Burning Spear: Mek We Dweet

 Burning Spear: Mek We Dweet

1990

Island Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Mek We Dweet  2. Civilization  3. Garvey  4. Elephants  5. My Roots  6. Take A Look  7. Great Men  8. One People  9. African Women  10. Mek We Dweet In Dub


I think I've covered my Bud Light & Clamato Chelada addiction (aka: alcoholism) in previous posts...

Couldn't get enough of the damn things...

Anyway, one night I was at the local Pride station (which has the most supernaturally low beer prices I've ever seen...I have no idea how they do it) and ran across these...

Foam Michelada cups! This wasn't the exact brand (the brand I usually  bought  somehow does not exist online...wha?), but the concept was similar...A foam cup filled with spicy powder and a couple of Saladitos (dried, salted plums) that you fill with beer and tomato juice (optional)...And oh my God!!! So great...I never even bothered with the tomato juice...It was so delicious as is...

I spent the last year or so buying them like freakin' crazy!  But then roughly a month ago I went to Pride to pick up my usual $14.99 30-pack of Rolling Rock and Michelada cup, but this time something was wrong!  The rack that was usually filled with Micehlada's wasn't there anymore...Just a shelf with a bunch of crappy wine! What?!

"Are you out of Michelada's?" I asked the girl at the counter.

"Oh, yea...I don't see 'em...We must be out..."

Alright...A minor setback...My weekend would seem a little empty, but no big-ola...I can go back to Bud Light Chelada's for a weekend...But over the following weeks, I kept going back and going back and still...Nothing but crappy wine...

I hate you yellow wine!!!

Out of desperation, I went to every other liquor store I could think of, but to no avail...No place carried the damn things anymore...So I decided to take matters into my own hands...

Well, I had plenty of beer...And Saladitos are no problem to find...Any gas station sells those...

But what was that powder? Chili powder? Cayenne pepper? I wasn't 100% sure, but last weekend I was at Walmart and saw this...

Fruit Seasoning!! One look at it and I could tell it was the seasoning inside the Michelada cup! I opened it up and tasted it right on the spot to be sure (Note: I would have bought it, even if it wasn't, since I did open it...The Friday Night Record Party never condones theft (chops stealing hand off thieving infidel))...And yup! This was it...I bought it along with a bottle of Worcestershire sauce...

I got home, mixed the Saladitos, Fruit Seasoning, Worcestershire and beer together in a big cup and YES! I'm stating this mixture is roughly 90% accurate...I think I know what's missing...I think a bit of lime would put this over the top, so I'll pick up some next time I'm at my local grocers...I'm also missing the Tamarind, which I remember seeing as in the ingredient list on those old foam cups, but what I have is close enough...I've been happily gulping this stuff down by the bucketful  since I first made them...Try it at home sometime if you like, it's delicious as hell...

But I didn't invite you here to swap recipes, I invited you here to talk about some Burning Spear...

Well, I enjoyed "Marcus Garvey" so much I decided to jump ahead 15 years and a dozen albums and get right down to the nitty gritty...1990's "Mek We Dweet"!

Nah, I didn't plan on making this my second Burning Spear album...It was just the only other one I've found so far...I played this over and over, reading and re-reading the album title, trying to figure out what in the hell "Dweet" meant...I've listened to enough Jamaican albums to pick up a bit of patois and could usually decipher any new words that would come up, but this one had me stumped...

Dweet, Dweet, Dweet....

 Turns out I was over-thinking it..."Dweet" is exactly what it sounds like..."Do it"...And "Mek" is "make," and "we" is "us," so I think what's being said is essentially "Make Us Do it"..."Let's Do it"?  "Let's do it for Jah Jah Rastafari"... I dunno...Anyway, for awhile this was a thing keeping me up at night...

Boy, listening to this back to back with "Marcus Garvey" would be jarring if the opening track wasn't so immediately likeable...This album is bright, happy shiny, slightly synthetic  late 80's-early 90's reggae...But it's among some of the best I've heard from that particular subset of reggae...See, if the music seems a bit synthetic it's not a problem because Spear himself brings such deep, rootsiness to it all...

