I've had a suggestion from a commenter on my #TPU introduction post to review any Dennis Brown album I wanted, so if you would like me to cover something, don't hesitate to leave a comment. Dennis Brown is one of my favorite Roots Reggae/Ska artists. His feel good vibes create a perfect setting for me to perform an early (or ending) DJ set for a Reggae or Dancehall party. Brown's discography is so numerous, I'm not even going to count them for you. Just trust me, there is A LOT! But for this segment I will be covering 'Revolution' as not only does it have the most plays on Spotify (8,600,000+), but it is in fact one of my favorites to warm up a party.
Dennis Emmanuel Brown was born on February 1, 1957 in Kingston, Jamaica. His father was a scriptwriter, actor and journalist, and he grew up in a huge tenement yard with three elder brothers and a sister. His mother had died while he was still young, some time in the 1960's. He began singing at the age of nine, and his performance was for an end-of-term school concert. He was a fan of American Ballad singers like Sam Cooke, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra. Nat King Cole being his biggest influence.
During the Rocksteady era (what would be the prequel to Reggae), he used to hang around JJ's record store on Orange Street where he would earn pennies from his neighbors and relatives to hear him sing on the yard. Brown's first started singing professionally when he used to follow his older brother Basil to the local club where Basil would perform his stand up routines. Dennis Brown would perform as a guest singer alongside the club's resident band, The Fabulous Falcons, and he was later asked to be their featured singer because of his stunning performance. He would later gain the attention of Byron Lee when he saw the band performing for a conference which Lee was also performing for, and took Brown on tours with him with US artists, where he was christened 'Boy Wonder'.
Fast forward to 1972, at the age of fifteen, he would begin his breakthrough as an internationally recognized artist as he was asked by Joe Gibbs to record an album for him. One of those songs was 'Money In My Pocket' which would became an instant hit to UK Reggae fans. To cut his story short, he continued having commercial success and touring through the 70's and in 1981, he was signed to A&M Records and has been based in the UK ever since. His story is vast, so let's move on to the album.
Brown's Revolution album was released in the same year I was born (1985, though some sources say 1984, probably depending on distribution source) which would make it a thirty-three year old work of love. It was released on Taxi and Yvonne's Special labels and features eleven tracks and forty-three minutes of easy skankin' goodness! Aside from the title track, which is an obvious favorite as I previously mentioned based on Spotify statistics alone, the song 'The Promised Land' is an easily recognized track as the riddim has been re-used by so many Reggae artists to come such as Chaka Demus, Aswad (who share writing credits for the riddim), Capleton, Gregory Isaacs, Sizzla, Shabba Ranks and Sugar Minott, to name a few. The entire album has that feel-good, typical Reggae feeling which would inspire many more artists in the future with the exception of the final track, 'The Long and Winding Road', which takes on a sweet ballad, but still feel-good nonetheless.
Nas & Damien Marley's take on Dennis Brown's 'Promised Land' with riddim and vocal samplesThis album is a great way to get you started for the day. Positive vibes throughout the entire record. I'm looking forward to purchasing this on vinyl in the near future. Shout out @luca1777 for suggesting I write up on Dennis Brown. I wish I could say more about the album, but there is more information on the actual 'Revolution' single than the whole album.
Thank you for reading and supporting! If there is any album you would like me to cover for The Pull Up, please leave a comment below! One Love!