don't check me with no lightweight stuff — BLOOD & FIRE poll

this is literally 100% bangers -- this wasn't their entire catalogue, was it? they were such a titanic presence -- anyway for me the most beloved discs here are Jesus Dread, Open the Iron Gate, the Dennis Brown titles, Don't Check Me With No Lightweight Stuff, Niney, Pick a Dub which is totally incredible, and Prince Far I. Prince Far I gets the nod from me even though it's not his hardest set, but "Johnny Get Worse" is one of my favorite tracks ever made and Far I is so special to me. I think I Roy would be second for me these days, you can just let I Roy play for an age

xp
I don't think I'm going to get around to doing my own top 50 poll, but thinking about it made me reflect on how important this label was to me as several of these immediately sprang to mind as obvious top 50-ers — so many of these were genuinely life-changing! Also I lurked on the B&F message board a lot, which may have been life-changing in a way too lol

Hard to ignore some of the canonical classics like Heart of the Congos, Social Living, Pick a Dub, Mr Isaacs, or Open the Iron Gate (which maybe isn't canon, but is radical and I'm a little fonder of it than War Ina Babylon). Jesus Dread is a supremely justified ilm sweetheart. That Big Youth set is incredible & crucial. The Horace Andys are excellent. As mentioned elsewhere, I-Roy rules. Probably hard to distinguish among all the amazing dub but the Glen Brown / Tubby set is superb.

A couple of less-heralded ones I adore: Chantells' Children of Jah—probably gets my vote; I can listen to this anytime and it's still so beautiful, maybe even beatific—and the Willi Williams is really great, swampy & smoky, put it on the other day for the first time in a while and was enthralled.

And unfortunately there are a few I've never heard, so let me know if you rep for: Greenwich Farm Rub-A-Dub (not sure how I missed this one given my otherwise comprehensive approach to the Tubby-related releases), U Brown, Inner Circle & The Fatman Riddim Section, or the final two (probably can't go wrong with Far I or Yabby, but I guess I was a little burned out when these dropped?).

this wasn't their entire catalogue, was it?

I think nearly. I cut the label samplers and the Congos/ Fisherman thing. I mistakenly thought Abyssinians /Tree of Satta was similar to the Fisherman release, meaning it included contemporary recordings, but I think I was wrong about that — sorry if someone really wanted to vote for that! I do love that riddim.

I hope I didn't miss anything else :/

Impossible, but also I haven't heard a bunch of these, would be a good listening project (after all these Art Blakey and Autechre records I have lined up, lol)

well you've got a month :)

Yabby You “Jeaus Dread” !!
What a great label.

I have a lot to hear! (I haven’t heard any of these.)

went w/ Prince Far-I but there is so much great stuff here

Yabby U was the big revelation for me. I had nearly the whole catalogue of this label. Why did I sell them??????? (I sold nearly my entire music collection last year and after the buyer got all these I realised..."oh. these aren't streaming or available as downloads...shit"). Didn't Mick Hucknall fund this label or something?

xp
alright dang, I need to hear that Far I asap

Jesus Dread captures the B&F ethos the best I think: an astounding collection but also p daunting to non-nerds. Casual listeners are like "is something wrong with your stereo?" but once you've fallen into deep reggae fandom, the prospect of multiple versions lined up in a row for two CDs is a treasure

yeah, Hucknall was one of the cofounders. I don't know much about the behind the scenes drama, but I believe B&F is featured in a book about indie labels?

man I went on a Dennis Brown & Gregory Isaacs midmorning spree off this thread. highly recommend this as a midmorning strategy

I've heard maybe a dozen of these, definitely need to check out some of the others... Leaning towards voting for Yabby U – King Tubby's Prophesy of Dub.

Unbeatable catalogue.

Yabby U v. I Roy. My sister had "Prophesy of Dub", plain cover with the title written on it in ballpoint pen, so I kind of grew up with it, so I think I'll have to vote for that.

Absolutely incredible label. I voted Darker Than Blue: Soul from Jamdown, but it could have easily been a dozen other titles on this list. The Sylford Walker / Welton Irie was probably the one I was most impressed with since I didn't know much by either artist before picking it up. The Glen Brown comp is maybe even better than the Keith Hudson Pick A Dub selection that seems to be more widely praised. Either way, these are mega-mega classic compilations/albums.

You may be pleased to hear that I voted for the Salford Walker because (faced with the same impossible choice) I thought it might not get the love it deserved.

