Morgan Heritage

[Living Bate]

I have to admit for a long time I failed to see the fascination with Morgan Heritage.....but in more recent times I have picked up a few 7"s and caught a few tunes on the radio that really made me open my eyes to them.....

can people post up a few favourites?

New Sign New Time
Ends Nah Meet
Di Government

[lankou]

The first 3 MH albums and the 7"s of the same period were mostly very good modern roots reggae (some tunes are classics now!) following in the footsteps of Garnett Silk (but more polished), i gradually lost interest as they got too slick. Like you, i must say that their latest album is a real return to form: they really had to take a break and it shows! Live, they can be truly good - like Luciano, speaking of acts who appeared in the 90's. No one has to be "fascinated" by artists but i reckon it wouldn't be too hard to list 50 MH crucial tunes, which is more than what many reggae artists achieved in their career (said by someone who wouldn't put them in his TOP 20 reggae acts! ).

[johnnyB]

Always been favourites of mine.They rarely put weak tunes out."Stand Up" from their new "Here come the Kings" is strong.Didn't listen to the entire LP but it seems (good) classic MH.

[Living Bate]

johnny and lankou, any particular stand out tunes?....

in the past I've missed a few opportunities to see them live and it never bothered me.......but now that I've tuned in a touch i'm intrigued to find out some more....

this is pure gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlMTcxDe9Y0

[Reggie Love]

Coming to London in July with Beres and Marcia Griffiths. I've always found them a bit too slick over a whole album but am looking forward to seeing them live. Newish song, the Return and 'how come' are great tunes and down by the river was massive of course. Also, 'nothing to smile about'.

[lankou]

Most of what they did for Jammy's and Bobby Digital in the 90's.
A few good ones for XTM,like Bubble in the Struggle. Good ones for Star Trail and a whole variety of labels until the early 2000's when the flat nu roots recipe developped by Corleone started to run the place. Yep, The Return is a solid tune and thre are several ones on new album.

[johnnyB]

MH standouts over the years: Buss Up Barriers,Rally Round,Behold(feat. Capleton),Comfortable,How Come,Nothing to Smile About,Blackmans Paradise,Brooklyn & Jamaica,children of Selassie,Country Road,Harvest is Plenty,Down By the River,Protect Us Jah,Liberation,Live Up,Gunz in the Ghetto(feat. Bounty Killer)...just by browsing my 45's.I'm sure there must be lots more.

[Living Bate]

I smell what ya saying with the slickness......that's pretty much what put me off in the first place, but I think maybe I've turned a corner....

i'm gonna dive in.....thanks for the recommendations...

[Peter Dalton]

All of the following singles are worth picking up if you have the chance:

Down By The River, 71
Ababajahni, Black Diamonds
Send Us Your Love, Brick Wall
Never Quit, Brick Wall
Live Up, Brick Wall
One Rasta Man, Champion
Protect Us Jah, Digital-B
Set Yourself Free, Digital-B
Praise Him, Digital-B
Sell Out, Digital-B
Black Man’s Paradise, Digital-B
Country Road, Digital-B
New Sign New Time, Digital-B
Mystery Babylon, Fay Eyes
Zebra And The Fetha, Fat Eyes
Cry Out, Fire House Crew
Keep Your Head Up, Flames
Harvest Is Plenty, HMG
Buss Up Barriers, HMG
Rasta Flex, HMG
Liberation, HMG
Come And Arise Jah, Jammy’s
Give We A License, Jammy’s
Praise To Jah, Jammy’s
Wicked Seeking Hiding Place, Jammy’s
Days Of Old, Jammy’s
Things Out A Hand, Jammy’s
Too Much Chef
Dem Trying Everything, King of Kings
Get On Board, Mafia & Fluxy
The Comforter, Penthouse
Jah Revive I & I, Penthouse
Bubble in The Struggle, Xterminator
Get Away, Xterminator/Jet Star

[Reggie Love]

Forgot about Brooklyn and Jamaica, Johnny, big tune!

[Dubba]

Protect us Jah is up there with It's Growing, Til Shiloh, Where there is life, Praise ye jah, black woman and child as one of the best 90's Nu roots albums, in my humble opinion of course. Couple of singles not mentioned that got heavy rotation from me are She's still loving me and stay at home which is a lovely cover version of the late great DEB's ghetto girl.

[lankou]

Such sounds weren't called "nu roots" back then. NU roots, or "one drop" (in JA's vocab) is what happened from the timer Don Corleon scored with Drop Leaf, in my book. Of course, MH walked straight into that territory when they recorded for that new wave of producers.

[Dubba]

Maybe 90's roots and culture revival might be more appropriate, as there was definitely a dearth of roots and reality music coming out of JA for a while, until Garnett, Luci, Buju, Tony Rebel,Capleton et al bust big with culture and reality lyrics.

[KEEL]

don't think these have been mentioned yet and I still find them good:

inna dem thing deh
still the same
love reggae music (Kickin label)

[Ranking Glasses]

I think the real reason why Morgan Heritage isn't up there is because that Gramps bloke can't sing. He sounds like Peter Tosh with pneumonia. Someone should be honest and tell him. Their songs start off well enough and then that croaking toad comes in and ruins them. Sounds bloody awful!

Having said that, I like some of their songs, including these ones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ML-jAIc3zM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHBlEVbc7q0