Buju Banton: Buju and Friends
2004
VP Records
Format I Own it on: Compact Disc
Track Listing: Disc 1: 1. Bonafide Love (feat. Wayne Wonder) 2. Who Say (feat. Beres Hammond) 3. Little More Time (feat. Beres Hammond) 4. Wicked Dickie (feat. Nadine Sutherland) 5.Hotness (feat. Heavy D & the Boyz) 6. Love Dem Bad (feat. Red Rat) 7. Teaser (feat. Bounty Killer) 8. Get It On (feat. Wayne Wonder) 9. What I'm Gonna Do (feat. Nadine Sutherland) 10. I Do (feat. Fundisha) 11. We Set the Principal (feat. Beenie Man) 12. Ring the Alarm (feat. Tenor Saw) 13. Watch How You Flex (feat. Ed Robinson) 14. A So (feat. Tony Rebel) 15. Weary (feat. Culture) 16. Hang On (feat. Gregory Isaacs) 17. I Dare Not Be Ungrateful (feat. Leroy Sibbles) 18. 54-46 That's My Number (feat. Toots Hibbert)
Disc 2: 1. 23rd Psalm (feat. Morgan Heritage) 2. Massa God World (feat. Wayne Wonder) 3. Complaint (feat. Garnett Silk) 4. Give I Strength (feat. Ras Shiloh) 5. We Will Be Alright (feat. Luciano) 6. Mother's Cry (feat. Jah Mali) 7. Sound in the Air (feat. LMS) 8. Can You Play Some More (feat. Beres Hammond) 9. My Woman Now ( Beres Hammond) 10. Childish Games (feat. Marcia Griffiths) 11. Closer (feat. Marcia Griffiths) 12. "Poor Old Man (feat. Stephen Marley) 13. Want It (feat. Twiggy) 14. Make My Day (feat. Brian Gold & Tony Gold) 15. Commitment (feat. Wayne Wonder 16. No More Misty Days (feat. Rancid) 17. Tribal War (feat. Brian and Tony Gold, Tony Rebel, Terry Ganzie) 18. Good Times (feat. Fat Joe & Beres Hammond) 19. All Will Be Fine (feat. Sons and Daughters Choir)
A compilation album, featuring previously released duets (I have a good number of these tracks on other albums)... 37 tracks spread over two discs and clocking in at over two and a half hours...And all wrapped in an ugly-as-sin album cover...
To be totally honest, I have no idea who a good number of these performers are (LMS, Jah Mali, are just a few examples of artists whom I've never run across before) and some I only know from Buju Banton albums (Garnett Silk, Beres Hammond), but that's probably attributable to my sheer ignorance of modern Jamaican music...
Being a compilation with countless different contributors (spanning a lengthy period of time), a surprising majority of the tracks work...I counted maybe 5 or 6 skip-worthy tracks...
I have no idea who Red Rat is, but his performance On "Love Dem Bad" here absolutely makes my ears bleed...To give him a fair shake I decided to youtube another one of his songs, but the incessant yelping was too much...I dig his Vanilla Ice eyebrows though...
."Commitment" with Wayne Wonder is also particularly hellish for me...Maybe if I was into smoove R&B I'd be into it...But yuck...
I tend to lean more towards the duets with the classic reggae legends than the ones with modern dancehall artists and rappers...But again, that's probably due to listening to pretty much only classic Jamaican music..I can't help it! I love that era! Most of the new stuff I hear leaves me cold...
Buju teams up with Toots Hibbert (who I consider to be the greatest Jamaican artist of all time, so I
might be a bit biased here...) for a spirited take on the Maytals "54-46 That's My Number." It's also great to hear him with old-schooler Gregory Isaacs, who brings the soulful smoothness to "Hang On"...
I also love "Weary" which features reggae legends Culture (who we'll cover very soon-ish...I'm almost done w/ the "B" sections and will very soon get into the "C"'s ...So get your bong ready for the Culture section!) I love Joseph Hill's voice...He always sounds so congested and snotty...Kind of a reggae version of Al Green...but rougher...
Buju also does a cover of "Ring the Alarm" by Tenor Saw. It's not technically a real duet, seeing that Tenor Saw had been dead for well over a decade by this point, but any day you get to hear Tenor Saw do "Ring the Alarm" is a good day...Tenor Saw was early dancehall but his voice was so melodious...If you've never heard the 80's original, you've got to check it out, if you're into reggae...I posted a link below...Now you have no excuse...
(Come to think of it, just a month or so ago , I did the Big Audio Dynamite section and noticed that on the "Megatop Phoenix" record, they also do a snippet of "Ring the Alarm" on the track "Rewind." I meant to mention it there, but failed to for some reason...I was probably running late for work or something...)
I originally picked this up after falling in love with the Rancid collaboration "No More Misty Days." There's actually two different versions of this song that I know of...The version I heard first was the more raw and rocking take that was included on the "Give 'Em the Boot II" compilation... The version on "Buju and Friends" is the same one included on his 2000 album "Unchained Spirit"...
This version is a little weaker (and waaaay longer) with a more chilled-out feel (and the guitars being more U2 than street punk)...Still an excellent track with checking out...One of his best, but surprisingly not my favorite track on here...My favorite has to be...
"23rd Psalm" with Morgan Heritage! So great! Extremely serene, with beautifully quiet singing and instrumentation....I have fond memories of driving around Tucson at night playing this song over and over...It never fails to make me feel completely at peace with the world in a way few songs do...I have zero idea who Morgan Heritage is but...damn! They really bring out the best in Gargamel...I should check them out someday...
...Ulp! I just checked 'em out...They're pretty awful...Maybe they used to be cooler or something...Either way "23rd Psalm" is amazing...
It's excessive length means "Buju and Friends" is a lot to take in (and therefore, probably not the best place to start if you're just getting into him). The album is probably best enjoyed best broken up into smaller listening sessions than the marathon I just endured, but at the same time it actually works pretty well at showcasing Buju Banton's many sides....It's pretty cool to have all these in one place....
Let's check out "No More Misty Days" by Buju Banton and Rancid...Enjoy...
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