, make it onto a Trojan Records boxset called 'Motor City Reggae' in 2006. There are no writer's credits on the original records, but the box set names the legendary Holland, Dozier, Holland. As I implied just now however, the words are different to the ones you'll be familiar with, so I'm not sure who contributed what to this version.

I'm certain this isn't rated as among Delroy's best work, but I'm posting it because if nothing else it's intriguing.




3 comments:

  1. A great selection Robster. The song appeared on Delroy's LP 'Captivity', under the title 'Don't Leave Me'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Swede, I knew I could rely on you to fill in the gaps. Delroy's discography is so vast and complex, I might never have got to the bottom of this. I do hate it when the same song gets issued with different titles. Reggae certainly seems to be the worst offender.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good version. Thanks for posting it.

    ReplyDelete