yardie's reggae collection
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JUNIOR MURVIN
POLICE & THIEVES
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1977 - Island - studio - discs: 1
The genius of Lee "Scratch" Perry created a huge amout of work and among this there is this set from the unique "falsetto" voice of Junior Murvin. At the very beginning Murvin joyned the Max Romeo's Hippy Boys. After singing around the island and in Cuba too, Murvin moved to Kingston to meet Perry. "Police And Thieves" was the first song that he recorded at the Black Ark. The lyrics declare the failure of the contemporary society at the time and had a strong response in the UK among the black Jamaican immigrants and the white punks. The other tracks of the set speak of the same subjects. The songs that are more impressive are: "Tedious" with his message for unity, "False Teachin" with the denounce against the educational lacking system (the best song here), "Lucifer" which talks about the slave trade in a very hard and right way, and the deep Roots of "Workin' In The Cornfield" which again refers to the slavery days. This edition (2003) adds some interesting cuts. The more impressive are: "Bad Weed" is an extended alternate cut of "Police And Thieves" with the texture that you would expect from Perry. It is more dark and better than the original. "Roots Train" features Dillinger. "Memories" was a 12 inch cut based on the Techniques' "Queen Majesty".
yardie-reggae.com - 2007