LKJ Index
Clappers International
Eric Blowtorch:
Four of the most exciting, relentless, hard-edged, uncompromising collections of songs ever recorded are Linton Kwesi Johnson's albums for Island Records, Forces of Victory, Bass Culture, LKJ in Dub, and Making History. They were not his first - Dread Beat an' Blood, released under the name Poet and the Roots on Virgin in 1978, thrust LKJ into world prominence on the strength of his angry, morally conscious poems of black British life set to heavy, deadly reggae rhythm tracks. Nonetheless, those four albums, released over five years starting in 1979, comprise a significant body of great music that also stands up as great poetry.
In materially incomplete but artistically faithful form, Island Records (at the time of these recordings independent, now a PolyGram subsidiary) has made most of their LKJ recordings available as a double CD-only set.
My first exposure to LKJ's music was "Want fi Goh Rave," the first song on Forces of Victory and the opening song on Independant Intavenshan. With a swinging, assured feel built on a minor-key boogie-woogie piano figure and a distant, militant horn line, it is a perfect piece. The young (still in his 20s) but already authoritative voice of Linton expresses the joy, agony, danger, and boredom of life from a ghetto youth perspective given poetic elegance in a unique recitational style based on the deejay talkover delivery still popular in Jamaican music.
Delivered through gritted teeth, "It Noh Funny" is a brutal chant in which Linton speculates on who the pillager of the community is: who are 'dem' who would "tek chance with your lickle sister Sally" or simply "tek chance for dem love blues dance"? Your enemies or your peers? Forces of Victory, as opposed to the debut Dread Beat an' Blood, an album that demanded to know which side the listener claimed, is a relentless demand for the truth, no matter how ugly (See "Sonny's Lettah," in which the protagonist Sonny retaliates against a policeman's brutalizing of his brother when "mi kick him in him seed/And him started to bleed"). "Funny Dub," previously available only on 12" disco plate, is a pounding piece of militant steppers reggae full of sheer physical power.
Every selection on Independant Intavenshan offers some aspect of perfection. "Time Come," with John Kpiaye's simple surf guitar coda, "Fite Dem Back," a militant declaration of pure anti-fascist emotion (the chorus of which is LKJ's only recording not in Jamaican patois), "Bass Culture" and its attendant dub, stinking wet with dread atmosphere, "Wat About di Workin Claas?," a sneering mockery of Soviet and American claims to leadership over world citizens, and the rest reflect a writer who is perfectly aware. perfectly alive. LKJ's politics are on point and his music is familiar, yet forceful with its gloriously heavy steppers beats.
Independant Intavenshan includes 12" mixes of "Di Black Petty Booswah" and "Di Eagle an' Di Bear," plus dub versions from singles and LKJ in Dub. There are versions uncollected here worth seeking out; start with the self-published LKJ in Dub Volume 2.
"Insohreckshan Dub," a version of "Di Great Insohreckshan" from Making History, and "Historic Dub," a version of that album's title song (not to be confused with the superior "Historic Dub" on LKJ in Dub Volume 2) are the only new releases on this 35-song set. "Insohreckshan Dub" is a great dub, full of blood and bass, but there has to be more where this came from. It's also less half the picture - there are five other LKJ albums, all of them at the top of any artistic totem - but Independent Intavenshan is a valiant attempt at bringing three crucial recordings back to the fore.
The sleeve and booklet design is attractive, with a fantastic collection of photographs (though some of the best are reproduced on microscopic scale), but the liner notes are an insipid and apparent attempt to reduce the significance of LKJ's work in a series of rap music trade publication clich=E9s, and there are several egregious mistakes: guitarist John Kpiaye's name is misspelled throughout, as is Stokely Carmichael's at least once).
Email: ebeaumont@biztimes.com
Entertainment Weekly
(10/30/98, p.117) -"...These two CDs...showcase Johnson's partnership with Dennis Bovell--one of reggae's greatest producer-arrangers--in full flower. With jazzy, mile-deep grooves and fearless urban truth-telling, they were England's own dub-wise Public Enemy. Essential."
Order Independent Intavenshun
LKJ Index
Clappers International
Email: lkj@cwcom.net
Official Website: www.lkjrecords.com