Big Youth:Screaming Target

Big Youth:Screaming Target

Sanctuary Records

1972

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Screaming Target  2. Pride & Joy Rock  3. Be Careful  4. Tipper Tone Rock 5.  One Of These Fine Days  6. The Killer  7. Solomon A Gunday  8. Honesty  9. I Am Alright  10. Lee A Low  11. K.G.'s Half Way Tree (Augustus Pablo And The Simplicity People)    12. Origan Style - (Augustus Pablo)  13. Screaming Target (Version 2)  14. Pride & Ambition  (Leroy Smart)  15. Their Own Way Version (The Simplicity People)  16. Try Me  (Roman Stewart)   17. Tipper Tone Rocking (Version 2)  18. Rhythm Style (The Simplicity People)  19. One One Cocoa  (Gregory Isaacs).  20. Skylarking (Version)  (The Society Squad)  21. Anywhere But Nowhere (Version) - (The Simplicity People)  22. Slaving (Every Day) - (Lloyd Parks)  23. No More Slavery  (Glen Brown)  24. 24. I'm Alright (AKA Loving Pauper) - (Gregory Isaacs)
I  have about 50 or so Jamaican reggae/ska/dancehall records;  most of the obligatory  must-own standards  and a smattering of ones that are more obscure....I  probably listen to it more than the average person but I'm by no means an expert on it, so if I sound a bit more ignorant than usual, that's probably why...Feel free to pitch in or correct me when I'm off...
I kind of consider this album one of the obligatory must-have standards.I've been long fascinated by this record cover...I swore to myself if I ever ran across a copy I'd buy it on the spot...I couldn't care less what the music on it sounded like...It was all about that shaky "SCREAMING" font and that awesome pink, black and gray target...That's  a color scheme you don't see much for some reason... It was probably about 2007 or so, when I found a CD version at the local ZIA records...I was surprised I enjoyed the music as much as I liked the cover...Big Youth was a Jamaican deejay who toasted over popular roots-reggae tracks of the day...Sort of a precursor to rap...This doesn't sound a lot like the toasting you might be used to though...It's an earlier style...Easier to understand and in a more conversational tone....The lyrics are very much in the 70's social-consciousness mode, as Big Youth urges us to go to school, take care of the elderly, do your chores, etc... The album was produced by Gussie Clark who used backing tracks from his other productions for Big Youth to toast over...What's cool about this CD version, is that it includes the original songs as bonus tracks...So after you get done hearing Big Youth's "Pride and Joy Rock" you can listen to Leroy Smart's classic "Pride & Joy" for reference...Really, the bonus tracks themselves would have made a killer reggae compilation, tons of cool artists and songs there... I liked this album so much I give it a brief shout--out in the TA-80 track "Pills, Pills, Pills." The original line was  "moving target" but I decided to change it..."Screaming Target" felt more spiritually honest..I've posted a video for our song below...The "Screaming Target" reference occurs about 0:33 seconds into the track... Alright...Now let's check out the actual "Screaming Target" by Big Youth...Enjoy.,..
(Here's a bunch of extra space it won't let me remove for some reason...)
(and here's some more empty space...Ponder its unknowable vastness...)