Among the new wave of record producers who commenced their careers at the tail end of the 1960s, Alvin ‘GG’ Ranglin. Alvin scored numerous Jamaican hits yet remains one of the most under-rated and over-looked Kingston-based music makers of the 20th Century.

At the start of the 1970s, he cemented his reputation as one of the most popular reggae producers of his generation, expanding his roster to include some of the finest talents on the island, their number including The Ethiopians, Cynthia Richards, Charlie Ace, and The Slickers, as well as long-term stalwarts, The Maytones.

This 2CD collection, the second in a series of sets showcasing the very best of Ranglin’s productions from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, demonstrates the high quality of his output during one of the most fascinating periods in the development of reggae music.

Disc One
1. Music Keep On Playing – Cornel Campbell
2. Another Festival – The Maytones*
3. Bird Wing – Winston Wright*
4. Ring The Bell – Trevor & Keith*
5. They Hold I – Jack & Bill*
6. Willy My Darling – Paulette & Gee*
7. Since You Left – The Maytones*
8. Soul Music – Joseph Leeford*
9. Feel It More And More – Paulette & Gee
10. Ontarius Version – Charlie Ace
11. I Don’t Like To Interfere – The Maytones
12. Hold On Tight – Paulette & Gee*
13. Shock And Shake Version 3 – Charlie Ace
14. Rocking On The G.G. Beat – Cliff & Winston
15. Cleanliness – The Maytones
16. Happy Soul – Charlie Ace*
17. Flush - The The G.G. All Stars
18. Mr. Brown (Trevor Brown) 19. Minna Hear Me Now – Cliff & Winston*
20. Judgement Warrant – Val Bennett
21. Lonely Nights – The West Indians
22. Let The Version Play – The Maytones
23. Groove Me – Keeling Beckford
24. All One Nation – Cliff & Winston
25. Want Money – The G.G. All Stars
26. No Recommendations - The Soul Makers
*New to CD

Including some of the biggest reggae hits of the early 1970s, the first disc opens on Cornel Campbell’s reggae-lite Music Keep On Playing and The Maytones’ easy going Another Festival, and then we are lovingly brought Winston Wright’s rhythmic Bird Wing, Trevor & Keith’s shinga-dinga-ling of Ring The Bell, Jack & Bill’s pop-reggae bounce within They Hold I, the low slung Willy My Darling (Paulette & Gee), the delightful Since You Left (The Maytones), the beautifully crafted Soul Music (Joseph Leeford), the first section of the disc rounding out with the devotional love of Paulette & Gee’s Feel It More And More, the wicked riddim’s of Charlie Ace’s Ontarius Version, and both the sumptuous I Don’t Like To Interfere (The Maytones) and the late night mood found within Hold On Tight by Paulette & Gee.

Along next is the boss sounds of Charlie Ace’s Shock And Shake Version 3 and Cliff & Winston’s happiness found within the titular Rocking On The G.G. Beat, and they are in turn backed by the drum and bass smoothness of Cleanliness (The Maytones), the aptly-titled Happy Soul (Charlie Ace), the sunny Flush by The The G.G. All Stars, the effortless Mr. Brown (Trevor Brown), and the old style dubstep of Minna Hear Me Now (Cliff & Winston), before running through a stellar line of of tracks, inclusive of Val Bennett’s dance floor, saxophone and organ twirler Judgement Warrant, The West Indians’ Lonely Nights, the captivating Let The Version Play from The Maytones, the disc closing with Keeling Beckford’s aptly-named Groove Me, and both the spirited All One Nation (Cliff & Winston), the emphatic Want Money from The G.G. All Stars, and finally No Recommendations’ lush The Soul Makers.

Disc Two:
1. Groove Me – The Maytones
2. Do Something (Groove Mix) – Charlie Ace*
3. False Reaper – Gerald McLeash*
4. Love Bug – The Ethiopians
5. Black And White – The Maytones
6. Lover’s Affair – Charlie Ace
7. Devil’s Angel – Bunny & The Kiemanaires
8. Babylon A Fall – The Maytones
9. A Place In My Heart – Cynthia Richards
10. Sounds Of Our Forefathers – The Ethiopians
11. I Got To Go Home – The Invaders
12. Little Boy Blue – Vern & Son
13. Oh My Baby – The Slickers*
14. How Long Will You Stay – Paulette & Gee
15. Do You Remember – Roy & Bim
16. Bongo Man Rise – The Maytones
17. Starvation - The Ethiopians
18. King of Jamaica - Winston Wright
19. Aim In View - The Invaders *
20. You’ve Got A Friend – Cynthia & Irving
21. Run Babylon – The Maytones*
22. Jordan River – Maxie & Glen
23. Rod Of Righteousness – Jah Huntley
24. King Of Glory – Dennis Alcapone
*New to CD

The second disc of this most glorious collection of tracks that features many of the most popular reggae performers of the era, opens on The Maytones’ version of Groove Me and Charlie Ace’s ______ Do Something (Groove Mix), and then we get the laid back groove of Gerald McLeash’s False Reaper, the simply magical sounds of one of my own personal favorites from the era, The Ethiopians’ Love Bug, the cadenced Black And White by The Maytones, then come the smoothness found within Lover’s Affair (Charlie Ace), the sweet Devil’s Angel (Bunny & The Kiemanaires), before the first half ends with The Maytones’ metrical Babylon A Fall, Cynthia Richards’ A Place In My Heart, and both the gripping Sounds Of Our Forefathers (The Ethiopians) and the Invaders’ I Got To Go Home.

Along next, and keeping this glorious musical train solidly on its tracks, we get the song that most all Jamaican households were playing back in 1971, Little Boy Blue from Vern & Son, the reggae-pop bounce of both The Slickers’ Oh My Baby and Paulette & Gee’s How Long Will You Stay, and then come the big tune Do You Remember (Roy & Bim) and the larger than life sounds of The Maytones’ Bongo Man Rise, before we are adorned with the luxuriant Starvation (The Ethiopians), the brilliant King of Jamaica from Winston Wright, the slumbering goodness of Aim In View (The Invaders), the loving lyrical beats of You’ve Got A Friend (Cynthia & Irving), the recording, and indeed the 2CD set, coming to a close the profound Run Babylon (The Maytones), the Maxie & Glen cut Jordan River, Jah Huntley’s emphatically-driven Rod Of Righteousness, ending with Dennis Alcapone’s stylee King Of Glory.

Official Purchase Link