Browse by Artist: MINOTT, SUGAR

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	The Roots Lover: 1978-1983
Label:	MOLL-SELEKTA (GERMANY)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	MOLL 014CD

The Roots Lover 1978 - 1983 is the first collection of Sugar Minott's best maxi-singles with extended versions (plus two additional intros). Lincoln "Sugar" Minott played a major role in the story of Jamaican music as a singer, songwriter, producer, label man and sound system instigator. His singing voice was as sweet as honey (hence the nickname) and graced both roots and lover's rock compositions in equal measure. Born Lincoln Barrington Minott in 1956 in West Kingston, Jamaica, his career actually began as part of the vocal trio African Brothers in 1970. After departing with the group in 1976, Sugar signed a solo contract with Studio One, and Sugar set about writing his own lyrics over the classic riddims of Jamaica's most famous label, as well as penning his own songs. Sugar's way of working on covers laid down the foundations for the later coming dancehall movement, and his debut album Live Loving can lay claim to being the very first dancehall album, with Roots Radics or the Revolutionaries, top class musicians in their own right, accompanying Sugar on many of his songs. His uniquely sweet, almost hushed vocal style became his trademark. Bob Marley loved it and declared Sugar to be one of his favourite singers in Jamaica. Three albums (Live Loving, Showcase, More Sugar) and a number of singles later, he set up his own Black Roots Production and Youth Promotion Company labels in 1978, along with the Youth Promotion Soundsystem, which was a springboard for ghetto kids to get to work in the studio. In 1980 he moved to London, where the UK was under the spell of lover's rock, which Minott took full advantage of whilst masking the fact that he was equally at home in Jamaican roots. Sugar would later go back to his roots in Jamaica scoring a hit with the ganja hymn "Herbsman Hustling" -- one of the founding elements of rootical dancehall. In 1988 he turned increasingly political and his African Soldier album (1988) is dedicated to the freedom fighters in South Africa opposing Apartheid. Throughout much of the rest of his career, he drew attention to Africa's rich history, its culture and perception of Ethiopia as the promised land of Zion. Venturing away from conventional reggae into crossover territory in the '90s, he started to address themes of love and cultural awareness, showing himself to be a singer who moved easily between the poles of roots reality and the poetry of love. Here is the ultimate roots reggae collection, chock full of unearthed extended versions to round off a portrait of Sugar Minott which confirms him as the greatest Jamaican protagonist of roots and lover's rock, captured at the most important moments of his musical story.

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	The Roots Lover: 1978-1983
Label:	MOLL-SELEKTA (GERMANY)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$16.50
Catalog #:	MOLL 014LP

Double LP version. The Roots Lover 1978 - 1983 is the first collection of Sugar Minott's best maxi-singles with extended versions (plus two additional intros). Lincoln "Sugar" Minott played a major role in the story of Jamaican music as a singer, songwriter, producer, label man and sound system instigator. His singing voice was as sweet as honey (hence the nickname) and graced both roots and lover's rock compositions in equal measure. Here is the ultimate roots reggae collection, chock full of unearthed extended versions to round off a portrait of Sugar Minott which confirms him as the greatest Jamaican protagonist of roots and lover's rock, captured at the most important moments of his musical story.

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	Sugar Minott at Studio One
Label:	SOUL JAZZ RECORDS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	SJR 104CD

"Sugar Minott began his career at Studio One in the early 1970s. After auditioning in front of Coxsone Dodd, where he performed over original Studio One tapes, Sugar Minott became one of the first artists at the label to record new songs over classic rhythms. Other artists followed suit at the label such as Freddie McGregor, Johnny Osbourne and Michigan & Smiley leading to one of the most creative periods for the label. This is the first retrospective of Sugar Minott at the label and most of these recordings have never been widely available outside Jamaica. Sugar Minott went on to a huge career in Reggae and is today one of the biggest stars in Jamaican music. This album includes classic cuts as well as super-rare singles only recordings, all of which have been digitally re-mastered for this release. The release also comes with extended interview with Sugar Minott and exclusive photos."