Still, it's the type of album you listen to while lying on a beach while you're drinking a pina colada out of coconut with a little umbrella in it....The title track just makes you so happy to be alive... Winston's semi-toasting style fits this sunny style to a tee..."Mek we dweet, make me dweet...." Great shit if you any love whatsoever for 80's reggae (yes, I'm aware this came out in 1990, but it sounds very 80s')...

Then the second track, "Civilization" storms in with pop metal guitar riffing and I had to make sure someone didn't replace my Burning Spear record with a Winger record...But it turns out it's just a bit of set dressing and the light reggae starts up again...

I'll give you three guesses as to who the third track (titled "Garvey") is about...

 Ding! Ding! You guessed correctly...Again, Burning Spear is at his/their best when singabout Marcus Garvey, so I'm not going to complain...If it ain't broke don't fix it, I guess...

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this album..Could have been worse...I think even if you have a deep hatred for 80's production you might be able to dig the title track at least...It's hard to hate on something so positive, even if its never going to be in the same ballpark as his classic "Marcus Garvey" album...

Here's "Mek We Dweet" by Burning Spear...Enjoy..

Burning Spear: Marcus Garvey

Burning Spear: Marcus Garvey

1975

Total Sounds Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Marcus Garvey  2. Slavery Days  3. The Invasion  4. Live Good  5. Give Me  6. Old Marcus Garvey 7. Tradition  8. Jordan River  9. Red, Gold & Green


This album always seems to be a fixture on everybody's list of "greatest reggae albums of all time" but I had never really gotten around to hearing the whole thing. Just a few listens to the title track on ye olde Limewire and youtube (is that the RIAA I hear knocking?)...

Given the amount of Jamaican music I consume, its absence from my record shelf seemed somewhat odd...Anyway, I rectified that oversight about a year ago when I found a used copy...To be honest, even if I was utterly unaware of its reputation, I probably would have been so enticed by the shiny silver cover and stately drawing of Marcus Garvey that I would have bought it anyway...That pic of Garvey is incredible...It looks like it should be on a dollar bill or something...

 

And man, are people right...This is an excellent album...Deep, deep roots reggae...Thick, spare and hazy with heavy political lyrics...Although the thickness, spareness, and haziness may vary based on the version you buy...The common Island records version was remixed and cleaned up...I don't have that particular version, but I have listened to it online and it is indeed clearer and punchier, which may enhance or detract from your enjoyment based on your tolerance for murkiness...See, I love the stormy feel of the original mix so I'm glad I have the version I have (minus the mis-drilled hole which is basically a given when you purchase Jamaican vinyl)...

 Singer Winston Rodney (who I believe was originally just a member of the band Burning Spear but eventually started referring to himself as Burning Spear) kinda reminds me of a chantier version of  Culture's Joseph Hill (although I should point out that Burning Spear predates Culture)...Often finding that sweet middle ground between singing and toasting...

 The best tracks are any one that has "Marcus Garvey" in the title (by my count, Burning Spear has written around a dozen songs about Mr. Garvey)...The title track (just plain ol' "Marcus Garvey") is one of the defining moments in reggae history...Did roots ever sound deeper? Did a reggae performance ever sound more righteous?  Although "Slavery Days" is just as potent...The lyrics are incredibly brutal and to the point:

"Do you remember the days of slavery?

And how they beat us,
And how they worked us so hard,
And they used us,
'Til they refuse us..."

So yea, if you're drawn to reggae for the good vibes and "one love" mentality this album might be a hard pill to swallow at times...But y'know what? People should swallow some hard pills every once in awhile...And without a glass of water to wash it down...

 Just a big, dry pill...Swallow it, baby!

So yea, total classic...I'll throw it in the top-whatever reggae albums of all-time...Nary a Friday Night has gone by where I haven't spun at least one track from this album, so that's got to count for something...

Here's "Marcus Garvey" by Burning Spear (Island mix...I can't find the Jamaican mix on youtube and I don't feel like converting the vinyl...I have things to do...TV to watch...)...Enjoy...