Michael Baxter | Culture & Ranking Joe - Baldhead Bridge / Babylon Bridge - Errol T Records -- 1977 @mickeypenguin | Uploaded September 2022 | Updated October 2024, 13 minutes ago.
Probably my favourite of the mid to late seventies reggae harmony trios, Culture. The best material was recorded in the sessions for Errol T and Joe Gibbs, and also a little later on, for Errol Brown and Sonia Pottinger.
The Errol T and Joe Gibbs recording sessions spawned several 7" and 12" singles by Culture with a host of toasters along for the ride, and two jaw droppingly good albums released in 1977 and 1978, 'Two Sevens Clash' and 'Baldhead Bridge'. Both albums are pretty much flawless and were released in the UK on the Lightning and Lazer record labels. The Errol Brown and Sonia Pottinger recording sessions led to several 7" and 12" singles, again with a host of toasters, and the release of three excellent albums from 1978 through to 1980; 'Harder Than The Rest', 'Cumbolo' and finally; 'International Herb'. All those albums are also wonderful, all being released in the UK on Virgin Frontline.
Those five Culture albums adorn my collection and will never leave. Moreover, in my opinion, which might be worth 'F' all, those five albums are the absolute pinnacle of Culture's legacy of music. They are all so good. The Errol T and Joe Gibbs recorded material especially. This 12" version of 'Babylon Bridge' has Ranking Joe toasting nicely across the rhythm with Errol T twisting the knobs wonderfully throughout.
There is a weird stereo / mono dropout on my 12" record, at thirteen minutes twenty seconds which lasts for fifteen seconds. It is actually on the record, rather than my recording.
Words below ripped off of the allmusic webpage:
Vocal trio Culture helped define the sound and style of Rastafarian roots reggae, thanks largely to charismatic singer, songwriter, and leader Joseph Hill. True to their name, Culture’s material was devoted almost exclusively to spiritual, social, and political messages, and Hill delivered them with a fervent intensity that grouped him with Rastafarian militants like Burning Spear and Black Uhuru. Their classic debut, Two Sevens Clash, is still considered a roots reggae landmark, and most of their other late-’70s output maintains a similarly high standard. After a hiatus, Culture returned in the mid-’80s with a lighter, more polished sound that drew from more eclectic musical sources. Yet the force of their message never softened, and they soldiered on into the new millennium.
Joseph Hill had been trying his hand at a solo career for some time before forming Culture. He first started out as a disc selector for various sound systems in his hometown of Linstead, in St. Catherine Parish. From there he joined a group called the Soul Defenders as a percussionist and part-time vocalist. The Soul Defenders worked at Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s legendary Studio One in 1971, cutting backing tracks for a variety of vocalists. Hill himself recorded several solo numbers during that time, including “Behold the Land” and “Take Me Girl,” but nothing came of them. The Soul Defenders returned to St. Catherine to work the hotel lounge circuit in northern Jamaica, and Hill floated through several bands prior to forming Culture in 1976. His cousin Albert Walker came to him with the idea of forming a vocal group, and the two quickly recruited another cousin, Roy “Kenneth” Dayes, to sing harmony vocals along with Walker.
Initially calling themselves the African Disciples, the trio hooked up with producer Joe Gibbs in Kingston, and soon changed their name to Culture. Overseen by Gibbs and engineer Errol Thompson, aka the Mighty Two, they debuted with the single “This Time” on Gibbs’ Belmont label. Not long after, they broke through with several hit singles, including “See Them a Come” and “Two Sevens Clash.” The latter was a Rastafarian vision of the rapidly approaching apocalypse, which fueled public paranoia in an already violent election year; it also provided the title track of the group’s debut album, which was released in 1977 to tremendous acclaim. Featuring other crucial tracks like “Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion” and “Natty Dread Take Over,” Two Sevens Clash was a spiritual manifesto against racial injustice and poverty. It won a huge following not only in Jamaica, but also the U.K., where the growing punk rock movement was discovering a kinship with protest reggae and connected immediately with the album’s powerful disaffection.
Unhappy with their financial dealings with Gibbs, Culture soon splits for a brief and contentious stay at Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label, where they started (and never quite finished) a new album titled Africa Stand Alone; the results were eventually released as they were, without authorization. Meanwhile, Gibbs released leftovers from the Two Sevens Clash sessions on two more LPs, Baldhead Bridge (whose title song was a hit) and More Culture. By the end of 1977, Culture had already moved to Sonia Pottinger’s High Note label and recorded three excellent albums in quick succession: 1978’s Harder Than the Rest and 1979’s Cumbolo and International Herb.
