Just Add Sugar. . .
Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 03/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There are certain artists in reggae music who have as much place in the music as the actual word REGGAE does. These artists, through several means, have managed to carve out a place for themselves which have made them into household reggae names. Obviously, you have the superstars of the genre; with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and Dennis Brown being at the top of that list, but you also have other artists whom, although may be less known (and in some cases very SLIGHTLY less known), have made similar places for themselves both in Jamaica and the extended international reggae community. Oddly enough (as the stereotypical reggae singer tends to be a dreadlocked singer, singing about the things, both good and bad, going on in the world) it has been the dancehall where MANY of these artists have come from, particularly in recent years. Of course, you have the Beenie Man's, the Sean Paul's and the Elephant Man's of the world all of whom, as dancehall DJ's have managed to make HUGE strides in the international scene, after `conquering' the local scene (although Sean Paul managed to circumnavigate that process) (although I think he was on his way), however, as they eventually move on into the latter stages of their careers, there will be more and more artists waiting to take their places in the business, just as they did artists who had come before them. Instead, the names who have managed to make themselves a part of the reggae LANDSCAPE for this era in the dancehall, are artists like Beres Hammond and Sanchez. Particularly it is the case of Hammond who has so subtly made not only his music, but himself, his entire persona down to his manner of dress (with the old leather hat) virtually LIVING reggae music. The dancehall just will NEVER be the same when Hammond stops making music (which doesn't appear to be anytime soon). Similarly, but not exactly the same, is the case of Sanchez, who, although he has maintained his status largely due to his output of remakes of popular American and European pop and R&B tunes, has made the single name Sanchez COMPLETEY representative of what a dancehall LEGEND is. You also have the likes of the aforementioned Beenie Man, Shabba Ranking, King Yellowman and Uroy as names who have the same thing, however, in their cases, ultimately it is my belief that they will be more associated with their particular eras and the following era which they helped to cultivate and inspire, rather than being associated with DANCEHALL as a whole.
Another name, which doesn't exactly register on the same popularity scales as many of those is that of Clarendon native Calvin George Scott, aka Cocoa Tea (incidentally, as I sit here writing this, Cocoa Tea just yesterday celebrated his 49th birthday, happy earth day Cocoa Tea). Cocoa Tea is an artist not too dissimilar to Beres Hammond in that its not JUST the music which one will associate to reggae music. You can take a two second glance at Cocoa Tea and have a good idea what puts the bread on his table and the hat on his head as he just exudes reggae music and not just reggae music, but reggae music of a certain degree of quality and professionalism. Owing his roots ultimately to both the dancehall and the roots side, Cocoa Tea is one of the very few active SUPREME veterans in reggae music, having been making top notch reggae music since the early 1980's, he is now nearing the completion of his third decade in the vibes. The first thing you notice about Cocoa Tea is without a doubt his voice. Definitely it is the first thing that producers noticed in him originally (and the list of producers with whom he has EXTENSIVELY voiced is a virtual whose who of Jamaican production since 1980, including the likes of Bobby Digital from Digital B, Philip `Fattis' Burrell from Xterminator, and most extensively Henry `Junjo' Lawes and the legendary King Jammy). Cocoa Tea's voice, if you haven't heard it, sounds exactly how you might imagine it would; incredibly laid back, powerful when it needs to be and seemingly capable of melding itself to any riddim over which he chooses to record. When you go back to that stereotypical picture of a reggae singer, that guy is Cocoa Tea! Perhaps no singer (and there are literally HUNDREDS) so fully encompasses the identity of a reggae singer as Cocoa Tea does (with respect to one of my personal favourites Peter Broggs). Speaking strictly musically, Cocoa Tea has also managed to remain VERY relevant for a very long time (particularly in reggae years) through a few different means. Firstly, of course it doesn't hurt to have had the partners with which to work as he has had, but to his credit alone is his style of making music which so fluidly and seamlessly manages to lend Cocoa Tea and his music to both roots and dancehall (and definitely lover's rock as well) so perfectly that have you only heard one specific side of his vibes, you might actually be surprised in learning that he does other types of reggae as well. On the album side Cocoa Tea has also done very well for himself releasing well over twenty studio albums (by my count) since his very first, Weh Dem a Go Do. . . Can't Stop Cocoa Tea in 1984. A very healthy amount of his projects have been released through VP Records, the largest Caribbean music distributor in the world as well, giving his career, especially on the international side, a very strong push and over the past quarter century Cocoa Tea has toured all over the world. Now, rightfully so and not a second too soon, Cocoa Tea releases his very first Anthology (he has had at least two previous greatest hits albums, one for RAS Records (Ras Portraits) and a next for Xterminator, which was the stronger of the two) of music, The Sweet Sound of Cocoa Tea from VP Records. The result is a jam packed double-disc trip down memory road, one all fans of truly QUALITY reggae music will enjoy.
