Another archival stash of Studio One tunes coming at ya! This time we have the Studio One session band from 1967-72, Sound Dimension. This set started out to find the more obscure instrumental jams released on the Bamboo label but turned into a marathon session trying to identify all their original vocals where possible. Enjoy.
Link
I was going to write my own words, but I think the below from Jo-Ann Green sums it up clearly.
"Sound Dimension, the Studio One house band, created some of Jamaica's most enduring and popular riddims, unleashing a slew of seminal instrumentals, as well as providing backing for the label's myriad hits. For many reggae fans, the band's music defined the age for five years, from 1968 until 1972. With the demise of the Skatalites in 1965, pianist Jackie Mittoo set up shop at Studio One, working as an arranger, composer, and musician. His initial house band was dubbed the Soul Brothers. The rise of rocksteady saw a lineup shift and a new moniker, the Soul Vendors. The group toured Britain in 1967, and guitarist Eric Frater returned home with an echo box. Its psychedelic sound inspired the name Sound Dimension, which the band took as its own the following year. By then, the group included Mittoo, Frater, lead guitarist Ernest Ranglin, drummer Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, budding bassist Leroy Sibbles, and brassmen Vin Gordon, Cedric Brooks, and ex-Skatalite Don "Deadly Headley" Bennett, among others. When Mittoo emigrated to Canada in 1968, Robbie Lyn or Richard Ace usually took his seat, although the keyboardist returned regularly for recording sessions. The Sound Dimension opened their account in 1967 with "Walk Don't Run" and "Swing Easy," with a clutch of fine instrumentals following in 1968 -- "Mojo Rocksteady," "Musical Scorcher," "Heavy Rock," "African Chant," and "Rockfort Rock" among them. "Mojo" proved to be a particular favorite over the years, "Rockfort" even more so. But the two that had the greatest impact were "Full Up" and "Real Rock." More versions have been cut on "Real Rock" than on any other in reggae history. Over the years it has supported so many hits it deserves an entry all its own and, like "Full Up," it is still being avidly recycled to this day. Another clutch of great singles arrived in 1969, including "Rathid," "Soulful Strut," "Time Is Tight," "Return of the Scorcher," and "Drum Song." The latter, initially released and credited to the Soul Vendors, proved to be another enduring number. Of course, the Sound Dimension's work can also be heard on the myriad vocal numbers released by Studio One during this era, as many of their singles were instrumental takes of the vocal cuts. Later in the decade, Coxsone Dodd dusted off a number of the Dimension's tracks and remodeled them for a new generation, with great success."
Baby Face
Bitter Blood (Ken Boothe - Just Another Girl)
Black Onion (Bassies - Things Come Up To Bump
Black Treasure (John Holt - Fancy Make Up)
Broken Ribs (Leroy Sibbles - Do Your Thing)
Call 1143 (Alton Ellis - Pearls)
Congo Rock
Doctor Sappa Too (Marcia Griffiths - My Ambition)
Drum Song
Federated Backdrop
Full Up
Funky Maker (Horace Andy - Funny Man)
Granny Scratch Scratch
Great Mu Ga Ru Ga
Hail Don D (Heptones - Gonna Fight)
Heavy Beat (Delroy Wilson - Conquer Me)
Heavy Rock (Jackie Mittoo - Our Thing)
Holy Moses (The Lyrics - Music Like Dirt)
In Cold Blood
Ironside
Jah Berry (The Cables - Baby Why)
Jamaica Bag
Jamaica Underground
Less Problem
Little Green Apples (Lascelles Perkins - Little Green Apples)
Love Jah
Love Land
Mix Up (Rattle On)
Moan And Groan (Funky)
Mojo Rocksteady
More Scorcher (Larry Marshall - Nanny Goat)
My Heart In Rhythm (Ken Boothe - My Heart Is Gone)
Mun-Dun-Gu
Park View (Alton Ellis - I'll Be Waiting)
Poison Ivy (The Freedom Singers - Give Peace A Chance)
Polka Dot (John Holt - Do You Love Me)
Pop Corn Reggae
Rahtid
Real Rock
Reggae Time (Jackie Mittoo - Our Thing/Heavy Rock)
Return Of The Scorcher
Rockfort Rock (Soul Vendors - Psychedelic Rock)
Sata (Absynnians - Satta Amasa Gana)
Scorcia (Larry Marshall - Nanny Goat)
Sing A Simple Song (Sly and the Family Stone)
Solas (The Gladiators - Sonia)
Soul Eruption
Soul Food (Heptones - Fattie Fattie)
Soul Shake
Soul Trombone (William Golding - Suffering Stink/Everything Crash)
Soulful I (Pat Kelly - Since You Are Gone)
Soulful Strut (The Young - Holt Unlimited - Soulful Strut)
Still Calling (Nightingales - Rasta Is Callings)
Straight Flush (Ernest Wilson - Undying Love)
Ten to Ten (The Mad Lads - Ten to One)
The Thing
Time is Tight (Booker T. & the M.G.'s - Time is Tight)
Traveling Home
Tunnel One (Jackie Mittoo - Hot Milk)
Upsetter's Dream (Carlton and The Shoes - Love me Forever)
Way Back Home (Junior Walker & The All Stars - Way Back Home)
Zion Lion (Marcia Griffiths - Melody Life)
