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Bob Marley, Wailers - This Train / Wailers - Reincarnated Souls
Wail N Soul M / Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1968/ 1973
N/A
Wailers - Arabs Oil Weapon / Dubd - Version
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1976
¥1980 (US$12.72)
Prophetic, thought provoking and deeply disturbing Bunny pulls no punches on this release… nearly thirty five years later very little has changed. The chilling version echoes and expands the theme.
Wailers - Pass It On / Trod On
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1978
¥1980 (US$12.72)
A radically different take to one of the standout tracks on 'Burnin' the final Wailers album to feature the original line up of Bob, Peter & Bunny. The lyrics are profound without a hint of pretension "Be not selfish in your doing…" and the rhythm runs at a sprightlier pace than the album version. A third version exists with Bob Marley taking the opening verse but this is surely the definitive cut of a truly classic song. "Live for yourself you will live in vain…"
Wailers - Life Line / Big Youth - Black On Black
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1976
B: Bide Up
¥1980 (US$12.72)
'Life Line' a gentle, haunting love song showcasing Bunny's sublime vocals over a subtle, restrained rhythm encapsulates in just over two minutes more than many lesser artists manage to express over an entire double album. Big Youth’s plea for tolerance and understanding, one of his two essential cuts of Bunny’s 'Bide Up', was originally released as a double sided single and is one of the hardest to find records on the Solomonic label. Search no more…
Bunny Wailer - Rule Dancehall / Rule Dancehall Version
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1987
N/A
Bunny produced a string of hits during the dance hall explosion of eighties where, backed by The Roots Radics, he continued to show the new generation how it should be done. The greatest of his dance hall style records was the self explanatory 'Rule Dance Hall' from 1987 originally released on the album of the same name and subsequently issued as a seven inch single. "East, west north and south I rule the land. I play original style while others play version…"
Peter Tosh, Solomonic Reggae Star - Anti-Apartheid / Solomonic Reggae Star - Solidarity
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1976
¥1480 (US$9.51)
Peter Tosh was the first reggae artist to realise the limitless possibilities of the melodica (listen to the Wailers' first Tuff Gong release 'Sun Is Shining') and here he adds its haunting power to one of Bunny's best ever rhythms the prophetic 'Amagideon' from 'Black Heart Man'. The melodica phrases and the subtle, restrained mixing on both sides of this single bring out all the brooding introspection and mystery in the track.
Bunny Wailer - Rise & Shine / Solomonic Dub
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1981
N/A
Bunny continued to release records throughout the seventies that were never less than excellent and, as the new decade got underway, he came forward with one of his best ever releases: the militant clarion call 'Rise And Shine'. Stretched over two momentous sides of a UK twelve inch release, the record was a huge hit, but has been unavailable ever since. Bunny returned to the song on his superb 'Liberation' album at the close of the decade but the original cut has remained one of the most in-demand records on the 'revival' circuit.
Bunny Wailer - Bide Up / Bunny Wailer, Big Youth - Bide
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1975
¥1980 (US$12.72)
Bunny followed 'Search For Love' with 'Bide Up' another emotional tour de force and with a message so different that it takes a while to fully assimilate. He would later recut the song for his classic solo debut album 'Black Heart Man' but this is the original cut in all its glory. The B-side features one of the two Big Youth versions to the song and the Youth is at his peak here as he reinforces Bunny's message with own his plea for greater understanding: "Be unto one another like a man to a brother…"
Bunny Wailer, Wailing Wailers - Tread Along / Tread Along Version
Wail N Soul M / Dub Store Records JPN 1968
N/A
One of the rarest records on the Wail N Soul M label and one that Bunny in later years would interpret as a conscious rather than a lascivious lyric. The first and only release on the label to acknowledge a late sixties trend and come replete with an instrumental 'version' on the B-side where the rhythm, with its subtle nyahbinghi drums, stands proud.
Bunny Wailer - Searching For Love / Tuff Gong All Stars - Must Skank
Solomonic / Dub Store Records JPN 1974
¥1480 (US$9.51)
The first release on Bunny's Solomonic label was the reflective and ambitious 'Search For Love' credited to 'Heat, Air & Water'. Bunny sings this yearning song beautifully, the mournful horns play a variant on the traditional 'Waltzing Matilda' melody and an early incarnation of the I Threes provide the harmonious backing vocals.
Bob Marley - Africa Unite (Will. I. Am Remix) (Picture Sleeve) / I Shot The Sheriff
Island UK 1976
¥1080 (US$6.94)