Trojan Presents: Mento & R&B – 40 Roots Of Reggae Classics
Before the advent of ska in the early Sixties, Jamaican music was dominated by two other indigenous music styles: mento and Jamaican blues or blues beat.
The calypso-flavoured sound of mento prevailed on the local music scene during the years immediately following WWII and remained the most popular home-grown style until the development of Jamaican R&B or blues beat in the late Fifties. This new sound was at first indiscernible from old-style American R&B, but soon developed a sound of its own that ultimately led to Ska.
Until now, despite their importance in the development of modern Jamaican music, both mento and Jamaican R&B have been largely overlooked, but this, the first in a new 2CD series highlighting the various genres to have dominated the islands music over the past 50 years, finally redresses the balance by presenting 40 of the most popular tracks in the respective styles.
Performed by some of the most celebrated performers from the era, this is undoubtedly the most comprehensive collection of early Jamaican sounds and will not only appeal to fans of its immediate descendent, ska, but also devotees of vintage American R&B.
Track Listing
- Night Food - Chin's Calypso Quintet
- One Kiss for My Baby - Lord Lebby
- Boogie in My Bones - Laurel Aitken
- Please Let Me Go - Owen Gray
- Dumplings - Byron Lee and The Dragonaires
- Tell Me Darling - Jackie Edwards
- Far Love - Owen Gray
- Little Vilma - Luther 'Wee Willie' Williams & His Orchestra
- Too-woo-up-to-woo - The Jiving Juniors
- Jenny Lee - Owen Gray
- Worried Over You - Keith & Enid
- Talking Parrot - Charlie Binger
- The Wasp - Bubbles
- Strip Tease - Lord Power
- Ethiopia - Lord Lebby and the Jamaican Calypsonians
- Limbo - Lord Tickler
- Little Sheila - Laurel Aitken
- Hoola Hoop Calypso - Count Owen
- We're Gonna Love - Wilfred 'Jackie' Edwards
- Jamaica Is the Place to Go - Charlie Binger & His Quartet
- Fat Man - Derrick Morgan
- A Thousand Teardrops - The Rhythm Aces
- Girls Rush - Lloyd Clarke
- Last Night - Byron Lee
- Referendum Calypso - Lord Laro
- You Said You Loved Me - Lloyd Robinson
- I'm Sorry - Jimmy Cliff
- My One Desire - The Sonny Bradshaw Quartet
- Independent Jamaica - Lord Creator
- Sugar Dandy - The Jiving Juniors
- Behold - The Blues Busters
- Jenny V - Teddy Brown
- Come Back My Love (Aka I Need Your Love) - Basil & Yvonne
- Album of Memory - The Mellowlarks
- S-U-K-I-N - Kes Chin
- Whenever There's Moonlight - Jackie Edwards
- Now We Know - Derrick Morgan
- Verona - Jimmy Sinclair
- Times Are A-going - Martin & Derrick
- Baa Baa Black Sheep - Sir Dee's Group
