V.A. - Every Mouth Must Be Fed

Various Artists - 'Every Mouth Must Be Fed' 1973 to 1976 - Pressure Sounds PSCD 59 (2008)

Pressure Sounds has provided us with another great compilation of rare Jamaican music from the 1970's. This release focuses on Pete Weston's Micron Music label which up until this release has been badly under-represented in the reissue market. Among the featured artists on this compilation are Junior Byles, I Roy, Jah Stitch, Joe Higgs, and The Defenders. The format follows, generally, song and version. Hence, one usually gets a nice dub of the song right after the vocal track. Most of the material here is unfamiliar to me in that I have never heard these specific songs or versions before. However, the backing tracks or rhythms are not unfamiliar and are laid down by the Hippy Boys, The Aggrovators, and The Upsetters. There are a couple of first rate cuts on here but for me the tracks by The Defenders are top notch. I Roy is also strong on this release and contributes 3 tracks including the title track.

The booklet included with the CD is first class and tells us the story behind Pete Weston's work and provides us with a glimpse of how things were in Jamaica during this golden time of reggae music. One interesting fact for me is that the Micron label is a JA label and NOT a Canadian label. When I was buying reggae records back in the day, all of my Micron albums were pressed in Canada and I thought that it was a label out of Canada. In fact, Weston moved to Canada but the origins of the label are strictly JA. I learn something every time!

Highly Recommended.