70 recordings currently unavailable digitally
Almost 50 tracks new to CD
138 boss reggae anthems!

Widely hailed as the Godfather of Ska, Laurel Aitken dominated Jamaica’s recording industry throughout its infancy, enjoying a series of hugely popular mento and Jamaican R&B hits during the latter half of the 1950s. Early the following decade he relocated to London, where, over the years that immediately followed, he recorded for every Afro-Caribbean record company of note.

While his ska and rock steady recordings ensured Laurel remained a firm favourite among Jamaican ex-patriots, the reggae explosion of 1969 exposed his work to a wider audience, with productions for Doctor Bird, Pama and Trojan Records establishing him as a musical hero for many of Britain’s young, white working-classes, notably those that had adopted a fashion style dubbed by the national press as ‘skinhead’.

This 5CD set collects the entirety of the singer-songwriter-producer’s output that saw issue on 7” singles between 1969 and 1970, with the set including big sellers alongside long lost rarities and unissued tracks that make their CD debut.

While Laurel’s own considerable singing skills take centre stage, the collection also features recordings he produced for other UK-based artists, their number including such celebrated acts as Rico, Winston Groovy, Pama Dice, the Pyramids, the Cimarons and the Rudies.

Among the 138 tracks collected here, two are previously unreleased and a further 68 unavailable on any format for decades, ensuring this celebration of fast and furious boss sounds is an essential acquisition for any self-respecting fan of vintage reggae.

