calypso

July 25, 2007

Island Records - Ska's The Limit Volume I (1959-1964)

Frontcover_3 This album has been in my rotation a long time, one of the Island Records compilations. I remember being in an old antique store in San Juan Puerto Rico and I saw some old records stashed next to various (useless) trinkets. I started talking to the owner and he said oh I have a few more records upstairs. So we went into the attic and there were about 25000 records all disorganized and jumbled together, the sun was going down and there were no lights in the attic. A record collector's nightmare, ahhh!   It turns out he was the owner of Downtown Records in Manhattan.  One of the gems I found was a dusty EP by Lord Creator called Independent Jamaica, a classic Calypso song about Jamaica which became an anthem for Jamaicans when they became independent from British rule in 1962. The other track is a classic ska/ rock steady song by Justin Hinds and The Dominoes called Carry, Go, Bring, Home. Tracks 5 and 16 on this compilation.