Various Artists - Trojan Presents Mento & R&B: 40 Roots of Reggae Classics / 2CD set

2015 CD collection. 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.

    - Disc 1 -
    1 Night Food - Chin's Calypso Quintet
    2 Talking Parrot - Charlie Binger
    3 Strip Tease - Lord Power
    4 Ethiopia - Lord Lebby and the Jamaican Calypsonians
    5 Limbo - Lord Tickler
    6 Little Sheila - Laurel Aitken & the Caribs
    7 Hoola Hoop Calypso - Count Owen
    8 We're Gonna Love - Wilfred 'Jackie' Edwards
    9 Jamaica Is the Place to Go - Charlie Binger & His Quartet
    10 One Kiss for My Baby - Lord Lebby
    11 Boogie in My Bones - Laurel Aitken
    12 Please Let Me Go - Owen Gray
    13 Dumplings - Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
    14 Tell Me Darling - Jackie Edwards
    15 Far Love - Owen Gray
    16 Little Vilma - Luther 'Wee Willie' Williams & His Orchestra
    17 Too-Woo-Up-To-Woo - the Jiving Juniors
    18 Jenny Lee - Owen Gray
    19 Worried Over You - Keith & Enid
    20 the Wasp - Bubbles
    - Disc 2 -
    1 Fat Man - Derrick Morgan
    2 Jenny V - Teddy Brown
    3 Album of Memory - the Mellowlarks
    4 S-U-K-I-N - Kes Chin
    5 Whenever There's Moonlight - Jackie Edwards
    6 Now We Know - Derrick Morgan
    7 Verona - Jimmy Sinclair
    8 Times Are A-Going - Martin & Derrick
    9 Baa Baa Black Sheep - Sir Dee's Group
    10 a Thousand Teardrops - the Rhythm Aces
    11 Girls Rush - Lloyd Clarke
    12 Last Night - Byron Lee
    13 Referendum Calypso - Lord Laro
    14 You Said You Loved Me - Lloyd Robinson
    15 I'm Sorry - Jimmy Cliff
    16 My One Desire - the Sonny Bradshaw Quartet
    17 Independent Jamaica - Lord Creator
    18 Sugar Dandy - the Jiving Juniors
    19 Behold - the Blues Busters
    20 Come Back My Love (Aka I Need Your Love) - Basil & Yvonne