Probably my favourite of the mid to late seventies reggae harmony trios, Culture. The best material was recorded in the sessions for Errol T and Joe Gibbs, and also a little later on, for Errol Brown and Sonia Pottinger.
The Errol T and Joe Gibbs recording sessions spawned several 7" and 12" singles by Culture with a host of toasters along for the ride, and two jaw droppingly good albums released in 1977 and 1978, 'Two Sevens Clash' and 'Baldhead Bridge'. Both albums are pretty much flawless and were released in the UK on the Lightning and Lazer record labels. The Errol Brown and Sonia Pottinger recording sessions led to several 7" and 12" singles, again with a host of toasters, and the release of three excellent albums from 1978 through to 1980; 'Harder Than The Rest', 'Cumbolo' and finally; 'International Herb'. All those albums are also wonderful, all being released in the UK on Virgin Frontline.
Those five Culture albums adorn my collection and will never leave. Moreover, in my opinion, which might be worth 'F' all, those five albums are the absolute pinnacle of Culture's legacy of music. They are all so good. The Errol T and Joe Gibbs recorded material especially. This 12" version of 'Babylon Bridge' has Ranking Joe toasting nicely across the rhythm with Errol T twisting the knobs wonderfully throughout.
There is a weird stereo / mono dropout on my 12" record, at thirteen minutes twenty seconds which lasts for fifteen seconds. It is actually on the record, rather than my recording.
Words below ripped off of the allmusic webpage:
Vocal trio Culture helped define the sound and style of Rastafarian roots reggae, thanks largely to charismatic singer, songwriter, and leader Joseph Hill. True to their name, Culture’s material was devoted almost exclusively to spiritual, social, and political messages, and Hill delivered them with a fervent intensity that grouped him with Rastafarian militants like Burning Spear and Black Uhuru. Their classic debut, Two Sevens Clash, is still considered a roots reggae landmark, and most of their other late-’70s output maintains a similarly high standard. After a hiatus, Culture returned in the mid-’80s with a lighter, more polished sound that drew from more eclectic musical sources. Yet the force of their message never softened, and they soldiered on into the new millennium.
Joseph Hill had been trying his hand at a solo career for some time before forming Culture. He first started out as a disc selector for various sound systems in his hometown of Linstead, in St. Catherine Parish. From there he joined a group called the Soul Defenders as a percussionist and part-time vocalist. The Soul Defenders worked at Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s legendary Studio One in 1971, cutting backing tracks for a variety of vocalists. Hill himself recorded several solo numbers during that time, including “Behold the Land” and “Take Me Girl,” but nothing came of them. The Soul Defenders returned to St. Catherine to work the hotel lounge circuit in northern Jamaica, and Hill floated through several bands prior to forming Culture in 1976. His cousin Albert Walker came to him with the idea of forming a vocal group, and the two quickly recruited another cousin, Roy “Kenneth” Dayes, to sing harmony vocals along with Walker.
Initially calling themselves the African Disciples, the trio hooked up with producer Joe Gibbs in Kingston, and soon changed their name to Culture. Overseen by Gibbs and engineer Errol Thompson, aka the Mighty Two, they debuted with the single “This Time” on Gibbs’ Belmont label. Not long after, they broke through with several hit singles, including “See Them a Come” and “Two Sevens Clash.” The latter was a Rastafarian vision of the rapidly approaching apocalypse, which fueled public paranoia in an already violent election year; it also provided the title track of the group’s debut album, which was released in 1977 to tremendous acclaim. Featuring other crucial tracks like “Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion” and “Natty Dread Take Over,” Two Sevens Clash was a spiritual manifesto against racial injustice and poverty. It won a huge following not only in Jamaica, but also the U.K., where the growing punk rock movement was discovering a kinship with protest reggae and connected immediately with the album’s powerful disaffection.
Unhappy with their financial dealings with Gibbs, Culture soon splits for a brief and contentious stay at Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label, where they started (and never quite finished) a new album titled Africa Stand Alone; the results were eventually released as they were, without authorization. Meanwhile, Gibbs released leftovers from the Two Sevens Clash sessions on two more LPs, Baldhead Bridge (whose title song was a hit) and More Culture. By the end of 1977, Culture had already moved to Sonia Pottinger’s High Note label and recorded three excellent albums in quick succession: 1978’s Harder Than the Rest and 1979’s Cumbolo and International Herb.
