A tough rule that reggae followers uncover early on isn’t just to have a look at the identify of the artist on a file that’s unknown to them, however to take discover of the folks he’s working with. Reggae artists work with quite a few producers in quite a few studios; they could sound a sure manner on one track, and fully completely different on one other. This isn’t a lot that the singer or DJ adjustments their performing model, however they’re positioned in a unique musical context. In some cases, this may be dangerous information; if an artist doesn’t have a powerful vocal identification, their data may be hit and miss. That, nonetheless, by no means utilized to Dennis Brown. You’ll be able to guess that when Dennis took the mic in any context, he was giving his greatest. And that greatest was nearly invariably glorious, because it was on his 1981 album Foul Play.
Hearken to Foul Play on Apple Music and Spotify.
Musical dualism
Foul Play finds Dennis in the best firm; the album is co-produced by Joe Gibbs, with whom a number of Dennis Brown’s best glories of the 70s have been made, and Clive Hunt, a producer related to the highest-quality roots music. Reggae was shifting from the rockers model with which Dennis had been strongly related within the second half of the 70s, and Dennis was shifting accordingly. Foul Play delivers delicate adjustments from the sound Gibbs and Dennis had helped good on the likes of Phrases Of Knowledge and Joseph’s Coat Of Many Colors, basic albums of their period.
The album’s opening observe, “On The Rocks,” is throbbing electro reggae that displays wider shifts in black music, probably influenced by its author Clive Hunt’s frequent presence in New York. Dean Fraser delivers sax strains which can be typical of early 80s pop, and Dennis is completely comfy singing a track about going for a boogie (sure, he makes use of that phrase, stylish within the soul golf equipment of the time, although nearly unheard in reggae) to shake off powerful instances.
As if to reassure conventional followers, “The Existence Of Jah” follows instantly: a sluggish and critical militant tune that turned a dwell favourite. Self-written, this might have come from any interval of Brown’s profession, as Dennis calls out Devil in that candy and smoky voice. Then it’s straight again to the electro-skank for Hunt’s upbeat, nearly ska-like “Come On Baby,” a musical dualism that’s uncommon to say the least.
In high quality voice
Issues cool down from this level. Whereas a few of the album sways in the direction of the rub-a-dub model that was taking up in Jamaica, Foul Play turns into much more cohesive and typical of the person they known as The Crown Prince Of Reggae. “The World Is Troubled” is a remake of certainly one of his rockers-era classics, “Troubled World,” right here given a delicate replace with whirring Clavinet and a rub-a-dub rhythm. The horns-led “I Need Your Love,” aka “Rasta Children,” is critical roots reggae; the title observe is aimed on the nightclubs with out dropping its Jamaican identification, and “Your Man” is high-stepping lovers rock that would have come from any time within the earlier six years.
The ultimate three choices on the album are updates of older materials: “If I Had The World” is from his juvenile early 70s tenure with Prince Buster, and the mature Brown handles the track superbly. “If I Follow My Heart” was the title observe of his second album, from 1971, and Dennis’ affection for the melody, now reworked in a rub-a-dub beat, is obvious: his voice is tender and heat. “Cheater,” beforehand a 1972 single, is tackled in a really comparable model to the unique, with added wailing guitar and a gentle replace of the drum sample. It’s a wierd story of washing stolen from a line – foul play, certainly.
It goes with out saying that Dennis was in high quality voice for this, the primary of his three albums for A&M. The second is silkier and would ship a success single, however Foul Play, launched on October 9, 1981, is for essentially the most half a extra rootsy providing. Those that have ignored the album in favor of Brown’s extra vaunted 70s work can be in for a deal with after they meet up with it.
Foul Play may be purchased right here.
