If Deejay Was Your Trade (The Dreads at King Tubby's 1974-1977)

Blood & Fire’s first release encapsulated their mission statement. At a time when Bob Marley and the Wailers were just beginning to put Jamaica on the map and sending waves across the international music scene, this set captures the daily proceedings at Osbourne “King Tubbys” Ruddock’s home studio. That studio was modest by modern standards. In fact, Tubbys didn’t record live bands there, instead taking existing multitrack master tapes from other studio sessions and processing them through his 12-channel, custom-built MCI mixing desk. Young and hungry up-and-comers could step to the mic and toast on top of the riddims Tubbys was putting to tape there. This set features early efforts from the likes of Dr. Alimantado, Dillinger, and Prince Jazzbo atop these spare, tough instrumentals.