- 1 -
1. Fire In Mi Wire - Laurel Aitken
2. Quando Quando - Laurel Aitken
3. Rice and Peas - Laurel Aitken
4. Worried Over Me - the Classics
5. Reggae Prayer - Laurel Aitken
6. Deliverance Will Come - Laurel Aitken
7. The Rise and Fall (of Laurel) - Laurel Aitken
8. If You're Not Black - Laurel Aitken
9. Haile Haile (the Lion) - Laurel Aitken
10. Call Collect - Seven Letters
11. Carolina - Laurel Aitken
12. Kingston Town - Laurel Aitken
13. Donkey Man - Laurel Aitken
14. Woppi King - Laurel Aitken
15. Mr Soul - Laurel Aitken
16. Suffering Still - Laurel Aitken & Girlie
17. Reggae '69 - Laurel Aitken
18. Haile Selassie - Laurel Aitken
19. Blues Dance - Laurel Aitken & Girlie
20. Lawd Doctor - Laurel Aitken & Girlie
21. Big Fight In Hell Stadium - Laurel Aitken & Girlie
22. Run Powell Run - Laurel Aitken
23. A Message To You - Rico & Laurel Aitken
24. Save the Last Dance - Laurel Aitken
25. Walk Right Back - Laurel Aitken
26. Don't Be Cruel - Laurel Aitken
27. (Sloop) John B - Laurel Aitken
- 2 -
1. Island In the Sun - Winston Groovy
2. Work It Up - Winston Groovy
3. (My Girl) Josephine - Winston Groovy
4. Champagne and Wine - Winston Groovy
5. Babylon Gone - Rico & Laurel Aitken
6. Shoo Be Doo - Laurel Aitken
7. Landlords and Tenants - Laurel Aitken
8. Everybody Sufferin' - Laurel Aitken
9. Jesse James - Laurel Aitken
10. Freedom - Laurel Aitken
11. Pussy Price Gone Up - Laurel Aitken
12. Gimme Back Me Dollar - Laurel Aitken
13. Skinhead Train - Laurel Aitken
14. Kent People - the Gruvy Beats
15. Benwood Dick - Laurel Aitken
16. Apollo 12 - Laurel Aitken
17. Scandal In Brixton Market - Laurel Aitken & Girlie
18. Frankenstein - King Horror
19. I Can't Stand It - Winston Groovy
20. Stupid Married Man - Laurel Aitken & Girlie
21. Madam Streggae - Girlie
22. Think Me No Know - Laurel Aitken
23. Trombone Man - Rico
24. Pussy Got Thirteen Life - Laurel Aitken
25. Single Man - Laurel Aitken
26. Skinhead Wreck the Town - Laurel Aitken
27. Moon Rock - Laurel Aitken
28. Merry Xmas - Winston Groovy
- 3 -
1. Sin Pon You - Laurel Aitken
2. Everynight - Laurel Aitken
3. Cut Up Munno - Winston Groovy
4. The Vampire - King Horror
5. Cutting Blade - King Horror
6. Leaving Me Standing - Winston Groovy
7. Little Girl - Winston Groovy
8. The Hole - King Horror
9. Loch Ness Monster - King Horror
10. Zion I - Rico & the Visions
11. Funky Chicken, Part 1 - Winston Groovy
12. Funky Chicken, Part 2 - the Cimarons
13. Funny, Version 1 - Winston Groovy
14. Funny, Version 2 - the Cimarons
15. Sin, Sun and Sex - Pama Dice
16. Honky Tonk Popcorn - Pama Dice
17. Bongo Man - Pama Dice
18. Reggae Popcorn - Pama Dice
19. The Worm, Part 1 - Pama Dice
20. The Worm, Part 2 - Pama Dice
21. Only You - Laurel Aitken
22. I Can't Go On - Winston Groovy
23. Funky Monkey, Version 1 - Dice the Boss
24. Funky Monkey, Version 2 - Dice the Boss
25. Give Me Back Your Love - Trevor Lloyd
26. Hold Me - Trevor Lloyd
27. Chinee Brush - Trevor Lloyd
28. Real Collie - Dice & Cummie +
29. Loch Ness Monster (Alt. Tk.) - King Horror
- 4 -
1. The Worm - Pama Dice
2. You Can't Turn Your Back On Me - Winston Groovy
3. Funky Duck - Dice the Boss
4. Funkier Than Duck - Dice the Boss
5. The Naked City - King Horror
6. Wood In the Fire - King Horror
7. Mr Popcorn - Laurel Aitken
8. Share Your Popcorn - Laurel Aitken
9. I've Got To Have Your Love - Laurel Aitken
10. Blue Mink - Laurel Aitken & Gruvy Beats
11. Souls of Africa - Tiger
12. Dallas, Texas - Laurel Aitken & Gruvy Beats
13. Standing On the Corner - Winston Groovy
14. You Send Me - Winston Groovy
15. Nobody But Me - Laurel Aitken
16. Baby Please Don't Go - Laurel Aitken
17. Yellow Bird - Winston Groovy
18. For Your Love - Winston Groovy
19. I'll Never Love Any Girl - Laurel Aitken
20. Take Me Back - Laurel Aitken
21. Reggae Popcorn - Laurel Aitken
22. Here is My Heart - Winston Groovy
23. Birds and the Bees - the Gruvy Beats
24. Election - the Freedom Singers
25. Tomorrow's World - Fleece & the Live Shocks
26. Pick My Pocket - the Versatiles
27. Freedom - the Freedom Singers
28. The Outlaw - Laurel Aitken
- 5 -
1. So Much Love - the Classics
2. Same Old Feeling - the Classics
3. Nobody Else But You - Joe Lace
4. Version of Nobody - the Live Shocks
5. Baby I Need Your Loving (1970 Version) -Laurel Aitken
6. Think It Over - Laurel Aitken
7. Musical Scorcher - Tiger
8. Three Dogs Night - Tiger
9. Sex Machine - Laurel Aitken
10. Since You Left - Laurel Aitken
11. Groovin' - Winston Groovy
12. Sugar Mama - Winston Groovy
13. Witchcraft Man - the Inner Mind
14. Night In Cairo - the Inner Mind
15. Pum Pum Girl - the Inner Mind
16. Freedom - the Inner Mind
17. History of Africa - the Classics
18. Honey Bee - the Classics
19. Pachanga, Part 1 - Laurel Aitken
20. Pachanga, Part 2 - Laurel Aitken
21. Tennessee Waltz - Winston Groovy
22. Old Man Trouble - Winston Groovy
23. Why Can't I Touch You - Laurel Aitken
24. (You) Can't Turn Your Back On Me - Laurel Aitken
25. Mary's Boy Child - Laurel Aitken
26. Mary's Boy Child (Instr.) - the Rudies