The album is not only interesting from Cocoa Tea's standpoint of course, but from VP Records as well. The album is amongst the very first releases from the label's new 17 North Parade imprint which focuses on the more classic and greatest hits vibes with which they have traditionally dealt with to a great degree. Having previously done double disc releases for the likes of Beenie Man, Ninjaman, Sizzla and most recently (I THINK) Bounty Killer, Cocoa Tea is an excellent next choice and his title definitely lives up to the standard of class set by his peers (and you would think that as long as they make us wait between his albums a similar release from Capleton would be forthcoming). Getting things started on the first disc is two of my very favourite releases from Cocoa Tea, Lost My Sonia and Rocking Dolly. Both tunes are of course Junjo originals and both have sort of come to play a great role in really representing the artist's earlier career. Neither have lost much strength over the years; Lost My Sonia of course flows over the more dancehall version of the Diseases riddim (the rootical one had horns playing in the gaps, the dancehall one has strings), while Rocking Dolly is Lawes' take on Coxsone Dodd's big Real Rock riddim. I've seen Cocoa Tea perform literally dozens of times and both songs still routinely make it into the mix. Another Lawes production, Informer, finishes out the opening of the disc I BARELY remember the song actually and it is a very fine inclusion on an album like this, for the real heavy reggae heads. Disc 2 (the better of the two, in my opinion) has a bit more fire in its opening. If you were to ask me of my type five Cocoa Tea tracks, Good Life would be in it and it gets things rolling on the second disc of The Sweet Sound of Cocoa Tea. The just incredible Xterminator production is easily a showcase of Cocoa Tea at his absolute best as he rather simply sings one of the COOLEST love songs you'll ever hear. There isn't a singer on the planet who could do such a song such justice as Cocoa Tea does (although I would be all for Hammond giving it a go), with that quintessential ULTRA laid back vibes. Another Xterminator cut and a combination, Too Young checks in next with Buju Banton in tow. The song is remix of another Cocoa Tea tune, Young Lover (aka Girl Go Home) which appears on the first disc here. Actually the original may be the stronger of the two (I'm biased, I use to love that song) but Buju adds nothing but niceness to the tune which takes a decidedly harder edge when the Banton steps forth over Fattis' cut of the Lots of Sign riddim. Completing the opening for the second disc is another of my favourite Cocoa Tea tunes, She Loves Me Now. Another Xterminator piece, She Loves Me Now is a much more energetic lover's piece from Cocoa Tea and exactly as I said earlier, his voice is stronger when it needs to be, such a tune is the wonderful She Loves Me Now.
