P: Augustus Pablo

10-22-09 P: Augustus Pablo

Instrumental dub reggae, mostly played on a melodica!

CD THIS IS…AUGUSTUS PABLO ABOVE ROCK ARM 2001

1972 14 TRKS

CD KING TUBBYS MEETS ROCKERS UPTOWN SHANACHIE SH 45059

1975 16 TRKS ('04 issue)

LP ROCKERS MEETS KING TUBBY IN A FIRE HOUSE SHANACHIE 43001

1980 9 TRKS

LP EAST OF THE RIVER NILE SHANACHIE 1003

1981 12 TRKS

CD EAST OF THE RIVER NILE SHANACHIE SH 45051

1981 18 TRKS (6 x bonus tracks)

CD CLASSIC ROCKERS ISLAND US 539953.2

1995 16 TRK Compilation

CD MELODICA KING, THE OCHO UK OCHOCD 004

2000 21 TRK Collection

CD VERY BEST OF JET STAR JSGCD 0452

2002 20 TRK Collection

CDx4 MYSTIC WORLD OF - ROCKERS STORY (4CD + DVD Set) SHANACHIE 45068

2008 67 TRK Collection + DVD

My collection is small, but my interest is large. And I know very little about him – not much more than one can learn from the liner notes of his 4CD + DVD boxed set, “Mystic World Of”. I arrived here after reading about “This is…Augustus Pablo”, likely in either Word or Mojo, calling it “The Best Dub Album Ever” (I think). No luck turning it up in L.A., so I got a copy on my next visit to Amoeba San Francisco (who probably has the mightiest reggae section in California). I don’t ‘smoke’, but…I really liked “This Is…”

I’ll be honest, I have never particularly done a lot of reggae. I was exposed to quite a lot of it, starting in the late 70’s. I have a very vivid memory of being in the Record & Tape Exchange in Notting Hill Gate, London, England in 1979 – and having instrumental dub reggae played (at me) for hours, as I poured through the 45 bins upstairs – I remember thinking “This stuff is preferable to the slick Bob Marley kind of reggae” or thereabouts.

So, I end up with a few “African Dub” LP’s, some Big Youth, an Althea & Donna collection…and now a stack of Augustus Pablo titles.

There’s something haunting about that lonely melodica sound, when baked into a smoke-filled dub reggae record…I guess I’ve listened to Mr. Pablo mostly on CD! The DVD that came in the boxed set showed him playing in Japan, so I’m glad that got to happen. The discography in the CD boxed set doesn’t look massive, but…when reggae titles can be ‘licensed’ from numerous sources, let’s just say that with the myriad re-releases and re-packagings – it’s sometimes hard to tell his non-Shanachie titles apart!