Junior Delgado - Sons Of Slaves

Junior Delgado
Sons of Slaves: Rebel Anthems from a Roots Legend
Trojan TJACD288



Junior Delgado, famed for his gruff yet warm voice, was a roots singer with a long career of both singing and producing, in his native Jamaica in the 70s and in the UK in later decades. "Sons of Slaves" is one of several retrospective compilations of his works which appeared after his death in London in 2005.

This compilation opens with "Africa We Are Going Home" by Time Unlimited, the group for which Delgado sang lead vocal on several tunes recorded for Lee Perry. "Africa" is an early Black Ark tune with a typically Upsetter skanking riddim and weird sound effects including scat vocal howls and screams. Delgado sounds strangely detached, yet delivers the repatriation lyric with conviction. (Some editions of this compilation apparently also include another Time Unlimited tune, "Reaction"; however, the one I have doesn't...)

The first solo Delgado tune included is the Rupie Edwards-produced "Run Bald Head", one of many Rasta-themed denunciations of the news of Haile Selassie's death as "baldhead"-spreaded false rumours, sung over the riddim of Slim Smith's "I'm So Proud". Also produced by Rupie is "Mi Nuh Matta", a DJ cut recorded by Delgado under his toasting pseudonym of El Cisco, also over Smith's "My Conversation", with Junior extolling the melody in a youthful yet old school style reminiscent of I Roy, with little hint of the stridency of his singing voice.

"Sons Of Slaves", however, is quintessential Delgado, and one of the heaviest of all Black Ark classics. Scratch's mixing is at its wildest and deepest, and Delgado at his most powerful and impassioned as he testifies to the living reality of slavery's legacy. "Are we not the children that run away from plantations?" he asks, before demanding freedom and justice and proclaiming the people of the African diaspora "like a roaring lion". Truly heavy roots, in a nearly 7 minute 12" mix complemented with sublimely deep and echoing dub. Following is a mellow yet righteous rendition of the 23rd Psalm, also recorded at the Black Ark with double-tracked sung and spoken vocals and upbeat yet evocative keyboards, showcasing the devotional side of Delgado's Rasta militancy. Perry's multi-layered mixing is nicely in evidence.

The rather sparser-sounding "Tition", produced by Earl "Chinna" Smith, is another of Delgado's best-known roots classics, a condemnation of political gang violence over a simplistic yet highly effective piano, guitar and bass backing, delivered with stern yet warm dignity. On the same riddim is the self-produced "Jah Jah Say", in which the depth and warmth of Delgado's uniquely gruff-yet-sweet voice is brought to the fore by ethereal backing vocals. The 12" version adds a beautiful, soaring trumpet solo, unfortunately uncredited, plus playful echo and percussion - guaranteed pure niceness.

The remainder of the tunes on this album are all self-produced. "Devil's Throne" is a joyfully triumphant cut of the classic "Creation Rebel" riddim, Delgado returning to his theme of affirming the identity and mission of the African people and proclaiming the inevitable victory of righteousness over evil. "The Raiders" (aka "No Warrior") is an upbeat anti-war tune, declaiming contemporary gang violence in the same breath as historical colonialism with customary warmth and conviction. This 12" version is not as long as the others, adding about a minute of toasting (uncredited, but presumably Delgado himself), rather than a full-length dub or DJ version - once again the theme of the toast is music as sound and power, sold as a panacea in ebullient huckster style with claims like "this ya sound make the cripple them walk, this ya sound make the dumb them talk"; a questionable hyperbole, but clearly delivered with affectionate, tongue-in-cheek intent.

So ends the 70s selection: the rest of the tracks on this set are UK self-productions dating from 1988. "Born To Be Wild" and "Gimme Your Love" are nice, yet unremarkable, lovers tunes, the latter enlivened somewhat with a slight hip-hop influence to its fast-paced, semi-digital beat; however, the lyrics are uninspired. "Hypo", however, is the equal of any of the 70s tracks here, a fiery, militant heavy steppers tune with real horns and Junior on top form, uncompromisingly chanting down the hypocrisy of the global political and economic system - "them feed Ethiopia, yet destroy South Africa... true them no know say rebel a destroy the city". The righteousness is not diminished by the slightly amusing image conjured up by the titular abbreviation. "Kill Nebuchadnezzar and let Babylon fall!"

Most of the remaining 1988 tunes are, however, somewhat lacklustre, with the majority being lightweight lovers lyrics over (sometimes slightly funk-influenced) digital riddims, with little to distinguish between them. The two which somewhat stand out are "Look At The Trees", a vaguely Pablo-ish feeling paean to nature with a bass-heavy riddim somewhat resembling early UK digi steppers, and "Mr Fix It", a lovers tune in a rather atypical mellow, crooning style which is an updating of the rocksteady classic "Do It Sweet", showing the surprising versatility of Delgado's voice, beyond the gruff, wailing style he was often typecast to. However, the rest suffer from a lack of sufficient distinguishing features to make them stick in the mind after listening.

Overall, "Sons Of Slaves" is something of a mixed bag, feeling unbalanced as an overview of Delgado's long and fruitful musical career (which also included experimentation with Indian-influenced, acoustic and trip hop styles); it could have profitably included some of the classic deep roots tunes that he recorded for producers such as Dennis Brown, Sly & Robbie and Augustus Pablo in place of the lesser 1988 tunes. The sleeve notes also frustrate somewhat by mentioning many crucial tunes not included on this compilation! However, it contains enough undisputed "rebel anthems" to be worth purchasing, if perhaps with a little caution exercised over its latter half...