My SINGLE favourite Cocoa Tea tune ever is a song name Love Me (Truly) and its on the first disc, but it's a much more jazzed up version of the tune I know which in its original form is probably the coolest love song I have ever heard, but somewhere I know someone is getting this one happy this version is here. Disc one is largely highlight by its combinations. The former reggae `super group' which Cocoa Tea was involved in and included Home T and legendary dancehall ace Shabba Ranking is well represented with the group's two biggest shots Who She Love for Jammy's and of course the ever wicked Pirates Anthem for Gussie Clarke, both being present and strong reasons to buy this album as a whole. The combinations (which also include tracks with Cutty Ranks and Louie Culture) are buttressed by three of the best tunes of Cocoa Tea's career. Coming on one side, earlier in the album is Tune In for King Jammy. The tune is about as strong of a reggae praising track as I've ever heard and the easy slow dance floor dance vibes not only on the album but Cocoa Tea's entire career (which is saying a LOT). Closing the disc on the other side of the combinations is both Riker's Island and Bust Out of Hell. The two songs have gone on to become staples in the career of Cocoa Tea, if you are AT ALL familiar with the artist, you'll know the tunes definitely and really on such an album, they are MANDATORY. Disc Two is my preferred of the two, largely because it has more of Cocoa Tea's more recent work and although I definitely recognize and still love and appreciate much of his earlier work, Cocoa Tea has really been making some truly powerful music over the past decade or so. Also, it doesn't hurt that the best tune on the entire project is on the disc, Israel's King. The tune, an Xterminator production, epitomizes the rootical side of Cocoa Tea's vibes (actually, Disc two has a distinctly more rootical vibes than the first, probably another reason why I prefer it). I think people kind of fall into a spot when speaking of the artist where they might tend to forget that he is FIRSTLY a rootsman, and he is a Rastaman and he makes music for His Imperial Majesty. And throughout his entire career, he has probably never laid a more powerful song of African praise than Israel's King which ultimately became one of the biggest hits of his career. Check the two songs immediately preceding Israel's King as well for further representation of exactly what a rootical Cocoa Tea is capable of. Holy Mount Zion is another of my favourite tunes from the artists and actually on this particular album it was probably the one which got the most spins. The wonderful rootical thumping backdrop (from Bobby Digital) is downright addictive and the song is just good for the soul. Heathen, another Digital B production was one I almost forgot about until it got going. The song is a very powerful (and very CLEVER) track. Its exactly what one would expect from such veterans in the game, I'd guess Cocoa Tea could voice thousands of Bobby Digital tracks and never emerge with one rubbish tune. The two on the other side of Israel's King are very nice as well. Hurry Up and Come was one of the songs which I used to LOVE strictly based on the fact that it shared a riddim with a Sizzla track (I Wonder) who was the sole artist getting my attentions for quite awhile. The riddim is a very addictive cut of Marley's No Woman, No Cry (with Dean Fraser saxophone DRIPPING all over the riddim lovely), but it stands very high on its own merits and is definitely a track to check here. Of course I have to mention the BIG Luciano combination, Rough Inna Town. Actually (and surprisingly) the tune is under-spotted these days on CD so it's a nice inclusion here, the two veteran reggae singers just make a nice blend, which is kind of unique because in reggae you rarely hear two TOP NOTCH singers in combination. Disc Two, and the entire project comes to a nice conclusion with Tek Weh Yu Gal and Save Us Oh Jah, two of Cocoa Tea's most recent hits as well as the two title tracks from his most recent studio albums.
Overall, definitely recommending this album to all fans of modern (and maybe even classic) roots reggae music. I always point to greatest hits albums (and ESPECIALLY anthologies) as albums where the newer fans can somewhat play catch-up to a great degree. The older fans will look at the tracklist and undoubtedly pick and choose what is here and what should be here (like me thinking two of my favourite tracks, both Feel the Power and Sweet Life are missing, actually ANY representative from the entire Feel The Power album is missing, and it might be my favourite Cocoa Tea album) but even that has a bit of a purpose for some (myself included). Taken for what it is, albums like The Sweet Sound of Cocoa Tea serve only to paint the artist in the best possible frame and this one succeeds. Cocoa Tea has spent nearly the past three decades making his place in reggae music as the quintessential, laid Black, easy going and well educated rootsman. The game just wouldn't be as sweet without some Cocoa Tea."
Many varied flavors of reggae
A Teacher | Sabinal, TX USA | 03/25/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with the other posted review, but would like to mention the CD I'm holding in my hand, though filled with lots of sweat I'm sure, is entitled "The Sweet Sound of Cocoa Tea"."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1