Pretty much the only thing they did that I didn't love was releasing records (eg the incredible Dennis Brown "Promised Land" one) which were effectively expanded versions of existing LPs but re-naming and re-ordering them - it was mildly irritating if you already know the LP. This doesn't even count as a criticism, just a strange thing I noticed a few times.

Jah Stitch – Original Raggamuffin 1975–1977
Morwell Unlimited Meet King Tubby's – Dub Me
Big Youth – Natty Universal Dread

I bought these at the time and can't remember anything off them because I haven't listened to them in years, same with a few more on here. The two I listened to most at the time were In The Light and Heart of the Congos. It will all come back to me.

I was listening to the Jah Stitch album last Sunday.

B+F was such a such a hallmark of quality, always expected nothing less than outright classics and underexposed gems getting the re-issues.

too hard and would change by the week. maybe Pick A Dub this week.

Darker Than Blue: Soul from Jamdown, 1973-1977 is AWESOME but it's not B&F is it??

It totally is!

i had to exclude The Congos from consideraton as it is too good and default winner in almost every poll it appears in.

(I had to check because i sometimes mix it up with the also-excellent but quite different “Don’t Call Us Immigrants” comp on Pressure Sounds, I think I maybe bought them on the same day)

weird. my copy is on PK.

https://www.discogs.com/release/552184-Various-Darker-Than-Blue-Soul-From-Jamdown-1973-1980

X post

Weird indeed - looks like B&F only did a CD of that one, hadn’t heard of that arrangement.

My copy is also on PK but I don’t care. It’s in the list and it’s an amazing compilation. There was an unofficial follow up comp that came out the last couple years that was also terrific.

So much to love here but I'd be hard pushed not to vote for Congos

There was an unofficial follow up comp that came out the last couple years that was also terrific.

please feel free to point us in the direction of this.

It’s this one:

https://www.discogs.com/release/10733087-Various-Doing-Our-Thing-More-Soul-From-Jamdown-1970-82

Great music, excellent sleeve notes and photos, nice packaging, great sounding pressing.

thanks! i have a couple of these on 7" but most are new to me. must get.

this poll made me pull out Jesus Dread and it is hitting the spot, ty

Thanks for that link bld, looks and sounds vg.

Is that label dicey? I was under the impression that Bear Family and associated labels were generally pretty good with licensing and so on.

Anyway clicking around a bit I saw this on a sly & Robbie comp they put out, new to me and sounds amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2SXGLmSPIA

Mr Isaacs is class, such a great album.

listening to the Dillinger track on it makes want to dig out CB 200

Bookmarking this thread, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Xxxpost - the only other release I have on Cree label is the George Faith - To Be A Lover reissue. That one also sounds and looks great. Seems legit to me but I’ve not looked into it at all. The two releases I have on the label are very well done.

cornell campbell record was really good too

i have the Lancelot Layne album on Cree which is beautifully done. i had no idea they were not legit.

I think I misunderstood the word “unofficial”! I don’t think we’ve any real suggestion they’re not legit and I’m sorry for confusing things.

NP!

absolutely love darker than blue, some incredible versions on there: “slipping into darkness,” “ain’t no love,” “baltimore,” “it’s a shame.”

plus killer originals from boris gardiner, welton irie, the in-crowd

yeah that's a fantastic comp and a really good way to get funk/soul fans hooked on reggae

cornell campbell record was really good too

Indeed. "Bandulu/Hard Time" is esp. awesome.

I just bought the Hudson, I-Roy, and Jamdown CDs based on this thread, ty all

the I-Roy arrived today and it fuckin rules, thanks again rob for doing this poll

my pleasure! the other two you ordered are fantastic too

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Bollocks, I missed this. What an incredible line-up! Agree with Stir that Congos win by default, so my vote would have been Jesus Dread or In the Light/In the Light Dub.

I would totally follow a 'listen along' thread for this label.

I guess I was the only vote for Jesus Dread but that’s really a testament to the quality of this amazing label. Mourn U 4 ever, my B &F CD collection

i forgot to vote in the end. congos a deserved winner and happy to see prince far i up there. i would probably have gone for keith hudson as i have been obsessed by him the last few years. pick a dub is classic but not even in his top 5 best imo.

Maybe this is a good place to ask: if I own Jesus Dread and also Shanachie's 2-disc Dread Prophecy set, do I need the new Conquering Lion reissue, or am I pretty well covered? Also, anyone have any opinions on the vinyl?