The Heptones – Party Time (Mango/Island, 1977).

Junior Murvin – Police & Thieves (Mango, 1977).

Augustus Pablo – King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (Clocktower/Shanachie, 1976).

Max Romeo & the Upsetters – Revelation Time (Trojan/Blood & Fire, 1975).

Horace Andy – Dance Hall Style (Wackie’s, 1982).

Bob Andy – The Music Inside Me (Jigsaw, 1976).

Toots & the Maytals – Reggae Got Soul (Mango, 1976).

Keith Hudson – Playing It Cool & Playing It Right (Joint, 1981).

Noel Ellis – Noel Ellis (Summer/Light In The Attic, 1983).

Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey (Mango, 1975).

Culture – Two Sevens Clash (Shanachie, 1977).

Bob Marley & the Wailers – Catch A Fire (Tuff Gong/Island, 1972).

Bunny Wailer – Blackheart Man (Island, 1976).

The Mighty Diamonds – Right Time (Shanachie, 1976).

The Abyssinians – Satta Massagana (Heartbeat, 1976).

Max Romeo & the Upsetters – War Ina Babylon (Mango/Hip-O Select, 1976).

George Faith – To Be A Lover (Black Swan/Hip-O Select, 1977).

Yabby You – Conquering Lion (Prophets, 1974).

Cedric Im Brooks – The Light Of Saba (Total Sounds/Honest Jon’s, 1976).

Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus – Dadawah, Peace & Love (Trojan, 1974).

Bob Marley & the Wailers – Natty Dread (Tuff Gong/Island, 1974).

Toots & the Maytals – In The Dark (Trojan, 1974).

Justin Hinds & The Dominoes – Jezebel (Island, 1976).

Toots & the Maytals – Funky Kingston (Mango, 1973).

The Congos – Heart Of The Congo (Blood & Fire, 1977).

But if your only point of reference is Bob Marley (whom I love and is well represented), or you’ve only associated reggae only with annoying hackey sack-tossing college trustifarians, you’ll find some rewarding stuff here. It shows my obsession for Toots & The Maytals, and my preference for quirky, lesser known albums by Rico, Justin Hinds, Cedric Brooks, Ijahman and all things Lee Perry. The vast quantity of records made during the crazy and chaotic era of reggae’s 70’s peak guarantees this will continue for some time.

Every year previously unknown gems are being unearthed and reissued. I wouldn’t be surprised if musician was the top occupation, at least through the 80s. Since the early 1960s, there has been an unprecedented proportion of talented active musicians in Jamaica. A couple decades later, I’ve absorbed hundreds of albums, visited Jamaica, read a dozen books on it, and participated in reggae discussion forums.

I wasn’t entirely wrong, but it wasn’t until college that I learned from a couple dreads with a radio show that there was more to reggae than Marley. I thought Bob Marley was a folk singer when I first heard of him around the time he died.

Natty dread bob marley rar