“Operating in mid-seventies Kingston, the Ultra label was owned by Alty East, spar of King Sporty (who co-wrote Buffalo Soldier and would marry Betty Wright). Splitting his time between Miami and Jamaica, Alty licensed Studio One sides for US release; and he brought the American soul singer Jerry Jones to perform in Kingston. Whilst he can’t remember anything about it now — he was so busy at the time — Boris Gardiner ran the house band (though a couple of these rhythms were probably recorded by Lloyd Parks’ Skin Flesh & Bones).
Haphazardly collecting Ultra dubs and instrumentals, and originally released in a tiny run, with handmade, silk-screened covers, Super Dub is a snapshot of the same Kingston-Miami nexus, infectiously blending roots and soul into tough nuggets of dub reggae.
As bassist, Boris Gardiner worked nine-to-five at Studio One in 1968 — that’s him on Feel Like Jumping, and The Heptones’ On Top LP. He was at Treasure Isle for its most celebrated recordings. He worked at Aquarius. Derrick Harriott’s The Loser is his arrangement. He was a mainstay of The Upsetters band in the mid-seventies (War In A Babylon, Super Ape, Police & Thieves, Heart Of The Congos etc).
Soul fans will revel in versions of Gene McDaniels’ A Hundred Pounds Of Clay, Gwen McCrae’s Rocking Chair, Otis Redding’s Nobody’s Fault, Betty Wright’s Tonight’s The Night. And reggae fans will treasure the canonical lineaments running through the mix, channelled through Boris: for example the ghost of The Upsetters in more stripped passages, in the tightness of the rhythm section (with organ), and also Lee Perry’s dubwise way with a vocal; the thorough-going presence of King Tubby — check the killer Freedom Roots, a dub of Tony Scott’s Freedom — and Niney’s way with a horn section, on Rider Roots.
With excellent notes.” – Honest Jon’s
