Occasionally something previously unknown comes across my doorstep that kind of grabs me by the lapels. Such is the case with Derrick Morgan\u2019s 1972 rocksteady\/reggae triumph, Development<\/i>. First, let me say that when it comes to the universe of rocksteady, ska, reggae, dub, etc., etc., I am an utter novice. I have friends that have taken a very deep dive and, in fact, not long ago, one of them handed me a copy of King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown<\/i> at a record store and asked me if I\u2019d heard it. I hadn\u2019t. You probably have. Anyway, he said he\u2019d buy it back if I didn\u2019t like it. Of course, it\u2019s wonderful. Point being, I\u2019m rather out of my purview here.<\/p>\n
But what I do know, thanks to press materials and liner notes, is that Derrick Morgan had been a hit maker in Jamaica for some years before he released Development<\/i> at the age of 32. The album was for decades a vinyl white whale, its one-time pressing so flawed that most copies immediately ended up in the trash. The few copies that survived literally bounced around Jamaica to the point of un-playability. With the master tapes somewhere in the abyss, Sutro Park took it upon themselves to compile this first-ever reissue from the best versions of each song they could find from whatever vinyl copies were available. And they did a fantastic job.<\/p>\n
As soon as I heard the first song, \u201cSend A Little Rain,\u201d I knew this was going to be up my alley. The sound is the definition of organic, warm, fuzzy, and, might I add, the percussion is incredible. Then there\u2019s Derrick Morgan\u2019s voice, a classic mix of assuredness and melancholia, a combination I can never resist. \u201cWho Knows\u201d follows that wistfulness into ruminations on what might become of a romance, with the clear-eyed understanding that just because things are going well today doesn\u2019t mean they will be tomorrow. And vice versa. Morgan\u2019s voice is gentle and comforting, the beat slow and steady, the guitar hanging back, horns answering Morgan\u2019s plea, every note tasteful and in its place. (Note: There is no information included about the other musicians, if they\u2019re even known.)<\/p>\n
While the first two songs were written by Morgan, \u201cNever See My Baby\u201d is a cover. I wish I could say I knew it was originally by Horace Andy, but I had to check Discogs. And I\u2019m still not sure that\u2019s exactly accurate. Anyway, this is a beautifully melancholy song about trying to keep one\u2019s baby from walking, and it\u2019s played at the perfect tempo for\u2026 walking. \u201cStanding By You\u201d is a bit of a rocksteady lullaby, and I won\u2019t even guess who did it originally. \u201cOne Morning In May\u201d is another original, and one of my favorite tracks, with a vibe that I will venture to say straddles the rocksteady\/reggae line. But, again, what do I know? In any case, accompanied by rolling carnival organ, Morgan manages to gracefully segue from attempting to woo a girl to commenting on child support, or the lack thereof. \u201cFather Killam,\u201d a song dating back to late \u201960s Jamaica, strikes me as more straight ahead reggae here, but it\u2019s gritty and tough, just the way I like it. <\/p>\n
\u201cStill Around\u201d starts side two with another fantastic example of that mix of confidence and sadness that I was talking about, with Morgan dismissing his detractors while at the same time sounding like the harsh words cause him far more sorrow than he\u2019s letting on. A buzzing hi-hat throws accents in the background while organ bubbles and burbles. That organ really comes to the foreground in \u201cHold Your Jack,\u201d playing counterpoint to the guitar, and it\u2019s interesting to hear the quality of the sources vary slightly from song to song. This track, in particular, is a little muted. But rather than detracting, it adds to the air of authenticity, as if you\u2019ve been transported back to the fully analog Kingston of the early 1970s, the humidity hanging heavy around your ears. Assuming I\u2019ve got my facts straight, \u201cIt Won\u2019t Be This Way\u201d goes back to the early \u201960s and a soul group called The King Pins. In fact, there is more than a little soul creeping around the edges of these songs, Morgan\u2019s honeyed voice lending itself to digging deep. \u201cBring In The Guns\u201d is a reggae-ified plea for the youth of Jamaica to hand over their weapons (including homemade bombs!), a great tune that, sadly, has just as much resonance over half a century later.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe Na Run\u201d continues riffing on the previous idea of turning in one\u2019s guns (and homemade bombs) and working for unity, a reminder that the specter of violence lurks in the background of so much of this seemingly gentle, peaceful music (see Bob Marley). \u201cFestival 10\u201d ends the album with majestic horns and a hope that everyone can come together and have a nice time at a festival after, judging by the lyrics, things had started to get a bit dicey following\u2026 well, Festival 1.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
As of this writing, Mr. Morgan is about to celebrate his 84th birthday, and if you like the reggae, rocksteady, and ska originators, I think you\u2019re going to really dig Developments<\/i>. In fact, after I received this record I sent a link to some online tracks to my aforementioned friend. He was not familiar with this particular album but texted back after a few minutes: \u201cWhelp, I\u2019ll be buying this Derrick Morgan album.\u201d With music this deep, there\u2019s always more to hear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":34977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10944],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-46849","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-derrick-morgan","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46849"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}