Heart Of The Congos

Product Information

This first edition contained 10 of what Perry believed were the best of the songs recorded by The Congos and the mix was noticeably different from the version most of us know as the definitive second edition. The words “ Lee”, “ Perry” and “genius” crop up together frequently; yet these days evidence of the producer’s excellence seems to be limited to erratic stage performances and wilful eccentricity. Heart of the Congos, however, is the most vivid example of what he’s capable of.

Jewel case and Slipcase version that was released after the production of the original Digipak-style release was stopped. Roy went off to improve his guitar skills in the hope that maybe he could make it as a session musician rather than a singer. He briefly joined The Rightful Brothers band where he improved on his guitar playing and learned to become a skilled hand drummer. To be fair, I'm no reggae aficionado. As far as I know, there aren't a lot of acts in this genre putting out anything as soulful and original as Heart of the Congos. Of course, I could be wrong. I encourage those in the know to send me a heads up. For those who scoff at the genre, for whatever reason, I implore you to give this album a shot. I think you might like it.Watty Burnett, a regular figure at the studio, joined the group at this point as Perry thought his deep barritone vocal would help add a further dimension to the overall sound of The Congos.

This is bad advise and the second post outright faulty. Yes, older VP masterings are awful (speed issues and wonky sound) and should be avoided, they are I think still being used on some single disc pressings.

Roydel Johnson also had history with Lee Perry, having grown up in the same small town, Kendal in Hanover, Roy remembers seeing Scratch and recalls his dancing skills of the time.

I haved the to first relesses maybee not first printed with the yellow paint but on the same sleeve blue and same label LP-4049-AMany reasons have been suggested including that Island records were more concerned in promoting Bob Marley and would shelve albums by other reggae artists, this claim is made by The Congos as well as Max Romeo and others who's follow up albums were poorly promoted by the label. The "second mix" (which is the mix you'll find on all pressings except the very first super rare pressing and the [equally rare] RSD reissue) is not one specific version of the album, there is a whole multitude of variations (for example differently edited) using that mix. Here is a bit of a release history: Eternal Thunder | Magazine | Out Of Africa Comes The Congoman