One of the earliest recordings to feature the bass playing of Aston “Family Man” Barrett – who would go on to make waves internationally in The Wailers band – ‘Watch This Sound’ was arranged by keyboardist and vocalist Lloyd Charmers and financed by Winston Lowe, a lesser-known producer of Chinese descent whose Tramp label was based in the Greenwich Farm ghetto of western Kingston. Texan crooner Johnny Nash had much better success with his later cover version, yet this spirited original holds much more bite, with its relaxed harmonies and Marley’s playful lead offset by an eerie piano line, minimal guitar and percussion.Īn influential record with an uncanny, disjointed rhythm and harmonic brilliance, ‘Watch This Sound’ is a reggae adaptation of Buffalo Springfield’s anti-Vietnam War protest anthem, ‘For What It’s Worth’, the title and choral refrain reportedly altered because backing vocalist Jimmy Riley misheard the lyrics of the original. To mark the anniversary, reggae historian and writer David Katz selects 50 of the label’s most essential releases, spanning singles and albums and chosen from original records that were issued on Trojan itself, rather than subsidiary labels.Īs the most famous group in the history of reggae, Bob Marley and The Wailers need no introduction here, but it is worth noting that they had already been recording for about five years before this self-produced single reached the Trojan label in 1968. An introduction to the iconic British reggae label.įounded in July 1968 as a partnership between Jamaican expatriates Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell, Trojan swiftly became the most important label releasing Jamaican music in Britain, as well as reggae produced by London-based Caribbean immigrants and arguably did more than any other label to elevate and disseminate reggae music.
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