Byron Lee & The Dragonaires

DJ Catalist – Hot Witness
label: BSTRD Boots
year: 2010
soundcloud.com/alisterjohnson | facebook.com/alisterjohnson
side a: Hot Witness
side b: Real Soul

7" Series 746: DJ Catalist - Hot Witness

Great little mashup here of Marvin Gaye‘s classic “Can I Get A Witness” and Byron Lee & The Dragonaires‘ cover of James Brown‘s “Hot Pants”, “Make It Reggae”. On the flip, another Marvin track, his duet with Tammi Terrell, “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” gets tangled up with Lennie Hibbert‘s cover of Johnny Lytle‘s “The Village Caller”, “Village Soul”.

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Alister Johnson did a quite brilliant job, I’d say. The tunes sound really natural, and they work on the dance floor, too! You can stream/download “Hot Witness” from Catalist’s Soundcloud page.
Which is nice.

7-inch series, part 535 – Byron Lee & The Dragonaires / Richard Ace

Byron Lee & The Dragonaires / Richard Ace – Live and Let Die / Stayin’ Alive
label: Dynamite Soul
year: 2008
side a: Byron Lee & The Dragonaires – Live and Let Die
side b: Richard Ace – Stayin’ Alive
www.byronleemusic.com | www.myspace.com/richardjahaceandthesonsoface

Two curious covers by a couple of true veterans of ska – both Byron Lee (who past away last November) and Richard Ace were there when ska started. The first recording his first single at Edward Seaga‘s WIRL studio in 1959, the latter being the pianist during the very first ska experiments at Sir Coxsone Dodd‘s studio. The A-side is a reggaefied version of Macca‘s James Bond theme song “Live and Let Die”, the B-side a Jamaican take on The Bee Gees‘ “Stayin’ Alive”.
Funny detail: The Dragonaires were the hotel band playing in Dr. No, the very first Bond film.