• Track Listing

LP version. Horace Andy has always commanded a place high on the list of reggae singers from Jamaica. His distinctive, haunting vocal style stands strong on any rhythm, song, or style he chooses to cover. He has managed to crossover to a new generation of listeners due to his individual style, helped also by his collaborations with the likes of Massive Attack. Born Horace Hinds in 1951, Kingston Jamaica, he began his musical career at Coxsonne Dodd's Studio One. So impressed with the young Horace, Coxsonne decided on a name change and named him after his top songwriter at the time, Bob Andy. His first tune for Coxsonne ("Something on My Mind") was a slow burner in Jamaica, but his belief in his young protege paid off later with "Skylarking," a tune that put the singer all over the radios and sound systems of Jamaica. After numerous singles and two albums worth of material, Horace moved on to work with many of the topflight Jamaican producers, among them Keith Hudson, Augustus Pablo, and Niney the Observer, but it was his work with producer Bunny Lee in the '70s that produced most of his hits, which we have compiled for this set. Some of his late '60s classics are recut in the popular 1970s style, working with the rhythm kings themselves, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. They have added some shine to "Something on My Mind" and "Skylarking" and made them hits all over again. Horace also adds his signature to covers of Delroy Wilson's version of the Tams's "Riding for a Fall," the Heptones' "My Guiding Star," John Holt's "Man Next Door," and Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine." a bass-heavy cut of Bob Marley's "Natural Mystic" is also present. This fine set of 1970s classics represents some of the best music ever made in Jamaica.