VARIOUS ARTISTS

Tighten Up (Deluxe Edition)

(p) 2008-aug-08

 

Tracklisting:

 

CD 1:

Tighten Up, Vol 1...Plus

 
01 Tighten Up - The Untouchables  
02 Kansas City - Joya Landis  
03 Spanish Harlem - Val Bennett  
04 A Place In The Sun - David Isaacs  
05 Win Your Love For Me - George A. Penny  
06 Donkey Returns - Brother Dan All Stars  
07 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Joyce Bond  
08 Angel Of The Morning - Joya Landis  
09 Fat Man - Derrick Morgan  
10 Soul Limbo - Byron Lee & the Dragonaires  
11 Mix It Up - Kingstonians  
12 Watch This Sound - The Uniques  

-

Bonus Tracks (The 'B' Sides)

 
13 Good Ambition - Roy Shirley  
14 Out The Light (aka Mommy Out De light) - Joya Landis  
15 If I Didn't Know - Roy Shirley  
16 Handy Cap - The Upsetters  
17 It's All In The Game - Val Bennett  
18 Tribute to K.B. - Brother Dan All Stars  
19 Robin Hood Rides Again - Aubrey Adams & The Boys  
20 Love Letters - Alton Ellis & Phyllis Dillon  
21 South Parkway Rock - Val Bennett  
22 I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman (aka The Whistling Song) - Byron Lee & The Dragonaires  
23 I'll Be Around - The Kingstonians  
24 Out Of Love - The Uniques  

CD 2 :

Tighten Up Vol 1½ - The Alternatives

 
01 Eastern Organ - Brother Dan All Stars  
02 Jackpot - The Pioneers  
03 Penny For Your Song - The Federals  
04 Memories By The Score - The Paragons  
05 Teardrops Falling - The Versatiles  
06 Combination - Keeling Beckford  
07 The Fiddler - Nehemiah Reid  
08 Take Five (aka The Russians Are Coming) - Val Bennett  
09 Born To Love You - Derrick Harriott  
10 Way Of Life - Glen Brown, Joe White & Trevor Shield  
11 Train To Soulsville - Cool Sticky  
12 Intensified Girls - Anderson's All Stars  
13 Bookie Man - The Race Fans  
14 Uncle Charlie - The Mellotones  
15 Na Na - George Agard (as Johnny Melody) & The Slickers  
16 Good Time Rock - Hugh Malcolm  
17 Rent Too High - Ranny Williams & George Regent  
18 My Argument - Lloyd Charmers  
19 A.B.C. Rock Steady - The Gaylads  
20 In Like Flint - Byron Lee & The Dragonaires  
21 Lady With The Starlight - Ken Boothe  
22 Catch The Beat - The Pioneers  
23 Dance With Me - Delano Stewart  
24 Hold Your Jack - Derrick Morgan  
SANCTUARY / TROJAN, 1775154 2-CD

REVIEW IN ENGLISH:
SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall
AUTHOR: Teacha Dan



This two-cd set is a brilliant re-issue of the classic 1969 Tighten Up album. Normally reviews are mainly about music but this one will focus on the issue instead. The late sixties early reggae and Jamaican soul tunes that make up the Tighten Up series and early Trojan catalogue are pretty familiar amongst reggae fans and reviews on the original album have been widely available since it's release nearly forty years ago.

Just in business for roughly one and a half years, Tighten Up was Trojan's first successful album after already having released some 180 singles and twenty-five albums. The original album boasted twelve tracks that had all been successful singles in the second half of 1968. This re-issue does include all twelve original tracks and a staggering thirty-six more. The first disc includes all the flipsides of the Trojan hit singles that made up the original Tighten Up track listing, the second disc holds another twenty-four tunes that were also released during the same period of 1968.

Universal Music bought the Sanctuary Music Group in the summer of 2007 and as a bonus they got access to the full Trojan catalogue. Sanctuary had already spoiled reggae lovers with an incredible output of releases, reminiscent of Trojan's original strategy, ever since they acquired the catalogue in 2001. The general question was what Universal would do with such an elaborate listing of classics. This release answers that question reassuringly, less releases yield more value !

Sanctuary's release of the first Tighten Up was a single disc with thirteen bonus tracks of which only three remain here. Universal releases it as a Deluxe Edition, a line in which they have already released a string of classics including a few Bob Marley albums. Deluxe Editions always come in a see-through slipcase and always carry lots of bonuses. Perhaps the best bonus here is the twenty-page booklet that has plenty of insightful information on all tunes. Adorned with photo's it is a joy to look through and read. The case is laid out with original Tighten Up advertisements and the cover artwork is that of Trojan's big scoring re-release album, the best known front with the track listing on it. Big up to Universal.

(Teacha Dan, July 2008)