Michael Baxter | Leo Graham - Joe Gibbs Records - 1976 @mickeypenguin | Uploaded December 2019 | Updated October 2024, 9 seconds ago.
Joe Gibbs session with Errol Thompson engineering, squeezing this little beauty out of the studios of 24 Retirement Crescent Kingston 5...
Hearing this cut without the aid of looking at the record, the listener would not be blamed for thinking that this could actually be a Lee Perry engineered slice of wonderfulness. Afterall, Leo Graham had worked with Lee Perry throughout his career. Could this be possible? Whether master reels were lost / stolen / borrowed and the records pressed up with a Joe Gibbs label attached we could only summise. Until conclusive proof exists, this is a Gibbs / ET Thompson work.
I have listened to this record hundreds of times over the years and I cannot get Lee Perry out of my head! Maybe Leo and Lee having similar vocal styles don't help myself feeling this might have been recorded at Black Ark Studios rather than Joe Gibbs own studio!
This is the kind of things that I obsess about!
Prince Far I voiced over a version of "Perilous Time" while he was working with Joe Gibbs called "Johnny Reggae", a cut that was left off of the "Under Heavy Manners" album, which has now turned up on a couple of millenium era Prince Far I compilation albums.
Anyway this is great as you would expect from a Joe Gibbs label record (or indeed a Black Art released record - if that is indeed the case).
Leo Graham began his recording career as a member of the Jamaican harmony trio the Bleechers (with Wesley Martin and a third singer known only as Sammy) around 1968, when the group reportedly did some studio work for producer J.J. Johnson. The Bleechers are best remembered, though, for work they did with legendary auteur Lee "Scratch" Perry a year later, including "Check Him Out," which was a literal musical advertisement giving directions to a record store that Perry owned at the time on Charles Street in Kingston. For all its utilitarian and commercial intent, "Check Him Out" was a cheerful and infectious tune with wonderful harmonies from the group. When the group disbanded, Graham continued to record for Perry, including the track "Voodooism," "Black Candle" and "Doctor Demand". Graham also did work with producer Joe Gibbs in the late '70s, sessions that had songs released on record which included "Perilous Time," "A Win Them" and "Not Giving Up".
Joe Gibbs session with Errol Thompson engineering, squeezing this little beauty out of the studios of 24 Retirement Crescent Kingston 5...
Hearing this cut without the aid of looking at the record, the listener would not be blamed for thinking that this could actually be a Lee Perry engineered slice of wonderfulness. Afterall, Leo Graham had worked with Lee Perry throughout his career. Could this be possible? Whether master reels were lost / stolen / borrowed and the records pressed up with a Joe Gibbs label attached we could only summise. Until conclusive proof exists, this is a Gibbs / ET Thompson work.
I have listened to this record hundreds of times over the years and I cannot get Lee Perry out of my head! Maybe Leo and Lee having similar vocal styles don't help myself feeling this might have been recorded at Black Ark Studios rather than Joe Gibbs own studio!
This is the kind of things that I obsess about!
Prince Far I voiced over a version of "Perilous Time" while he was working with Joe Gibbs called "Johnny Reggae", a cut that was left off of the "Under Heavy Manners" album, which has now turned up on a couple of millenium era Prince Far I compilation albums.
Anyway this is great as you would expect from a Joe Gibbs label record (or indeed a Black Art released record - if that is indeed the case).
Leo Graham began his recording career as a member of the Jamaican harmony trio the Bleechers (with Wesley Martin and a third singer known only as Sammy) around 1968, when the group reportedly did some studio work for producer J.J. Johnson. The Bleechers are best remembered, though, for work they did with legendary auteur Lee "Scratch" Perry a year later, including "Check Him Out," which was a literal musical advertisement giving directions to a record store that Perry owned at the time on Charles Street in Kingston. For all its utilitarian and commercial intent, "Check Him Out" was a cheerful and infectious tune with wonderful harmonies from the group. When the group disbanded, Graham continued to record for Perry, including the track "Voodooism," "Black Candle" and "Doctor Demand". Graham also did work with producer Joe Gibbs in the late '70s, sessions that had songs released on record which included "Perilous Time," "A Win Them" and "Not Giving Up".