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	Dance Hall Showcase Vol. II
Label:	WACKIE'S (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	WACK 1002CD

Lincoln "Sugar" Minott is known as the godfather of dancehall. Not only playing a major role in the story of Jamaican music as a singer, songwriter, producer, label man and sound system instigator, his voice appeared on pretty much every major roots, reggae and dancehall record of the era. He was part of the Studio One renaissance of the late 1970s, and started his own Black Roots and Youth Promotion stables, nurturing young talent. These key four songs and their dubs -- slotting in lovers, bubblers and rockers, originally appeared in 1983 as a picture-sleeve 10" on the Black Roots imprint. "Everyone played 'Informer,' all the sounds," recalls Rae Cheddie, who remembers selling more than 500 copies straight from the Wackies office in Soho, London. "It was international -- a couple of boxes went to Japan, some to Mad Robbie at Fotofon." "Special dedication to all dancehall fans," it says on the label," and dancehall it is, with well-charged dub, great playing and Sugar brilliantly focused throughout. Including two bonus tracks from Jah Batta and Little John.

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	Dance Hall Showcase Vol. II
Label:	WACKIE'S (GERMANY)
Format:	10"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	WACK 1002EP

10" vinyl version. Four songs and their dubs -- slotting in lovers, bubblers and rockers, and well-charge dub, with great playing and Sugar Minott brilliantly focused throughout -- which originally appeared in 1983 as a picture-sleeved 10" on the singer's Black Roots imprint. "Everyone played 'Informer,' all the sounds," recalls Rae Cheddie, who remembers selling more than five hundred copies straight from the Wackies office in Soho, London. "It was international -- a couple of boxes went to Japan, some to Mad Robbie at Fotofon." "Special dedication to all dancehall fans," it says on the label.

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	Wicked Ago Feel It
Label:	WACKIE'S (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	WACK 1718CD

"During the period of this 1984 recording, Sugar Minott was arguably the brightest star in reggae music world-wide. In the early 70ies he had single-handedly revived the fortunes of Studio One, before cutting a string of hits for Channel One. Meanwhile his Youth Promotion sound system and his own label Black Roots nurtured fresh new talent like Tenor Saw, Nitty Gritty and Junior Reid. After moving to London at the turn of the decade, his international smash 'Good Thing Going' brought Sugar a rash of lucrative major label offers, which he declined, preferring to link up with Bullwackies in New York. This album -- for the first time on CD here -- contains the full vocal versions of tracks included on the dub album African Roots Act 3. With the core of his band drawn from the Wackies group Itopia, Sugar Minott sings inimitably for lovers, bubblers and rootsmen all. He recasts Michael Jackson again; and -- alongside Studio One maestro Jackie Mittoo in the studio -- revisits his all-time favorite album, The Heptones On Top. For those who like their Sugar unrefined, raw and uncut."

Artist:	MINOTT, SUGAR
Title:	Leave Out of Babylon
Label:	ZENAH (FRANCE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	DG 81108CD

"He is one of the most outstanding voices that Jamaica has ever produced, yet Sugar Minott is much more than just a singer. As a harmony specialist, he leant depth and texture to the works of many fellow artists and his song writing ability has been noted as unswervingly excellent. He was part of the Studio One renaissance of the late 1970s, helped usher in the lover's rock craze in the early 1980s and then become one of the leading dancehall figures; as proprietor of the Black Roots and Youth Promotion stables, he nurtured young unknowns and cut self-produced work of a consistently high standard. In the incredibly rich history of reggae music, Sugar Minott is simply exceptional. This new album Leave Out of Babylon, perhaps the most roots-oriented set he's released in the last twenty years, was recorded at Zenah studio in Montreuil on the outskirts of Paris with a group of committed local musicians steeped in the consciousness of Rastafari. Zenah's studio is analogue and they favour live recordings, bringing the quality of the past to a sound that is always facing forward. Their approach forms a perfect platform for Sugar's versatility, so the result is highly inspiring. Overall, this album is a testament to the lasting quality of Sugar's unique voice and his powerfully poetic command of the word. These are pertinent works that speak of what's happening today, making it another great set in the ever-growing canon of Lincoln Sugar Minott."

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