Dennis Brown / Campbell,Al - Exit & Hold You Corner 2 (Exp) (Uk) [CD]

Widely acclaimed as one of Jamaica's most gifted producers and the island's most influential music maker of the 1980s, Lloyd James AKA King Jammy, is today rightly revered as a titan of reggae music. After initially making his mark on the local music scene in the 70s, mixing tracks in the studio under the supervision of his mentor, the legendary King Tubby, Jammy demonstrated his talents as a record producer with the release of a series of immensely popular recordings that saw issue towards the decade's close. The hits and acclaim continued into the early 80s, but it was the arrival of the digital era, kick-started by his production of Wayne Smith's smash hit, 'Under Me Sleng Teng' in 1985, that resulted in him dominating the Jamaican music scene. A year after the release of Smith's hugely popular 7" single, Jammy signed a deal with Trojan Records to whom he delivered a number of superior albums, including the two collections that provide the primary focus of this CD collection. Opening the set is the best-selling 'The Exit' (AKA 'History') by Jamaica's Crown Prince of Reggae, Dennis Brown, which incredibly makes it's CD debut, almost 40 years since it first saw issue. Equally as fine is 'Hold Your Corner' by another of reggae music's vocal greats, Al Campbell, although for reasons long since lost in the mists of time, the LP (and most of it's tracks) has remained unreleased until now. Rounding off the collection are four high quality recordings by the ever-popular Leroy Smart and the similarly talented, if less celebrated Mighty Rudo, with the quartet of tracks, like the sets from Dennis Brown and Al Campbell, recorded in 1986