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 Discs
Screaming Target 1973 : Jah Youth's debut album features a strong set but is compromised by the mix which seperates vocals from the rythm, one per speaker which gets really frustrating to listen to - my advice flip to mono whilst checking it out.. Hit The Road Jack, 1976? Natty Cultural Dread - contains some excellent toasts, particularly Wolf in Sheeps Clothing and Jim Squashy but also some pretty abysmal attempts at singing - particularly Touch Me In the Morning -eeuch! Every Nigger is a Star is ok - I think it was a pretty big hit at the time Dread Locks Dread released 1979? was the first Big Youth album I heard and I reckon in some ways its the best , even though those in the know reckon its too commercial - including Youth himself , but check out the wicked instrumentals with some American dude playing a mean harp Negusa Negasa , released sometime in the eighties dont know much about this album except that it supposedly contains an excellent afro-beat workout which sounds worth checking out Every Day Skank, an excellent Trojan compilation of some of the best of Big Youth, Cool Breeze is a wicked workout over the Stop That Train rythm Blood & Fire compilation - I think its called Everyday Skank looks like the business - maybe a bit exhuasting to listen to in one go Other Bits & Pieces Jah Youth briefly features in Rockers as himself getting out of a rather fly vehicle testament to his success at the time. Check out a recent interview he gave in Roots fanzine - he comes over a bit high handed. For UK residents check him out at the Essential Festival in London sometime in July - as I said the man doesn't tour often
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Big Youth
Renowned "cultural toaster" Augustus Buchanan AKA Big Youth, rose to prominence in the early Seventies, following hard on the heels of the Deejay Daddy, U-Roy.
What set Jah Youth apart from his peers in the early seventies was his unapolagetic rasta stance; sporting locks and using "conscious" lyrics over the toughest rythms of the day.
His style on the mic was, and is second to none, a sort of laid back delivery incorporating chanting, moaning and screeching delivered with impeccable timing.
Jah Youth was 'THE' deejay in Jamaica during the mid-Seventies, doing great work with the 'Roots Radics' band. Many of his hits were self-produced and appeared on his own Agustus Buchanan label: - lets face it you were anybody in the music scene in Jamaica you had to have your own label.
These days I think Jah Youth still lives in Jamaica, doing the occasional tour:- well worth seeing him in action, if you get the chance. I saw him do a wicked set in London a few years ago, he is returning this July at the 'Essential Festival'.