Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Toots & The Maytals - Best Of (2001)


GREATEST HITS WEEK (JANUARY 17-23, 2011)

Frederick "Toots" Hibbert is never given enough credit for being a pioneer in the reggae genre. His name should be mentioned alongside those of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Toots was one of the first musicians to use the word reggae, in 1968's Do The Reggay (which, unfortunately, is not included in this compilation). This is the real deal which, to me, is very uplifting like a musical smile-in-a-CD case. You can hardly help tapping your feet or bobbing your head as you listen to it.

Tracks: Funky Kingston is a reggae classic. Other personal favorites include 54-46 Was My Number, Pressure Drop, Reggae Got Soul, Monkey Man, and Freedom Train. The surprise on this disc is a fantastic cover of John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads which is far superior to the original.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In the late '90s and early 2000's, I was going through what I considered to be a "world music" phase which led to the purchase of much reggae and Afro-Cuban music. This CD was picked up at that time.

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