Various Artists - Jumping With Mr Lee - Reggae Classics From The Vault Of Bunny “Striker” Lee [LP]

KINGSTON SOUNDS

£15.28

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: KSLP083
Barcode: 5060135762742
Release Date: 18 Nov 2022
Genre: Reggae

The period of 1967 – 1968 when Rocksteady was in full flow, would also be a turning point for Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee, when he became a producer in his own right. Many of the great tunes during this eventful year came out of his stable and initially saw the light of day on his own imprint label ‘Lee’s’. This album has been assembled from some of those fine tunes and tells the story of reggae in what was a stellar time for both reggae and Mr Bunny Lee.

Edward ‘Bunny’ Lee later to become known as ‘Striker’ (b.23rd August 1941) got his introduction to the music business around 1962 when his future brother in law singer Derrick Morgan introduced Bunny to producer Duke Reid, who gave him a job as record plugger for his Treasure Isle label. 1966 saw Bunny Lee move on to working for producer Ken Lack who ran his own label Caltone. Bunny’s first credit as a producer was released on the label when he produced ‘Lloyd Jackson and the Groovers’ with a tune called ‘Listen To The Music’.

As we stated earlier by 1967 Bunny Lee was leading the way and his vast stable of singers, were producing hit after hit for him. Many of those artists are featured on this compilation. The Sensations ‘Long Time Me No See You Girl’, the Uniques that featured the great Slim Smith are here on some of their greatest cuts ‘Love and Devotion’ and ‘The Beatitude’, ‘Girls Like Dirt’. ‘My Conversation’ a song that would be a big hit for the Uniques would also go on to be of the most covered songs and redone over rhythms, in the history of reggae music. The great singer Pat Kelly features on ‘Somebody’s Baby’ and ‘Little Boy Blue’ all massive hits, when originally released. Bunny’s love of Jazz and the brass sections would also shine through with some of Jamaica’s finest musicians featured here with the excellent tenor sax work of Val Bennett which gave us our album title track ‘Jumping With Mr Lee’ and ‘Jumping With Val’. The Alto sax work of Lester Sterling are featured on the timeless cut ‘Bangerang’ and ‘Tribute To Scratch’. The big sound of Trombonist ‘Vin Gordon’ features on ‘Sounds and Soul’. Not forgetting the previously mentioned King of Ska Derrick Morgan on ‘Hold Your Jack’. A song that in a few years’ time would provide the backbone for Mr Max Romeo’s cross over and controversial hit ‘Wet Dream’. So yes, a fine collection of tracks from the great producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee. Sit back and enjoy the reggae music of 1967-1968 with of the best sounds in town.Sit back and enjoy…..

Tracklisting
Track 1 LONG TIME ME NO SEE YOU GIRL- THE SENSATIONS
Track 2 LOVE AND DEVOTION- THE UNIQUES
Track 3 JUMING WITH MR LEE- VAL BENNETT AND THE BUNNY LEE ALLSTARS
Track 5 BANGERANG- LESTER STERLING AND WINSTON “STRANGER” COLE
Track 6 LITTLE BOY BLUE- PAT KELLY
Track 7 STORY OF LOVE- THE UNIQUES
Track 8 A CHANGE IS GONNA COME – KEN PARKER
Track 9 JUMPING WITH VAL – VAL BENNETT
Track 10 GIRLS LIKE DIRT- THE UNIQUES
Track 11 TRIBUTE TO KING- SCRATCH LESTER STERLING
Track 12 SOMEBODY’S BABY- PAT KELLY
Track 13 SOUNDS AND SOUL- VIN GORDON
Track 14 MY ONVERSATION - THE UNIQUES
Track 15 SIR LEE’S WHIP- LESTER STERLING
Track 16 THE BEATITUDE- SLIM SMITH AND THE UNIQUES*
Track 17 DANCE ARENA- ROY SHIRLEY*
Track 18 MY WORLD- WEBBER SISTERS*
Track 19 RUN COME DANCE- GLEN ADAMS*
*CD Bonus Tracks